


Angelus Mortis

by Loveless81, Seraphina_Scribes



Category: Naruto, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:35:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 38
Words: 535,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26736001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loveless81/pseuds/Loveless81, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seraphina_Scribes/pseuds/Seraphina_Scribes
Summary: Angelissa Caelum finds a demonic cat that has escaped from the Underworld - leading her to encounter Death Himself. Her best friend is adamant the cat is evil - but they soon discover much more sinister forces are at play, determined to stop Angelissa from fulfilling an ancient prophecy written in the stars themselves [Spin-off Quietus AU with Naruto characters as Greek deities, Levi from SnK and OCs based on Greek deities/nymphs]
Comments: 71
Kudos: 26





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Angelus Mortis is co-written by myself and loveless81 and includes familiar characters reprising their roles within the Quietus!Universe, but in an alternate universe setting and with some key differences: mainly, Shisui and Itachi Uchiha are both still alive and Cronus has not yet taken over Olympus. It follows an alternate timeline as a result and includes Cronus, Nyx, Erebus, Hypnos, Thanatos, Hades, and also Levi Ackerman from SnK. The focus is on the Underworld dwellers, but there are also cameo roles by Sakura, Suigetsu and other characters from the original Quietus story. The story also includes Original Characters that have identities tied in to Greek mythology. 
> 
> This is a recommended read if you're into Quietus and its lore. Though it includes OCs, they are completely original characters that have their own background stories and personalities and are not self-inserts. The non-explicit version can be found on Fanfiction.net below:
> 
> https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13642600/1/Angelus-Mortis

* * *

**~*Prologue*~**

* * *

The heavily-robed woman bent prostrated before the luminous, sacred pool located within the hallowed Temple of the Fates, her pale palms turned upward in open supplication. The deep hood of her midnight blue, velvet-brocade cloak cast her regal features in shadow, concealing her identity. It was the same, submissive position that she had adopted for countless centuries in the hopes that her desperate, divine prayers would one day be answered.

And at last, at that very moment, she had been blessed with a sign.

She dared not move, dared not breathe for fear she would miss even the slightest detail as ethereal, echoing words drifted to her ears, imparting wisdom she had yearned to hear for so very long. Words she had feared would never come. Words she had prayed endlessly for The Fates to reveal in their great percipience, while serving tirelessly within their temple grounds. A long, arduous task it had been, one which had required intense discipline, patience and dedication while locked away in shrouded secrecy, undertaking relentless trials and tribulations, difficult fasts and enduring countless hours of isolation.

She listened, with bated breath, as the prophecy was foretold.

~|*|~  
  
 _Chaos averted by affection,  
_ _A mortal soul - barred of direction,  
_ _That Death's touch may, her fate awaken,  
_ _Usurper's arrogance mistaken._

 _Time fragmented as the cosmos scattered,  
_ _Immortal bequest to mortal matter,  
_ _Prophesied child; anointed by love,  
_ _Receive thy heritage from stars above._

 _Tread no path of stone beneath the waves,  
_ _Vile greed buried in watery graves,  
_ _Let mortal over immortal reign,  
_ _And crown fall where her hand would deign._

~|*|~

The three voices that spoke in unison to convey the words that would dictate the course of destiny itself repeated the prophecy thrice before gradually fading away, and once more, silence reigned within the vast stone temple, broken only by the flickering of firelight that blazed in the bronze torch sconces flanking the sacred altar. She waited respectfully, her heart pounding within her chest, before rising at last.

Finally, the revelation had come. At last her weary wait was over, her patience and unabating, tenacious faith rewarded. Her endless despair turned to bubbling, joyous hope that flooded through her veins like liquid ambrosia, banishing the ice that had wedged itself around her heart. 

Her mind raced, trying to piece together what it all meant, hastily scrawling the prophecy upon parchment lest she forget it. Holding it up to her eyes, she exhaled, reading the verses repeatedly to herself in awe, committing them to eternal memory.

A prophesied child, anointed by love. One whose fate, by Death’s very touch, would awaken.

The gold thread in her embroidered cloak glinted in the torchlight as a beam graced her noble features. This was the key to realising her deepest hopes. Her innermost wishes, her greatest desires. 

Ebony irises flickered in thoughtful contemplation, causing the jubilant smile that had spread across her thirst-chapped lips to wane. This sacred knowledge could not be permitted to fall into the wrong hands. It was up to the pale, cloaked figure - worn thin by centuries of obeisance - to ensure that the prophecy was fulfilled. Surely that was her calling. Surely that would make the countless aeons of her own well of personal suffering worth every sacrifice she had made. 

There was much work to be done - and time was of the essence. She could afford to waste not a moment.

The torches around her abruptly snuffed out and the robed woman swiftly took her leave.

* * *

The stormy clouds brewing in the sky were a dark, angry grey, releasing rainfall as if the heavens themselves were sobbing. A congregation of people, all dressed in black, stood solemnly around a freshly covered grave, as final respects were paid at the most heart-breaking of funerals. The immediate family of the deceased were huddled together beneath umbrellas, weeping inconsolably, somehow drawing comfort from one another even when the strength to remain standing seemed too great a burden to bear.

Friends encircled the grieving relatives, offering their condolences and support as the cemetery staff saw to final formalities. Everyone was occupied with their grief or their duties.

So occupied, that they failed to notice the lone child who stood a distance away from the dispersing crowd, lingering by the grave. Her long, light brown hair was arranged in a tidy french-braid, and she was formally dressed in a black frock coat that grazed just below her knees in length, beneath which she wore a black pinafore dress and dark grey, wool tights. 

The little girl’s red-rimmed, tear-swollen eyes were locked onto the inscription on the lovingly customised tombstone that was surrounded by white chrysanthemum and lily flowers, their petals kissed by the falling drizzle. She seemed oblivious of the rain falling around her, unbothered by the way it drenched her hair, her clothing. Oblivious to everything around her, but the granite slab ahead of her. 

~*~

In loving memory of:  
  
 _Evangeline Marie Caelum  
_ _January 2nd 1994 - January 9th 2008  
_ _  
Too soon we lay you down to sleep,  
_ _We pray the Lord your soul to keep;  
_ _Within His arms held safe you'll be,  
_ _Our darling, sweet Evangelly._

 _Cherished with a love beyond telling,  
_ _Missed with a grief beyond all tears._  
 _Forever in our hearts you’ll be,  
Undying for eternity._  
  
~*~

* * *

White for innocence. For purity. Just like the deceased had been at the time of her parting from the world.

The figure cloaked in black, concealed from view from all in attendance, knew it with certainty. The soul of the departed was untarnished. Bound for the blessed Elysian Fields, to where it was his duty to convey her. A child lost prematurely to the world, her light snuffed out before maturity, ravaged by an incurable illness. Her long suffering was relieved at last in death.

Though they thought it to be cruel. They thought it to be merciless; but death was also often a kindness. Death at the end of a life of torment was mercy. Death was the gateway to true immortality. If only they knew. And yet they did not. How could they? 

They were consumed with chasing life's lures, with building houses for inevitable destruction, with enthusiastic greetings to be sealed with goodbyes, with fulfilling the fleeting whims of their hearts so that when they, unexpectedly, came face to face with death - the depth of all they did not know terrified them as surely as the realization that the unknown was then imminent. They met their ends, with no knowledge of the afterlife. 

He watched them pensively for a moment, contemplating the fragility of mortal life. Already, the many years of service to his role, despite his young age, had long since hardened his heart to such gatherings. One designated to reap souls could not weep over them. Such a thing would be folly. Weakness. His role suffered neither.

The little girl standing alone by the grave finally lifted her bowed head and he saw that her vivid hazel eyes, darkened from the storm of her emotions, were not filled with broken anguish as the rest of the humans in the assembly. Instead they blazed with a ferocious anger, a burning hatred that was startling. A degree of loathing that did not belong in the eyes of an innocent child whom he assumed could not be much older than a decade at most.

 _“I hate you,”_ her whispered words travelled through the air to his ears, ringing clearly. Each one hissed with such vehemence, they were akin to stones being hurled at him, cursing his very existence. “I _hate_ you. Why did she have to die? Why can’t you, instead? Why did you take my sister? I hate you. I’ll hate you, forever. I’ll never forgive you.”

He blinked, pitying the child. He understood, all too well, how pain at a young age forced one to change. How it compelled one to surround themselves within towering walls of impermeable stone, to encase and bury one’s heart so that it was unreachable within those unbreakable barriers. The experience was traumatic for the girl, that he could clearly discern; a sister lost, a sister she would have to navigate through life without. And yet, if she was amongst the humans favoured by The Fates to survive into adulthood, the girl would grow up. She would move on. She would come to accept what childish naivety chose to so stubbornly defy.

That death was a natural end to life. That there could be no life without death.

Her words had been thought at him, screamed at him, countless times before. By mortals older than her who cursed Death. Sometimes by children even younger. And yet, the intensity of hatred he had glimpsed in that bitter gaze rivalled even that of the most heartbroken grown humans he had encountered in ages past.

She would forget. The pain would diminish. In time, she would learn how to live again. 

Most of the adults had already drifted farther from the grave, distracted by the wailing mother and crying youngest brother of the deceased girl. They were being ushered away by remaining relatives and friends. The little girl remained unsupervised, her small hands balled into angry, upset fists.

With a slight flick of his wrist, he sent forth the crow perched atop his left shoulder, watching as it glided with grace toward the resentful child. Her eyes were finally dragged away from the tombstone, her attention firmly caught by the bird hopping and cawing at her feet. She turned, momentarily distracted, to follow it, as he commanded the crow to lead her back to the safety of her family.

“Lissy!” An elderly woman turned to the little girl censuringly as she approached. “For goodness sake! Don’t wander off, child!” Her stern, distressed expression then softened as she gazed down at the girl, who had started to tremble from the cold and her suppressed emotions, the flood-gates of grief finally opening and crashing over her in response to being harshly admonished. 

Pulling the sobbing child close into an affectionate embrace, the silver-haired woman added more gently, “Oh, Lissy! Come here, little love. Goodness, you’re drenched! There, there. It’ll be alright. Nana’s here. Shhh, now.”

The crow circled around and flew back to him, landing faithfully upon his shoulder once more. His duty done, the young deity turned on his heel and flickered out of existence before he had scarcely taken three strides away, the soul of the departed following obediently after him.


	2. Part I: The Demon Cat

Welcome to our story! It's a spin-off Quietus, featuring some familiar characters. Hope you enjoy it!

* * *

**Part I: The Demon Cat  
**

* * *

"Hurry _up_ , Elissa!" Slayte squealed over her shoulder, as the two girls raced down the street. The early evening sky was a dull, ominous grey, and angry clouds were weeping heavy rain.

"Oh my God, how could I forget to pack an umbrella?!" Elissa exclaimed, lifting the library book in her hands over her head in a vain attempt to keep her hair dry. It was useless. She could already feel the long locks plastered miserably against her forehead, dripping water in rivulets against her face.

"You said the forecast was sunny!" Her best friend Slayte called accusingly. "We're _drenched!_ "

"That's what the app on my phone said!" Elissa defended pitifully, blinking against the onslaught of showers the heavens were casting down upon them.

"You better _change_ that app!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

They rushed on, heading toward the bus stop that would take them both home after they'd spent the afternoon together browsing shops, before heading to the library, where Elissa had picked up a book for the latest Greek Mythology inspired project she was working on. They had grabbed a bite to eat together after that – and then their pleasant afternoon had been cut short by the bout of terrible weather.

"Almost there!" Slayte called, sprinting tirelessly like a marathon runner. Her endurance had always been inhuman in Elissa's eyes. How did she go about doing so much, without ever tiring?

Elissa could feel her legs slowing down in contrast. Her shoes weren't particularly comfortable. She'd opted for brown sandals with a low wedge heel that made running difficult. Pausing to catch her breath, she was just about to shout out for the energetic Slayte to slow down – when a sudden, strange sound met her ears. She turned her head curiously, as people who'd had the sense to carry umbrellas passed her on the sidewalk. Squinting against the falling rain, she didn't find anything amiss, and was about to resume jogging – when the sound drifted in the air again, ringing clearly despite the pitter-patter of rain.

 _What's that noise?_ She wondered to herself, looking around a second time – and then, suddenly, she spotted its source.

Huddled against a lamp-post to her far left, was a small, black… _cat?_

Elissa blinked at it in surprise. She loved animals. They were a weakness, and though she had no pets of her own – mostly because she feared losing them after growing attached – she loved interacting with them. She walked over to the creature, to find that it was small and plump – and utterly saturated with rain.

"Huh?" she crouched down, peering at it curiously. "Hey there, little thing. What're you doing out here in this weather, all by yourself?"

The cat looked up at her with dark, mournful eyes. It was uncommon looking, and released a pained mewl. Elissa tilted her head. It didn't seem to have a collar. Was it a stray?

"Elissa!" Footsteps hit the pavement as Slayte ran back to re-join her. "What are you _doing?_ We just missed our bus!"

"Look what I found," Elissa pointed to the shivering bundle of soaked black fur. "I think it's lost."

"Oh, _no_ ," Slayte sighed, pushing her dripping black hair out her face. "You're _not_ taking in another stray! Remember the last injured crow you found in the fields behind your apartment? It almost poked your eye out."

"But it didn't," Elissa reminded her. "We got its wing fixed, and it was all healed and happy, and I let it go. No harm done. Maybe this cat is hurt, too?"

"Oh, Elissa, you're hopeless." Slayte rolled her warm brown eyes affectionately. Then she crouched down beside her friend and peered at the cat. Her warm brown eyes then widened.

"Gods," she sucked in a sharp breath.

"What?" Elissa cast her a dubious look. "What's wrong?"

Slayte was silent for a long moment. "Uh..." Her best friend finally began awkwardly. "Nothing." Then she said, "Elissa. You don't want to pick up this cat."

"Huh?" Elissa wiped the rain away from her eyes, frowning at her friend's odd reaction. "Why not?"

"Because…" Slayte hesitated, as if she were thinking of an actual plausible reason. "Because it probably has fleas. I mean, if it's a stray."

Elissa cast her an incredulous look. " _Seriously?_ That's your best argument? Look at the poor thing. It looks so alone and scared!"

"Elissa," Slayte attempted again, her voice tight. "You don't know where this cat came from, okay? It could've come from… anywhere." She gestured weakly. She knew that stubborn look in Elissa's eyes. Just then her striking hazel irises appeared a dark shade of green-brown in the dimness. She had known her friend long enough to recognise that she was fighting a losing battle.

"I'm taking it home for the night. I can't possibly leave it out here, not like this."

Slayte bit her lower lip. Finally she supplied, with great reluctance, "Ugh. Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you when it turns out to be a nightmare." She shook her head, and added in a mumble, "Your _death_ wish."

"Yes!" Elissa grinned, disregarding her strange choice of words, and scooped the frightened cat up into her arms. Wrapping her white jacket around the animal to keep it warm, they then continued their walk to the bus-stop, with Elissa entirely oblivious to the concerned, surreptitious looks that Slayte directed to the cat in her arms the entire way home.

* * *

An hour later, after bidding Slayte goodnight, Elissa was back at her one-bedroom apartment. She'd immediately put her book down, kicked off her sandals and placed her jacket on the drying rack in the bathroom, and then headed straight to the modestly sized kitchen to pour a bowl of milk for the poor animal she'd rescued from the cold.

The cat had meowed (Elissa had never heard that tone of mewl before, but figured maybe the cat's voice was injured) and hungrily lunged for the bowl, lapping up the milk so fast that Elissa had had to pour another bowl within a minute. Leaving two other bowls out for the cat to drink, she had then left to take a quick shower. After changing into comfortable pyjamas, she flopped down on the floor in her bedroom, and proceeded to blow-dry her hair. It was a medium shade of wavy, chestnut brown and had gotten far too messy and long. Elissa had been intending to cut it for ages – but things always got in the way. Lately she'd had more important matters to deal with. Losing loved ones only months prior had taken the joy out of doing everyday things. It was only recently that she had allowed Slayte and her other concerned friends to drag her back outside, back to the living world.

Once she'd finished blow-drying her hair, she hastily braided it, and returned to the kitchen – only for her jaw to drop.

The cat stood beside three broken bowls, blinking innocently up at her.

"Hey," Elissa placed her hands on her hips, displeased. "I take you in, and you destroy my cutlery? Geeze…"

The cat meowed. Elissa knelt down to pick up the broken fragments, muttering in irritation. She'd just lost three perfectly respectable bowls. Maybe Slayte had been right about-

"Ouch!" she suddenly yelped, when a shard of glass cut unexpectedly into her finger, dripping blood onto the black kitchen tiles. Elissa immediately placed the tip of her index finger into her mouth, scooped up the remainder of the broken pieces with a dish-cloth and tossed them in the bin. Then she ran her hand under the kitchen sink, before fishing around in the drawers for a plaster.

She didn't notice the cat lick at the droplets of blood that had fallen on the floor. At the time she simply forgot about it.

After she'd tended to her injured finger, Elissa picked the cat up.

"Are you a boy or girl cat?" she wondered aloud curiously, checking. "Ah. Female. Hmm. Okay. You have a name?"

The cat meowed in response, blinking impossibly large black eyes at her. Elissa stared at her. She'd never seen such large, soulful eyes on a feline before. In the light of the kitchen, the animal was cute. But she was also dirty, and in desperate need of a bath.

"Let me eat, and then we'll get you washed up," Elissa sighed.

* * *

"Alright. Let's get you cleaned up," Elissa clapped after she had downed a hasty supper of leftover spaghetti bolognaise. The cat had been eager to share with her, which she'd indulged. She walked to the bathroom and ran a warm bath. Then, rolling up her sleeves, she proceeded to scrub the feline clean. To her surprise, the cat seemed to enjoy the water, and allowed herself to be washed.

"That's a first," Elissa laughed. "Don't you cats hate water?"

The feline merely purred in response.

Elissa then lifted her out the tub, towel and blow-dried her fur. When she was done, she gasped.

The cat was beautiful. She had rich gleaming soft fur that matched her dark eyes, and a swishing, fluffy tail. Large, adorable ears twitched, as Elissa reached out to pet her small head.

"How can something so cute be without an owner?" Elissa asked the animal. "You really don't have a name?"

The cat meowed, licking her mouth. Her tongue was more red than pink, Elissa noted.

"Hmm." She sat back, lifting a finger thoughtfully to her chin. "Let's see. What shall I call you? Sooty?" She considered. "Onyx? Luna?"

The cat mewled, almost as if in disagreement to all those names.

"Petty?" Elissa tried next. "For the time you are my pet. But I can't keep you, you know."

The cat leaned into her outstretched hand, rubbing her head against Elissa's palm.

"No, Petty's unoriginal," Elissa mused to herself. "How about… Betty? Hmm. Hetty? No… _Vetty?_ "

The cat purred.

"Vetty," Elissa repeated. She supposed it kind of had a cute ring to it. And the cat seemed to like it. "Okay. Vetty it is." She scratched the cat under her furry chin, prompting her to purr more deeply. "So what were you doing all alone outside? You must have come from somewhere, right?"

Vetty merely blinked lazily at her in response.

Elissa sighed. She guessed she'd never know. She'd check the cat for injuries, let her stay the night, and then if she was fine, would release her again in the morning.

Looking Vetty over, she found nothing about her seemed to be amiss. In fact, judging from the heavy-lidded look of contentment that had passed over the cat, she seemed to be perfectly happy and healthy.

Maybe someone had simply lost their kitty, Elissa reasoned. She'd go to the Rescue Centre first thing in the morning and hand the cat in there.

"Let's make you a bed to sleep in," she said. She walked to her bedroom and grabbed two blankets, which she folded into a comfortable pile. Placing it on the fluffy white rug in the centre of her bedroom, she patted it invitingly. "Here. Your bed for the night."

Vetty meowed and slunk to the blanket. She settled into it, and closed her eyes, falling almost immediately asleep. Elissa watched her a moment, then grabbed her library book, and settled into bed, admiring the cat from her position.

She really _was_ pretty to look at…

Then she turned her attention to the thick book in her hands. Luckily the leather-bound cover had kept its interior pages dry.

It was entitled: _Of Ancient Greek Gods and Goddesses._

She needed it for some research she was doing on the story she was presently working on. Opening the book, Elissa looked at the contents page. Her eyes skimmed down the list absently, skipping names and letters randomly.

_Apollo - Sun_

_Artemis - Hunt_

_Athena - Wisdom_

_Cronus - Chaos_

_Demeter - Harvest_

_Hades - Underworld_

_Hephaestus -_

_Hypnos - Sleep_

_Kore - Spring_

_Nyx - Night_

_Poseidon – Oceans_

_Zeus – Olympian King_

Her eyes were then suddenly snagged by a word.

_Thanatos – Gentle Death_

She swallowed. A sadness filled her heart, as she recalled the people she had lost. There was nothing gentle about death, she told herself. It was cruel. It was heartless. It didn't care what suffering it brought upon people, severing their ties to their loved ones. It ripped away people's hopes and dreams and bestowed nothing but misery in its wake.

She pushed the thought away, and turned to the first page of the book.

* * *

An hour later, Elissa had fallen asleep. The book had fallen open on her stomach, and the nightstand light was still on.

Because Elissa was fast asleep, she didn't see Vetty open her eyes. She didn't see the gleam of crimson in the dimness, as the cat leapt gracefully up to her bed, padding noiselessly over to the open book. She tilted her head, inspecting the page, her bushy tail swishing curiously behind her.

It had opened at: _Thanatos – Gentle Death._

Vetty purred silently to herself in satisfaction. She had found a new owner, and they had exchanged an irreversible, binding blood contract. The human didn't know it yet. But Vetty did. This human was hers now.

And so, she began her schemes.

* * *

**Author's note**

This story features OCs based on Greek mythical figures and is a Quietus!AU, featuring mainly the Uchiha clan who are still alive in this timeline. Hope you enjoy it!

Angelissa by Vaie (https://vaieart.tumblr.com/)


	3. Part II: 800 Years… Wasted

* * *

**  
Part II: 800 Years… Wasted.  
  
**

* * *

_ Five years prior... _

Slayte stood at the crest of the hill overlooking the river Styx. Her long black hair cascaded over her shoulders, reaching mid-thigh. Her raven locks were held back artfully by a flower garland crafted by her dear friend Kayt with whom she had spent the better part of the day lounging about in the underworld's gardens. She had brushed her hair to a smooth shine and chosen her silkiest, lavender chiton for this encounter that she awaited ardently with every passing day.

Her friends had long since retired to their chambers, their work for the day completed. Kayt had put away her gardening tools, a task Slayte had gladly assisted her with, and Jui had served the last meal of the day, freeing herself to seek out their leisure and then rest before rising early to prepare breakfast for the Underworld's nobility.

Slayte did not mind the late hour. It was her task to meet the gods of the Underworld returning from the surface and to light their way back to the castle. Her position was generally superfluous as it was a rare occurrence for a god to leave their mysterious, dazzling realm - with one notable exception. The enigmatic, elusive Thanatos was duty bound to roam the mortal realm daily, collecting the souls of the mortals whose time on the surface had come to an end. This gave Slayte the distinct pleasure of seeing that most handsome of deities, whose stunning features, aristocratic stature, and stoic demeanor she had been enamored with since her earliest memories. His voice, on the rare occasions he spoke, was like the night itself, rich, powerful, and dark.

She held the torch high above her head. It had been hours that she stood here, waiting, but although her arm ached, it would not do for Thanatos to see her in less than perfect form. When he lay foot on the riverbank, she must be the perfect image of patient anticipation, a warm welcome back to the Underworld – his home. She repeated the poem she had been composing that day in her mind.  _ Shall I compare thee to a winter's night?  _ The words had come to her unbidden, as they did with her best work, as she reclined in the long blades of grass beside Kayt who was hard at work and commented, as her friends often did, that Slayte had too much time on her hands. She practiced the modulation she would use, moving her lips but without producing sound, for fear someone should hear her.

When she finally saw the raven hair and golden mask of her master, she released a wistful sigh before sprinting to his side.  _ If Lord Thanatos speaks to me today, I shall recite my poem to him. _ She determined as she approached him. She did not greet him, as it was ill-manners to speak to such a lofty deity without being spoken to. She did her best to match his gait, to stand tall and straight so as to be worthy of walking beside him. Was his way perfectly lit by the torchlight so that he was in the center of it? She adjusted the angle until it was just so.

She admired his stride, his elegant, pale, ringed fingers, as well as the gold and onyx earring that dangled from his earlobe. The curve of that ear was simply divine as well, she noted with a small smile. Was there a single thing about Lord Thanatos that wasn't perfect?

They were halfway to the castle, and still Thanatos had not spoken. That was hardly unusual, Slayte thought to herself. In the 800 years she had served, she could count on one hand the number of times he had addressed her. Once, to ask where his mother was and a second time, for the whereabouts of his younger brother. It was hardly likely he would address her now.  _ Very well,  _ she decided instead as they neatly stepped down the cobblestone pathway leading further up to the castle,  _ if Lord Thanatos looks at me. If he looks my way just once, I will address him myself.  _ Her cheeks burned as she considered doing something so daring.  _ Just once, and I will speak to him and ask him if he would like to hear my poem.  _ She glanced quickly up at Thanatos again, not to miss the moment in case he did actually look at her.

She watched the shades retreating further back, forbidden from coming too close to the castle. The spirits of the Underworld flowers flitted from one patch of flowers to another, sparkling like stars as they passed by the pair, neatly bowing in reverence as they passed Thanatos. The castle loomed overhead, and Slayte counted her steps, to keep herself busy and in order to not lose her nerve in the moment when surely, he would turn and take notice of her. They climbed the steps leading up to the wide-open double doors where the royal family resided. Where Slayte was forbidden from entering without official business. Surely, he would stop here briefly, to nod at her in acknowledgment before entering the castle?

Thanatos did not even change his pace as he stepped past the threshold, leaving a crestfallen Slayte behind. She stared after his retreating back, still holding the torch high, lest he turn around to look at her now. He did not. No sooner had he entered the premises than he was surrounded by other servants, tending to him eagerly. Slayte stepped backwards numbly, finally allowing herself to lower her aching arm. He had not looked at her.

She turned away from the castle in a daze. Had he  _ ever _ looked at her? She tried to remember. She had never been aware of it because she had never been so eagerly anticipating it before. Had Thanatos ever acknowledged her in the past? Her presence, her existence, her service? Those two times he had spoken to her, had he used her name? Did he know she had one? She trembled and her cheeks burned in humiliation. What was she to Thanatos? She had spent 800 years of her life, serving him, admiring him, pining for him. 800 years where he did not even know she existed. Her presence registered even less than the shades that lingered just beyond the castle boundaries.

She stumbled back to her chambers in the servant's quarters numb, hurt, and disillusioned. She stared up at the ceiling of the small hut, her mind still reeling. If she was nothing to Thanatos, who was everything to her, then was she anything at all?

What had she been doing these last 800 years?

When she asked Kayt this the next day, her friend laughed. "Were you serious about Thanatos?" she asked with a disbelieving smile as she expertly used her shears to tame a rather large shrub. "Slayte, not a nymph has had a chance with him since long before you came to be. He is not known for petty dalliances like other,  _ lesser _ , gods."

"But," Slayte cut in, "We're his servants. We're closer to him than the other nymphs! He ought to know us, at least, don't you agree?"

"Well, on that note," Kayt severed an offending twig, "You're closest to him. You greet him every evening. Does he take note of you? If not, I doubt he notices any of us."

Kayt missed the way her friend's expression fell, her gaze dropping to the floor.

"He's been around a very long time, Slayte," Jui tried later that day as her friend sought her out in the kitchens. "Millenia, or even longer. He can't take interest in every little thing around him."

Slayte stared mutely at a corner of the kitchen, trying not to be hurt that her friend had just called her a little thing. Jui watched her apprentice bustle to and fro at her instructions. "Kasai," she called out, "Do you think so, too? Am I making too much of this?"

Kasai looked between Slayte and Jui uneasily, "I mean, Slayte… it's only been 800 years. You haven't even been around for a millennium. You're still really young. Give it time and I'm sure you'll take pride in your task without needing acknowledgement from Thanatos."

"You two," Slayte tried again, "If some other nymph were to stand there tonight, and guide him home… you are aware that wouldn't even give him pause, right?"

The two girls exchanged nervous glances as they suspected Slayte was dangerously close to an emotional breakdown.

"Slayte…" Jui attempted, hoping to reason with her.

"I loved him with every fiber of my being! With every breath in my body!" Slayte cried, tears welling up in her eyes. "There wasn't a thought in my head for eight  _ hundred _ years that didn't center around him and his wellbeing!"

She paused, sucking in a cold breath as she willed her tears away. "What… have I been doing all this time?" She choked out, looking down on her own clenched hands in her lap.

"There, there, Slayte," Jui patted her shoulder gently. "You'll move on, find someone else who will return your affections. Resume your task with grace, I know you will." She smiled at her friend.

Slayte only shook her head. "I can't." she announced.

Jui and Kasai froze in place, a sense of foreboding in the room.

"I can't walk him back to that castle another time. I can not see his face again." She rose to her feet, her decision seeming to make itself. "I have to leave."

"What?" Jui's mouth fell open. "Where would you go? There's nowhere in the Underworld you can go to. The minute someone sees you, they'll bring you back."

"Then I will leave the Underworld." Slayte announced vehemently.

"You can't hide on Olympus! You're a servant of the Underworld! The gods up there are duty bound to send you back!" Kasai tried instead.

"I shan't go to Olympus. I will journey to the mortal realm." There was a decisive spark in Slayte's eyes. There was no way she was going to back down. No way she could resume that mortifying subservient existence she had endured for nearly a millennium.

"I beg of you, my friends, I need your help." She turned to her companions hopefully.

"You- you're going to make us accomplices in this?!" Kasai stammered.

"There's nothing to be afraid of," Slayte reassured them. "No one will notice my absence."

_ Just as no one noticed my presence.  _ "Any number of Lampades will be more than happy to take over my duties. You know how many of them adore Thanatos. He won't notice a thing. Please. I can't do it without you."

Jui stepped forward, taking Slayte's hand in her own. "Slayte, we're not immortal. The mortal world is dangerous. If anything happens to you up there. You'll really die."

Slayte's lips pressed together in firm determination before she declared, "Good."

A small basket of provisions hung from her arm. She had passed by Cerberus, wrapped up in one of Thanatos' discarded cloaks, courtesy of Jui. She secretly congratulated herself on her genius in passing the guardian dog so cleverly. Whatever she was, whoever she was, her journey was just now beginning. She was being born anew. Nagato gave her no more than a curious glance when she pressed a coin into his hand, and he began turning the oars. It was rare to take a passenger from this direction over to the other side.

When she finally stepped out of the foggy mist of the underworld, the sun was just cresting on the horizon. Climbing the hill, Slayte took a deep breath of the crisp, morning air.  _ Tastes like freedom _ , she smiled to herself and made her way among the trees to where she hoped she might find a human settlement.

Her provisions did not last as long as she had hoped and when Slayte finally reached what seemed to be a town she already felt hunger gnawing at her stomach. Her leather sandals and lavender chiton were sorely out of place among the oddly dressed mortals, but she paid it no mind as she meandered aimlessly through the city streets.

Slayte, having lived her whole life in the Underworld without a care for even Olympus, let alone the mortal realm was badly ill-prepared for the harsh reality of mortal life. Three days she spent on the roads, searching for shelter. Although she could survive without food, that knowledge did nothing to keep the hunger pangs at bay. Following a scent that reminded her of Jui's cooking she entered a restaurant the first day, only to be chased out when the owner of the establishment discovered she did not possess any "money".

Not one of the mortals there was inclined to explain to her what exactly this "money" was. The first two days of her fruitless search were mild, the sun shone high in a fair sky and even the nights were forgiving and warm. She enjoyed looking up at the cerulean sky, so different from the permanent night of the Underworld, and wondered what Apollo was like. As someone who guides the sun across the sky tirelessly every day, she assumed he must be a deity of great fortitude. She wondered if he ever despaired of the futility of his task the way she had.

The third day, the sky split suddenly overhead, releasing a downpour that drenched her to the bone. She went on wandering the streets, now with renewed desperation, cursing herself for not better informing herself on the workings of the mortal realm. Wishing she had thought to ask Jui what "money" was.

She was accustomed to the conveniences of the Underworld. Hunger meant seek out the kitchens. Boredom sent her to the gardens, to Kayt's cheerful banter. Tiredness sent her to the servant's quarters. The mortal realm meant searching and searching without quite knowing just what she was searching for.

She was beginning to despair of her rash decision. Bitter tears lodged in her throat. Even if she were to be killed by pickpockets and die in the rain on this cold night, she decided, it would still be better than the humiliation of having to see Thanatos again. Of walking him back to the castle even one more time.

She paused, catching sight of the dim windows of an establishment that was clearly closed. A forest green sign overhead read  _ Wings of Freedom _ in gold lettering and underneath that, in smaller cursive the addition,  _ Tea Shop _ . She approached the locale to seek shelter from the rain under the overhanging awning. Peering inside the windows, she saw an impeccably clean little café, with tables and chairs furnished out of warm cherry wood. She sighed and turned away from the view. What she wouldn't give to be sitting at Jui's side by the warmth of the kitchen fire with a mug of tea in her hands.

A shiver passed through her as she looked down and watched the water snaking down her arms and dripping down the hem of her chiton. What was she doing here? What did she think she would achieve by leaving home? What was she hoping to accomplish? Surely, she was the most foolish nymph in all of existence to have attempted such an imprudent escapade. She was a half-witted, bumbling, poor excuse of a – the sudden tinkling of a bell roused her from her thoughts.

A young man stood in the doorway of the tea shop, a large bag of parchment paper in his left arm as he opened the large, glass door to the locale with his right. His black hair was parted in the center and damp from the rain. His expression was one of annoyance that seemed characteristic rather than provoked. Cool, icy blue eyes were hooded by narrowed eyelids, his annoyance emphasized by his furrowed, thin eyebrows. He held the door open with his foot as he ran a hand though his wet hair, pushing the strands back from his face.

He seemed then, to notice her. Drawn, perhaps, by her own gaze. He looked her once over and Slayte was suddenly uncomfortably aware of her appearance. The flower garland Kayt had adorned her black hair with had long since been removed. Her hair was a wet, tangled mess. Her lavender chiton, ridiculously out of place in the mortal realm, dripped water like a wet rag. Try as she might to stand up tall and meet his eyes confidently, she could not banish the shivering of her bare shoulders. All in all, she knew she made for a pathetic picture.

He looked over his shoulder up and down the abandoned roads to confirm what he already knew. No one in their right mind would be out in this weather.

"We're closed." He told her. His tone was brusque, but his voice surprisingly calm and gentle, in contrast to his expression. It was oddly pleasant, Slayte thought. A voice she should like to hear again, when she wasn't soaking wet and being looked down on.

"I am aware." She answered quickly, avoiding his gaze, "I seek only shelter under this awning until the storm passes. Pray, pay me no mind."

The man blinked at her odd manner of speech. He turned his eyes heavenward, as if already regretting the next words to leave his mouth.

"Come in, it's better to get out of the rain inside." He wiped his shoes on the mat before stepping inside, holding the door open only for the fraction of a second it took her to make up her mind. She followed quickly, catching the door before it closed on her.

He switched on the lights and Slayte got her first, good look at the quaint establishment. All of the surfaces were polished to a gleam and the lighting was warm on the dark wood furniture. The chairs were lined with green cushions that seemed to be a trademark color of the little shop. Beyond the counter she could see a neat line of appliances, along with shelves that lined the entire wall filled to the brim with various assortments of tea, each labelled neatly in careful handwriting.

The kind stranger gestured vaguely to a table to her right and she pulled out a chair to sit down, glad to finally be off of her feet. The warmth of the room settled in slowly, and she soon stopped shivering. Although it was embarrassing to be dependent on the kindness of a mortal, it was the first such kindness she had been shown in the last three days and she was grateful for it.

She looked down on her leather-sandaled feet that had gone blue from cold and wondered if perhaps she would be able to survive in the mortal realm after all. She looked up as a cup of hot tea was placed on the table beside her and watched the steam rise from the dark liquid, spellbound.

"Drink that." The man commanded with the same careless expression before turning away.

"Oh! But… I'm afraid I don't possess any of the required  _ money,"  _ she protested, hoping she was pronouncing the foreign word correctly.

The man in question gave her an incredulous look before answering, "it's on the house."

Slayte took this to be a reassurance of some sort, that it was alright to drink the tea. She breathed a sigh of relief, thanking the gods for listening to her prayer. How badly she had wished for a cup of tea!

"Thank you," she whispered, "That is truly… most kind of you."

She closed her hands around the teacup reverently, allowing the warmth to seep into her fingers before taking a long, indulgent sip.

"Did the rain wash your brain out of your head?"

She sputtered at the rude comment, swallowing quickly so as to avoid spitting out the precious tea. "I beg your pardon, my sir?" she asked, wondering what she could have done to warrant such a response from her benefactor.

"The way you talk. It's bizarre." He added, watching her with that same devil-may-care expression.

She flushed. She had taken notice that the mortals seemed to speak quite differently than the Underworld dwellers but had not had time to adjust to their speech.

"I…" she stammered, "I will take care to speak more appropriately."

"Eh?" he looked disgusted by her response. "Who cares? Just do what you want." He turned away from her and headed instead to the kitchenette behind the counter. She watched as he unpacked the groceries, washing the vegetables with care and laying them to the side. He set a pan on the stove and turned a dial. A faint click was heard before the stove burst into flame, heating the pan.

"Sorcery…" she whispered, spellbound.

The man pulled a knife from a block, and tossed it into the air, seemingly without thinking about it. It glittered in the lamplight before he caught it and flipped it between his elegant fingers before setting to work chopping up the vegetables. Slayte wondered if it was normal for a mortal to be this adept with a knife. Even the robbers that had attacked her a day prior were fumbling with their knives in comparison to this man. She had narrowly escaped them by slipping into the shadows themselves, a skill she possessed by virtue of being born from them, but the fear they instilled in her had been very real. Their words had been deceptively charming and flattering. In contrast, this man's rude and brusque demeanor made her feel very safe.

Soon, her teacup was empty, and the delicious smell of spices and cooked vegetables wafted over to her nose. She was fearful of outstaying her welcome and her eyes darted to the window, wondering if the rain had let up enough for her to take her leave.

"Where do you live?" The stranger asked over his shoulder. "I can drop you off, if you want."

She had seen any number of city signs over the last three days but could not now recall a single one. She needed to say  _ something _ , but she was oddly tongue-tied. What if he caught on that she had no home?

"That's quite alright. I'll just go on foot. It isn't far from here." She lied awkwardly.  _ Only an entire world away, leagues beneath our feet. _

"If it isn't far, why were you shivering out there in the rain?" he tossed back, unconvinced. His scowl making apparent that he knew she was lying to him.

She opted instead for silence, not wanting to make it worse. He walked back over to her table and placed two plates of noodles and mixed vegetables down. Had he cooked for her? A stranger? She had always heard that mortals were cruel and amoral creatures and although she had seen nothing the last three days to suggest the contrary, this man was swaying that belief. Warm and with a meal set out in front of her, Slayte was beginning to see that mortals were not all the same.

He took the chair opposite from her and began eating without preamble. Slayte whispered a thank you and did the same, glad to finally be eating real food. It wasn't Jui's cooking, but it was delicious all the same.

"If you have somewhere to go, then go home after this. If you don't, there's a room for rent upstairs. I'm looking to hire someone anyway, if you want the job, I'll just take the rent out of your pay."

Overwhelmed by the number of words she didn't understand. Rent? Job? Pay? Slayte merely looked on mutely. "You will give me a… a job?" She queried, nonplussed.

He looked at her as if she were particularly dim-witted. A justified impression, she reluctantly admitted.

"You work. For money." He deadpanned.

"Oh." Slayte thought hard. Money was apparently a form of currency required for transactions, not unlike the coins she used for passage over the Styx. Only in the mortal world, money was required for nearly everything imaginable. Including resources required for life such as food and water. In her short time in the mortal world she understood that money was essential for survival. It was something everyone had asked her about. That, and…

"I'm afraid I don't have any identification." She admitted. "That will be a hindrance, will it not?"

The man chewed his food slowly as his mind worked. His expression somewhat softened, he answered, "Then we'll just make do with a verbal contract and I'll pay you in cash. That works out, right?"

"Does that mean…" Her eyes went wide. "I can stay here?"

"Yeah, sure, if you want the job." He rose to clear the table, and Slayte jumped to her feet, unable to contain her excitement. "I do! Very much so!" She was close at his heels and followed him into the kitchenette, ignorant of the way he winced as she tracked footprints over the clean floor.

"I'm Levi." He introduced curtly. "You?" he asked, tearing his eyes away from the dirtied floor.

"My name's Slayte." She announced, extending a hand in greeting.

He looked her in the eye with that same irritated expression, ignoring her outstretched hand altogether before commenting, "That's a shitty name."

  
  


Levi & Slayte meet by Daguer (https://dags-sz.tumblr.com/)


	4. Part III: Here To Stay

* * *

**Part III: Here to Stay**

* * *

Levi Ackerman walked over to the door, a light frown crossing his features at the near-frantic knocking. What _was_ that racket outside? Couldn't the stupid person read? The sign clearly said that the _Wings of Freedom Tea Shop_ was closed.

He lifted the drapes, to see who was banging on the other side of the glass – then sighed. He should have expected as much. It was Slayte's best friend. Maybe only friend. He'd never really seen her with anyone else. The young woman mouthed his name, looking at him in desperation, pleading for him to open the door.

"Oi," he called to his girlfriend of three years behind him, who was making final arrangements ahead of their opening hours. "It's that friend of yours." His gaze then dropped to the young woman's sneaker-clad feet. "She has an animal with her." Narrowing his eyes, he added disapprovingly, "It looks like filth."

"Hmm?" Slayte peered over the service counter. Setting down the tea-cups she had been drying, she wiped her hands on her floral apron, tied her dark hair up into a messy bun, and walked over to the door – to find Elissa's large, hazel eyes staring imploringly at her from the other side. She looked extremely stressed – and distressed. Her long, wavy brown hair fell messily into her face and her white T-shirt and blue skinny jeans looking strangely crumpled – as if she had rushed to get ready. That wasn't like Elissa. She usually always took the time to pick out nice, presentable clothes.

Concerned, she unlocked the door, and greeted her close friend. "Elissa?" she regarded her with wide eyes. "What's wrong? It's not even 08:30AM!"

"Slayte!" Her friend exclaimed in relief. "I tried to call you!"

"Oh, sorry…" Slayte felt heat creep into her cheeks, as she cast a glance back at where Levi had returned at the counter. "We were kinda busy this morning…"

His gaze slid up to hers briefly – before his dark eyes looked away expressionlessly. He busied himself with ensuring everything was spotless as the girls spoke.

"What happened?" Slayte questioned, turning her attention back to her best friend.

"I woke up early, and my apartment was completely trashed!" Elissa gestured down at the deceptively harmless looking feline at her feet. "Vetty made an absolute mess, and-"

 _"Vetty?"_ Slayte's eyebrows flew up in alarm. "You've actually _named_ it, now?"

"Her," Elissa corrected absently. "Look, I went to the Rescue Centre, hoping to drop her off, but she wouldn't get out the car! She's just been following me everywhere!"

Slayte folded her arms. "I warned you not to take this cat in," she admonished. "Didn't I tell you so?"

"Yes," Elissa agreed, and pushed past her, rushing into the quaint little tea shop. She always loved to visit. As well as being Slayte and Levi's home, she considered it a safe haven of sorts, too, a place where she could hang out with Slayte and just switch off from the outside world. Also, the cakes and menu on offer were absolutely delicious, and having treats on the house – much to Levi's grumbling - which was definitely a plus point.

"I don't know what to do with her. You know I don't keep pets!" she cried. "She's been an absolute _nightmare!_ She's like a cat-possessed!"

Slayte snorted. "Sounds about right," she mumbled cryptically.

Levi scowled when the cat trotted in after her, leaving little paw marks on the pristine floor. "Oi. That cat better not-" he began.

"I'll clean up if she makes a mess, babe," Slayte assured him, anticipating what he would say. "I just need Elissa to calm down." Leading her friend to a table, she sat her down, and said, "I'll get you some tea. Just… make sure Vetty doesn't break anything, okay? You know how Levi is about _mess."_

She turned away to get her friend a soothing hot drink.

Elissa bent down and lifted the black cat onto her lap unhappily. Vetty blinked large dark eyes up at her, purring, demanding to be petted. Elissa glared down at her.

"You broke the vase my mother gifted me when I moved out," she censured the animal. "You completely destroyed all the toilet roll. It's no wonder you were out on the streets! Geeze!"

Vetty yawned. As if the words bored her. It made Elissa glower at her more heatedly.

A steaming cup of tea was set down on the ornate cream table before her. Elissa accepted it gratefully. Vetty watched her with keen, gleaming eyes.

Slayte inspected the cat in concerned silence. "We need to get rid of it," she stated. "You can't keep this animal. It's clearly wild. Not unless you don't want a house _left_ to stay in."

"She keeps following me. I locked myself in the toilet this morning in panic. Do cats even behave like this?" She looked down at the ball of fluff sitting docilely in her arms. "This is the best behaved she's been since I woke up, and I'm pretty sure that's only because you guys are here."

"Well, how was she last night?" Slayte asked curiously.

"She was fine. I mean she broke a few milk bowls by accident, and I cut my finger pretty bad on one-" Elissa began to recall.

Slayte inhaled sharply. "You… _cut_ your finger?" she got out weakly, a strange look passing over her pretty features.

"Yeah. It was no big deal. Anyway, I managed to wash her, and she went to sleep. I didn't hear anything at night. I don't know when she even managed to go around and trash everything!"

Slayte cleared her throat. "Uh. So. You didn't let her lick your finger or anything, did you?" she asked.

Elissa, who had just taken another sip of tea, blinked at her in confusion. "What?" she said blankly, not sure why Slayte would ask such a bizarre question.

Vetty hopped off her lap as Slayte quickly followed up, "Just, I mean, because you know, it's a _stray_ , right? Strays can have… diseases… and stuff."

"Of course I didn't let her lick my finger," Elissa scowled. "What the hell, Slayte?"

"Just checking!" Slayte held up her hands defensively. But she let out a quiet exhalation of breath that almost sounded like relief. Elissa shrugged it off. Sometimes her friend acted weird – but she always just passed it off as one of Slayte's loveable quirks.

Vetty padded around the tables, to the service counter. Levi peered over the edge, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Don't get any ideas," he addressed Vetty. "I don't give handouts to filth."

Vetty meowed indignantly in response, blinking lazily up at him.

"She might be hungry," Elissa called to him. "I mean, I gave her breakfast, but it's not like I own any pet food."

"Who cares? Not my problem," Levi quipped. "She's getting nothing from me." Glancing at Elissa, he added, "If your cat's going to be a pain, take her and leave."

Elissa met Slayte's amused gaze and stifled a laugh. She was more than accustomed to Levi's blunt ways. She knew he wouldn't _really_ kick her out.

At least, she _hoped_ he wouldn't. She'd never come into his tea shop with a demonic cat before.

"Babe, can we just spare a cookie?" Slayte turned her eyes to him. "If she's hungry, we should probably give her something, at least to keep her occupied until we figure out what to do with her. Just one cookie."

Levi scowled.

"Please?" Slayte rose from her seat, and approached the counter. She leaned forward, directing pleading wide eyes at her dark-haired boyfriend.

Elissa watched, feeling a twinge in her heart. Slayte and Levi had been together for a few years, and although they seemed such an unlikely couple, somehow they balanced out perfectly. Elissa was thrilled for her friend. But seeing them together sometimes filled her with longing. She'd yet to find anyone perfect for her like Levi was for Slayte. All the guys who had ever shown any interest in her, had always been liars, players, or immature boys who had only ever really been after one thing.

Elissa didn't want a love like that. She wanted a forever kind of love. The sort that would ignite a spark in her heart that would give way to an all-consuming, eternal passion. A love based on mutual trust, honesty, respect and understanding. An exciting love. A dangerous love. A love without limits.

But at twenty-two years old, there weren't many young men her age who were looking for commitment, or anything long-term. And so, Elissa had given up on trying to find romance. And with everything else that she'd had to deal with in her personal life over the previous year, finding love had fast slipped down her list of priorities.

She smiled as Levi scoffed and nodded tersely to the cookie container. Slayte whispered something to him, and picked out a single cookie. Setting it into a plate, she then bent down and placed it by Vetty, who swished her tail and mewled. Then the cat began to nibble happily on her sweet treat.

Slayte rejoined Elissa at the table. "So. How about in my lunch break, we head out and try and take her back to the Rescue Centre?"

"That would be great," Elissa said gratefully. "I could really do with a hand."

"Alright," Slayte nodded. She then looked back over her shoulder at the cat, and narrowed her eyes. "Let's just hope she stays away this time," she added in a mutter beneath her breath.

* * *

Tiny, floating spheres of gold and silver fluttered around in the resplendently kept gardens, shedding fairy-like dust. Tall and gracefully slender trees lined the winding stone paths that led to different sections within the grounds, each one more magical than the last. They were unearthly, a pure, luminous, milky-white, glowing with strange, eerie life, their barks glistening with diamond-like intensity. All around bloomed, sweet-smelling exotic flowers, thriving under a perpetually night sky.

Queen Nyx of the Underworld strolled leisurely along the path, dressed in a flowing black gown speckled with silver stitching that gave the illusion of scattered stars strewn upon the gauzy skirt. Her long, midnight, silky hair was laced with glimmering pearls. In her pale, slender hand she held an _uchiwa_ fan, bearing the insignia of her prestigious clan. At her feet were three sooty, mewling grey cats, who followed her every move, tumbling and playing with one another, their bushy, soft tails swishing behind them.

She nodded in greeting to her loyal gardener, Kayt, who was busy trimming a large shrub as Nyx passed her by.

"Good evening, My Queen," Kayt curtsied respectfully, pushing back a stray lock of brown hair out her face as she paused in her duties.

"Well met, Kayt," Nyx smiled, glancing around admiringly. "I commend you on your work. The gardens are looking delightful."

Kayt beamed with pride, rubbing a gloved hand across her cheek. Grass stains smeared her skin, a visible token of her devotion to her job. "Thank you, my Lady!" she replied, turning warm brown eyes back to the hedge.

"Jui," Nyx called to the chef who followed behind her.

"My Queen," Jui hurried forward, and bowed low.

"There is my son," Nyx remarked, her eyes locking onto a lone figure that sat perched on the edge of a white stone fountain. Drawing to a stop, she sighed softly. "Always in solitude. Please fetch him some dango. I have no doubts he has had another trying day, and would much appreciate a sweet treat."

Jui's dark eyes widened. "At once, My Queen!" she exclaimed, hurrying away to the kitchens to do as she was bid.

Nyx approached the figure that sat alone, watching the cascading water falling from the fountains. They depicted beautiful winged Elissas, holding large vases that tipped crystal clear water into the spacious basin below. Dressed in a rich black cloak that seemed to be woven of shadows, with gold-stitching at the shoulders and a high collar, was her eldest son, Prince Thanatos. An ornate black and gold mask concealed half his face from view, but Nyx knew that beneath it, were the most beautiful, soulful, gentlest eyes. His ears were adorned with gold, onyx encrusted piercings, including daggers above the earlobe.

"My Love," she placed a hand lightly to his left shoulder, drawing his attention to her.

"Mother," he murmured, his rich, deep voice as tranquil, seductive and smooth as the night itself.

"Why do you keep to yourself here?" Nyx questioned, pushing a stray lock of silky black hair out of his face. His long, thick, beautiful hair was unbound, signalling that he had most likely retired of his duties for a brief while. It was always brief, Nyx knew, a deep sadness filling her. His role was a harsh one, which gave him little time for leisure and respite. "Why not find your brother? I am sure Hades would love to spend time in your company."

"He will wish to spar," Thanatos answered. "I sought a moment of silence."

"Don't worry, Aunt," a voice called, and Nyx smiled, despite herself. She turned her lovely face up to the milky tree beside the fountain, to find a familiar figure resting languidly in one of the branches, arms folded behind his head. "I'm keeping him company. He isn't out here brooding all alone."

"Hypnos," she beamed. "My beloved nephew. Pasithea," she waved at the woman who was hiding up in the branches with the enigmatically masked God of Sleep.

"How goes it?" he grinned down at her. "I hope you told Jui to bring me a treat back, too?"

Jui, who had hurried back with dango in hand, bowed to Thanatos reverently. "My Lord," she greeted. "The finest dango, for your consumption."

Thanatos did not hesitate to take one of the dumpling treats, quietly thanking her for her troubles.

"And what about _me?"_ Hypnos called impishly.

Jui blinked and glanced up toward him. "My Lord Hypnos!" she greeted. "If you would be so kind as to come down?"

"Why don't _you_ come up?" he teased.

Jui looked flustered by the unexpected attention.

"Stop teasing her," the dark-haired young woman who sat up on the branch with him laughed. It was Pasithea, his betrothed. "Throw them up here, Jui. I'll catch them."

Nyx stroked her son's cheek in a fleeting, tender touch. She loved Thanatos terribly – but she often worried about him. He was often too quiet. Too distant. Like a cold, unattainable star that burned brightly alone in the night sky, brilliant and blazing – but lonely all the same. She longed for him to find contentment. Happiness. But he gave himself no time or room for leisure. He was ever-focused entirely on his duties. She wished that he could enjoy himself more, as her youngest did. Hades, she never needed to worry about – he was always occupied in some manner of mischief, thanks to Zeus's son Apollo and a blossom haired young spring goddess she had recently heard her son was starting to spend more time with.

"Well met," a deep voice suddenly addressed them, and Nyx felt a treacherous flutter within the pits of her stomach as a tall, imposing deity approached them. His dark hair was a messy, untamed mane that tumbled down his broad back, framing a sharply-planed faced and handsome, haughty features. Dressed entirely in black, as the rest of them were, he was majestic, stern and terrifying in equal measures.

"Majesty," Jui bowed low, averting her gaze entirely in his presence.

"Great Grandfather," Hypnos called from the tree.

"Hypnos. Thanatos." Cronus, the Patriarch who was Lord Supreme over the entire Underworld, nodded. Then his dark, heavy-lashed eyes slipped onto Nyx.

She raised the fan to her face. "My Lord," she murmured demurely.

"Lady," he greeted, his intense eyes lingering on her beautiful face for a moment, as if he found some deeply pleasing secret there – and then he had passed them all by, surrounded by a troupe of scrambling servants who were eager to cater to his every wish.

Nyx's eyes followed him for a few seconds, before returning to her silent son.

"Love," she said, as he finished off his sweet treat. "Walk with your Mother. Let us look at the stars together."

Ever the dutiful eldest son, ever respectful and gracious, Thanatos rose gracefully to his feet, immediately indulging his mother's request without fuss.

* * *

Elissa sat on the carpet in her bedroom, staring sadly at the photo-album in her hand. It had been a long day. After she and Slayte had finally succeeded in handing a mewling, resisting Vetty into the Rescue Centre (it had been quite the mission to complete), she had rushed to her morning Creative Writing class, before racing to the job she kept proof-reading with a local newspaper. It wasn't a very inspiring position, but it paid her bills.

She'd gotten back home just an hour earlier. It was half-past nine and she was beyond exhausted. After fixing herself a hasty dinner, she'd soaked in a long bath, relieved to have the apartment to herself once again. After drying herself off and changing into her nightwear, she'd then sat in her room, looking over at pictures of the loved ones she had lost in the space of only a few months apart.

Her hand hovered over the face of her beloved grandfather. The loss had been difficult, because she had been so attached to him. She feared death, for what it did to her and to everyone else. Cut holes in people's hearts. Cut people out of existence. It made her afraid to form any lasting attachments, knowing that in the end, they were all destined to turn to literal dust.

She looked at the other members she had lost, too, tears prickling her eyes. Death had come for one after the other. She'd been down a long time after they had been snatched so cruelly from her. Turned to writing to try to cope. She thought that perhaps writing was what had saved her from the black hole of misery that had threatened to swallow her up entirely. That - and her friends, who had dragged her back into living.

There was a sudden scratching noise against the doors of her balcony windows. She looked up, frowning, and put the album down. Moving to the doors, she opened them to investigate – when a black shadow jumped immediately through the space in the glass.

"Huh?" she blinked in alarm, turning to find…

_Vetty?_

She stared in disbelief at the cat. Sure enough, it was the same stray she had saved, returned to her.

"What are you _doing_ here?" she gaped, stunned. "How did you get out the Rescue Centre?"

Vetty mewled, as if angry. Then, to Elissa's horror, she pounced on her photo album,

"No!" Elissa cried, diving for the book. She managed to snatch it up. When Vetty kept attacking it, and scratched her arms in the process, Elissa felt tears well in her eyes.

"Stop!" she pleaded, hugging the book close. "Please, stop it! These photos are important!"

Vetty unexpectedly paused. Her dark eyes met Elissa's. Saw that they were red-rimmed from crying.

"Meow," she said, and inched gingerly closer. Elissa tensed, not certain what the strange cat would do next – but to her surprise, Vetty simply rubbed herself against her side.

Almost as though she understood. Almost as though she were trying to give comfort.

When Elissa began to cry, Vetty mewled mournfully, and didn't leave her side.

And it was on that night, that Elissa decided, after her tears were spent – that surely the cat had returned to her for a reason, and that maybe she would keep the animal after all.

* * *

Nyx by Vaie (https://vaieart.tumblr.com/)


	5. Part IV: Meeting an Angel

**Slayte's backstory/Flashback.  
**

* * *

**Part IV: Meeting an Angel**

* * *

Work, _real_ work, Slayte discovered, was no walk in the Underworld's gardens. She was starting to understand why her friends had so often disparaged her carefree ways. Kayt, she knew, had tended to her work on the gardens pleasantly, ever a song on her lips as she coaxed the foliage to bloom and beauty. When sweat glistened on her forehead, she seemed not to notice. Jui spent all hours of the day eagerly trying out new recipes. In contrast, Slayte had lounged in the shade of the Underworld's trees, composed poetry, raced with the shades and generally did as she pleased until duty called and she escorted Thanatos, and on rare occasion, other gods, to the castle.

The early weeks at the tea shop were a harsh contrast to her easygoing ways in the Underworld. Her days consisted of little more than menial tasks that she was required to do over and over again because she hadn't gotten it right the first time. "Oi. I gave you more than enough time. Why isn't the floor clean?" Levi would gripe upon entering the shop. She would only gape at him, because she _had,_ of course, mopped the floor. More than once, for fear of his acerbic penchant for absolutely rigid, hospital-hygiene standards. "I _cleaned_ the floor!" she would retort hastily.

"Tch." The disapproving sound would be followed by a scalding look as he took the mop out of her hands. Any complaints she had, died on her tongue, because when Levi mopped the floor, it actually sparkled. Slayte learned quickly not to make excuses. She learned to watch Levi carefully as he worked because everything he touched seemed to shine. She was a quick learner, if nothing else, and after a few weeks of glares and "Didn't I teach you better?" her cleaning was finally on a level that met Levi's mark of approval.

On the rare occasions that she awakened before him, she took pleasure in wiping down the counters and mopping the hardwood floors so that when Levi entered he was met by the pleasant fragrance of pine soap and the sight of his tea shop sparkling to perfection. The muted smile that threatened to break through his perpetual frown made it well worth her effort and she was almost always rewarded by a nod of approval and a steaming cup of tea before they began their shift.

On one particular Sunday morning, she found him sitting on a barstool at the counter, a contemplative expression on his face as he pored over papers strewn in front of him. He rested his forehead against the knuckles of his left hand and his dark hair fell into his face, but he seemed not to notice as he glared at the stationary.

"Good morning." She greeted, coming up beside him. "Yeah." He answered absently. She set a kettle on the stove, wondering what could possibly have him so tense.

"When were you born?" he asked tersely, without looking up at her.

"Er, sometime in the winter, I believe." She answered vaguely, pulling two porcelain teacups from the shelf.

She missed the pointed look he gave her as she reached for a tall tea container on one of the higher shelves.

"Who were your parents?" He tried instead.

"Well…" she trailed off. Having been born from the shadows of the night, she assumed Nyx was in some sense, her mother? Then her father would be… But that wasn't right. She didn't have a father. She was still considering her answer as she measured the tea into the cups.

Levi flipped the page, "Your last name?"

"Right, about that…" the kettle whistled, and she turned off the heat. Pouring the boiling water into the teacups, she carried them over to Levi and looked at the forms he was filling out. Only they weren't forms at all. It looked far more like a personal letter. He looked down at her through cool blue eyes from his perch on the bar stool and took a sip of his tea. She looked up at him then, wondering what to say. "You don't have a last name, do you?" he asked, already anticipating her answer.

"I, I mean, of _course_ , I have a last name…" Her mind raced for an acceptable excuse, but he cut in, "Forget it, I'll make something up."

She drank from her tea, wondering what was going on. "What about your first name? Do you really want to go with Slayte?" The look of disbelief in those icy blue eyes was almost insulting.

"That _is_ my name!" Slayte insisted adamantly. He only gave her a blank stare before returning to the task at hand.

He asked no further questions and neither did she.

* * *

A few weeks later at breakfast, he carelessly tossed a manila envelope onto the table, startling her. "Your papers. Don't lose them." The casual declaration that accompanied the gesture was equally nonchalant and Levi had turned away before she could even look up to meet his eyes.

In the privacy of her room upstairs, she opened the package to find a birth certificate, an identification card and various other documents verifying a life she had never led. Slayte Revaille, was apparently her name now. Born in December to Carla and Henry Revaille. Even knowing as little of the mortal world as she did, she understood the implications of this forged identity. Who did Levi know to call in a favor like this? She thought back to the knife gleaming as it spun between his elegant fingers. Levi was clearly a man of mystery who dabbled on both sides of the law. Or was this influence a thing of the past? He had seemed quite tormented when penning the letter.

With a resigned sigh, she decided not to press him for answers. It was only fair, considering he had yet to ask her a single question about her origins. When she saw him next, she had no words to express her gratitude. She only lowered her head, whispering a "thank you", and resumed her chores with renewed vigor - determined not to let a single speck of dirt show its face before her benefactor.

Summer gave way to Fall and Fall gave way to Winter. She was starting to grasp the workings of the mortal world, with Levi as a consistent teacher. His lessons were harsh and dripping with sarcasm, but effective. She learned the difference between pounds and pence. She learned how to ride a bus, how to post mail, how to operate the register, take orders, give change. She learned how to use a cell phone. She learned how to look at a map and find her way back home when she was lost. She learned that Levi preferred Ceylon tea in the mornings and Earl Grey in the evenings. She learned to draw the curtains of the windows facing east shut before heading to bed, so the sun would not glare in his eyes when he entered the shop at dawn the next day.

A year passed, but she never did learn what it took to make him smile. Or who had provided the forged papers. Or how he had become so skilled with a knife.

* * *

It was a summer's day out of a picture book, with cloudless, azure skies and the warm glow of sunshine accompanied by a steady breeze that kept the heat from becoming too stifling when _she_ entered the tea shop. Slayte had been leaning on the counter, bored, and Levi was absorbed in the newspaper, too distracted to reprimand her, when a young woman with hazel eyes and long chestnut hair entered.

"Good morning! Can I have a slice of apple cake to go, please?" she asked politely, her voice was pleasant and friendly. It reminded Slayte of the tinkling of a bell. She had pretty, petite features and wore a long, pastel green cardigan over a white tee shirt, paired with dark blue skinny jeans and a pair of white sneakers. The girl glanced at the watch on her wrist, mentally calculating some deadline or other. Oh, yes, here was a girl who had her life together.

"Yes! Of course!" Slayte straightened instantly and quickly retrieved the young woman's order. Ringing up the sum, Slayte accepted her payment and handed her the change, along with the apple cake she had packed for her.

"Thank you, have a nice day!" the brunette nodded at her with a polite smile and turned to leave.

Slayte suddenly resented being stuck behind the counter. "You, too! Come again!" She called, a little too enthusiastically, after her retreating back.

The bell chimed as the young woman left the shop and silence fell on the empty locale. Slayte sighed, before turning to Levi. "Did you see that?" she asked.

"What?" he muttered, irritated at being interrupted from whatever article had captured his attention.

"That girl! She was so cool." Slayte sighed and leaned on the counter once more. "She was so pretty and so nice."

Levi raised a disbelieving eyebrow as he regarded her over his newspaper. "Did you know that you're creepily obsessive?"

Slayte only frowned at him. He had no idea what it was like to be stuck in this building for a year with no one but a cranky old man for company. Granted, he was a devilishly handsome old man, one who had grown very dear to her heart but still, she craved female companionship. Friends like the ones she had left behind in the Underworld. The girl who had just left their tea shop looked like just the kind of girl she would have loved to make friends with, given the opportunity. But she was stuck here in the tea shop throughout the week and even on her days off, she had no clue how to go about finding a friend. At any rate, she was certain a cool girl like the one who had just left wouldn't come waltzing into her life any time soon.

But the cool girl did show up again a few days later, and again a couple days after that. Each time, Slayte was absolutely ecstatic and admired the young woman from her place at the counter. It wasn't until Levi whacked her over the head with a newspaper that she realized what she was doing. "Oi. Are you trying to get a restraining order?" He admonished.

Rubbing her head in annoyance, she shot Levi a glare before looking back at the young woman who was seated at a corner table near the window, scribbling furiously in a dark blue journal, allowing her steaming cup of Assam tea beside her to go cold. Slayte met Levi's disparaging blue eyes once more, before rising from her seat, plating a slice of strawberry shortcake and marching over to the amber-haired mortal at the window.

"Hi!" Slayte greeted, sliding the slice of cake onto the table.

"Oh, hello…" the girl responded, looking up from her writing, "I didn't order this."

"I know. It's on the house." Slayte smiled at her, "You looked like you could use a pick-me-up. Rough day?"

She blinked up at the black-haired girl standing over her, her smile was just a little _too_ intense. If she had been a man, the brunette would have felt slightly uncomfortable.

"Yeah," she admitted reluctantly. "Thank you." She added, reaching for the cake.

"Mind if I sit?" Slayte asked hesitantly, refraining with difficulty from wringing her hands.

"No, that's fine." The brunette responded without thinking, regretting it almost instantly as the young woman sat across from her and an awkward silence ensued.

Unable to continue her work on her journal, she snapped it closed with a sigh and replaced it in her bag. She then recalled the tea she had neglected and took a sip from it, frowning when she realized she had allowed it to get colder than she would have liked.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Slayte offered.

"Um, no, not really." The young woman declined politely. She was working through some personal things, and she was not at all inclined to discuss them with an absolute stranger.

"Okay," Slayte smiled, trying to hide her disappointment. How did one go about making friends? She was seriously regretting leaving the safety of her service counter.

"I mean," the girl amended, seeing the other girl's disappointment, "Everyone has rough days, right? I'm sure you do, too."

"Oh, yeah, tell me about it." Slayte agreed, rolling her eyes, "Rough day, rough year, rough couple of centuries."

The brunette blinked at the raven-haired girl before releasing an awkward laugh, "Well, yeah, I guess world history hasn't been the best…?"

Slayte cursed herself inwardly for her slip of the tongue, "Yeah! Right, I mean…" she gestured vaguely with her hand, trying to redeem herself, "with all the wars and… mortals dying, I mean humans! People! People dying, right." She flushed a deep red and was about to make a hasty escape, resenting Levi for browbeating her into being bolder than she would have liked, when the hazel-eyed girl laughed genuinely.

"Yeah…" she agreed bitterly, "Death sucks."

Slayte noted the lightened atmosphere, and that the girl didn't seem quite so tense anymore. Had she managed to say something right? Abandoning her escape plan for the moment, she watched the brunette pick at her cake.

"Death is the only road we can't avoid. It's worse for those left behind than those going, though." Slayte muttered dimly. The girl looked up at the other woman who was staring off into space, wondering how she was able to speak of death with such certainty when others generally skirted the topic or admitted that death's intricacies were beyond the scope of human understanding.

Slayte shook her head, bringing herself back to the present. "My name's Slayte, and you?"

"Slayte?" She looked bewildered, as she struggled to find a polite response, "That's... an unusual name."

"It's not that strange where I come from." Slayte replied casually.

"Oh? Where do you come from?" The brunette's eyes expressed sincere interest as she drained the remains of her lukewarm tea.

Slayte felt, more than she saw, Levi's head perk up with interest from a corner of the room and realized she had once again talked herself into a corner. She wished someone would revoke her speaking privileges.

"Eh-," she panicked, her mind whirring as she struggled to cover her tracks before announcing suddenly, "Essex!"

The girl laughed again, "Oh. I thought you were going to say some other country."

"Wh- why would you think that?" Slayte threw back uneasily, feeling stupid for what was certainly the hundredth time that day. She laughed a little too loudly, hoping the hazel-eyed girl wouldn't press the topic any further.

"Well, I mean, I've never heard of anyone named Slayte in Essex." She supplied, but before Slayte could come up with a hasty excuse, she continued, "My name is Angelissa. But I go by Elissa."

"Oh," Slayte's eyes lit up as she sighed, "That makes so much sense."

"What?" Elissa asked, trying not to show her unease. There it was again, that too intense, uncomfortable smile.

"Just, when I saw you the first time, I thought you were like an angel. You were so pretty, and so cool!" Slayte realized belatedly that she had said too much but it was too late to stop. "I thought, ah, this girl is so different. I really want to talk to her!"

Elissa was oddly flattered. She assumed this was what could be called a girl-crush and she could somewhat understand that this uncalled-for admiration was probably the cause of those overeager smiles. Maybe Slayte just needed a friend.

"Hey," Elissa offered kindly, "Do you want to exchange numbers? Maybe we could meet up and chat sometime."

Slayte beamed at her, "Can we? I would love to!" She fumbled at her pocket, pulling out her phone and hastily unlocking it. They exchanged phones, and Elissa noticed that Slayte's wallpaper looked suspiciously like the storeowner who was wiping down the counters behind them.

They saved their numbers into each other's phones and had scarcely finished when the front door chimed, announcing new customers. Slayte rose to her feet. Unfortunately, she still had a job to do, but she looked at Elissa one last time before rambling awkwardly. "We're friends now, right? We talked and exchanged phone numbers, so this makes us friends, doesn't it? Do you want to be friends?"

The girl seemed so nervous and hopeful, but forceful at the same time, Elissa almost felt bad for her. "Uh..." she hesitated. "Yeah, sure, we can be friends." She then answered reassuringly.

"That's great!" Slayte grinned, hurrying back to the counter. Elissa watched the girl go with a bemused smile. Slayte was certainly weird, but she did not seem to have any ill-intentions.

She packed up her things and waved at her new "friend" before leaving the building. Slayte beamed at Elissa as she politely waved back. She served the customers cheerily before retreating to her stool at the counter and pulling out her phone. With a gleeful smile, she changed her new friend's name to "Elissa The Boss" and added an Elissa emoji to the moniker.

"That poor girl must think you want to eat her alive." Levi remarked from where he stood, leaning against the counter with his arms crossed. "Will we be seeing her here again? I doubt it."

Slayte was too ecstatic to let herself be taken aback by his blunt comments. "I got her number." She grinned, holding up her phone for him to see. His eyes seemed to catch on something else, though, as he took the phone out of her hands.

"She said we're friends," Slayte gushed, pressing her hands to her cheeks, overjoyed. "She's so pretty and so cool! Confident, elegant, sweet… but she looks so sad, it just really makes you want to take care of her, doesn't it? I'm so glad she didn't think I was awkward, but I was _so_ awkward." She sighed, resting her forehead against the cool wood of the counter. What she wouldn't give to be so effortlessly cool like Levi and Elissa. She was nonchalant enough, until it came to something she actually cared about, then it seemed her senses took leave of her.

When no scathing comment met her ears about how Elissa clearly did not know what was good for her if she was willing to make friends with such an obsessive psychopath, she looked up at Levi. An odd expression crossed his face as he stared at her phone.

"What's this?" he drawled, turning her phone towards her.

Slayte's eyes met her phone wallpaper. It was a photo she had taken of Levi enjoying his morning tea while he perused a newspaper, the light of the rising sun filtering in from the window behind him.

"Isn't this a good picture?" She smiled up at him innocently, clearly unaware that there was a problem.

"Why do you have a picture of me as your wallpaper?" he leaned over her, resting one hand on the counter while tapping her head with the other, "Is something wrong with your brain?"

"Is that not okay?" Slayte asked, suddenly uncertain which of the mortal rules of etiquette she had breached. "I just thought it was such a pretty picture. Do you want me to change it?"

Levi looked on helplessly. Sometimes he couldn't tell if she was seriously this harebrained or if it was all an act. He didn't believe anyone could act so convincingly and Slayte seemed genuinely nonplussed.

"Forget it." he sighed, "Just do what you want." So saying, he turned away from her to busy himself in the back of the store.

"It's always, 'do what you want' with you," Slayte grumbled at his back, "You never tell me what you're really thinking."

To her surprise, he paused then, regarding her coolly over his shoulder when he spoke, "Isn't that why you left home? To do what you want? You look like you've spent a long time doing everything but."

She met his gaze with wide eyes and was at a loss for words. Not for the first time, she had the distinct impression that Levi had seen right through her. That he knew more than he let on.

But he was already dropping his gaze and turning away from her. "Just make sure you don't regret it. And by the way," He paused before turning the corner into the storeroom, "It's considered rude to take pictures of people without their permission."

She flushed beet red and was glad he wasn't there to see it. Granted, that was something her common sense should have told her even if she wasn't aware of mortal customs. She wished Cerberus would just swallow her whole.

"By the gods…" she muttered, crossing her arms on the cherry-wood counter and burying her flushed face in the crook of her elbow.

Slayte by Vaie (https://vaieart.tumblr.com/)


	6. Part V: A Brush with Death

* * *

**Part V: A Brush with Death**

* * *

Elissa squinted, shielding her eyes against the late afternoon sunlight. The sky was a glorious, spotless blue, without a cloud in sight, and the air was warm and pleasant. A gentle breeze stirred long strands of her tumbling brown hair away from her face. It was such a pleasant summer day in Canterbury. She strolled casually through the rich green, flowery field, holding her library book in one hand, and a water bottle and light white cardigan in another. Located a short walk away from her apartment, it seemed to transport her to another world entirely, a stunning haven of nature unspoiled and untouched by the modern world. It was a popular recreational spot, littered with trees, with a central lake running through it.

Ahead of her Vetty, the stray cat she had taken in two months prior, padded along, rummaging through the long grass. A wry smile touched Elissa's lips as she watched her new pet explore her surroundings. She'd slowly gotten used to the cats temperament over the course of time, finding her to be feisty and playful. She certainly always kept Elissa on her toes, rushing around after her. But they'd slowly started to bond, too. And Elissa had finally managed to train her cat not to destroy things in the house.

It was a relief, and had allowed her to start enjoying Vetty's company. She was still difficult, and seemed to have a complete mind of her own. She still created smaller messes. But she was bearable – and surprisingly affectionate when she _liked_ to be. And Elissa found that she had gotten used to sharing her place with a furry companion. It made her evenings at home and weekends a lot more entertaining and less quiet.

Slayte wasn't happy with her. She couldn't believe that Elissa had chosen to take the creature in. But Elissa had reasoned that there had to be a reason why the cat always returned to her and refused to leave her side. Her best friend had remained unconvinced. Not a day went by when she didn't try to talk Elissa out of getting rid of what she still considered a feral stray. Vetty was a temperamental cat – hard work, certainly. But _feral?_ Elissa begged to differ. She'd given her belly rubs. Chin rubs. Heard Vetty purring docilely in her lap.

Besides, it was too late to change things now. She'd already collared the pet who proudly now wore a name tag with _Petty_ engraved into it.

Vetty suddenly meowed ahead of her and bounded ahead. Elissa called after her.

"Hey! Vetty! Not too far!"

The cat continued to run. Elissa sighed patiently, and broke out into a gentle jog, passing walking people, friends and couples holding hands. When she lost sight of the cat entirely, she began to grow concerned.

 _"Vetty!"_ she shouted her pet's name. "Vetty! Where are you?"

She continued to sprint, until eventually she came to a curve in the river. Grassy reeds swayed in the gentle breeze. Both sides of the riverbank were flanked by a line of tall, sturdy oak trees, which provided pleasant shade. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in their leafy canopy. It was a picturesque area. Elissa was surprised nobody was already sitting in it.

"Vetty?" she called uncertainly.

There was a loud meow that caused her to jump in surprise. To her horror, her crazy cat had jumped right in the middle of the lake, and had just come up for breath.

Elissa immediately dropped the items she was holding. Kicking her shoes off, she hesitated. Her pretty new yellow summer dress was about to be ruined surely – but she couldn't just stand back and watch her pet drown.

"Vetty! What're you doing?!" she cried in dismay. Vetty had a fish in her mouth, and was trying to paddle to safety, but had clearly gotten herself into quite the predicament. Elissa reasoned the rippling, crystal clear water couldn't be that deep, and gingerly stepped in. The water was cool. She could feel the bottom, but it got deeper the more she waded inside.

"Come here! Swim to me!" she reached out an arm – only for the mud beneath her bare feet to suddenly shift under her weight, sinking her to near shoulder level in the water. Alarmed, she lunged forward, succeeding in grabbing hold of Vetty's back, and pulled the cat back to her. Vetty clambered onto her mewling and shrieking. Sharp claws snagged into her hair, scratched her skin. Elissa spluttered, lifting her hands up to pull the cat away from assaulting her face.

"S-stop that! Ouch! Vetty! My hair! You're hurting me, you crazy cat!"

Vetty struggled louder. She seemed to want to get down, even though it was dangerous to do so. Elissa knew if she went any further, they'd go under. The river was deeper than she had anticipated. She turned, trying to head back to dry land – when once again, the earth under foot sunk under her.

Her heart leapt into her throat as her head went completely under. She pushed herself up, gasping, still struggling to keep hold of her hissing pet. Then, to her surprise, she felt something push up against her legs, as if a current of water had suddenly moved her back. It carried her to shallower waters. She coughed, trying to pry Vetty off her face.

"What is _wrong_ with you-?!" she exclaimed furiously, cheeks flustered, hair snagged in the savage cat's paws. She was starting to rethink her decision to keep the animal once more – when movement suddenly caught her attention on the other side of the riverbank.

She caught her breath in surprise at what she saw. Two tall young men, draped in curious, long black cloaks, were standing there, behind a shield of long reeds. The one at the forefront had long, straight dark hair that was pulled back into a high tail above his head, cascading down his back silkily. Long strands framed a face that was half-concealed beneath an enigmatic, ornate black mask, embellished with gold swirls. A multitude of earrings adorned his left ear, and gold stitching decorated the shoulders and high neckline of his cloak. She couldn't see his full features, but if his angled jawline and full, pouting lips were anything to go by, she supposed he had to be very attractive.

His companion was equally as arresting to look upon. He also possessed a chiselled jawline, had wavy dark hair, and was dressed similarly to his friend, with silver earrings and a silver mask keeping his features shielded from her. Elissa blinked at them in surprise. They were so strangely dressed for such weather, and stood out like sore thumbs – and they were staring _right at her_ in silence.

Vetty meowed. She finally grew still, half her body wrapped around Elissa's head.

Heat flushed into Elissa's cheeks as she became conscious of the pitiful state she surely had to be in. Hair drenched, caught in Vetty's clutches, with scratches all over her face. Her arms were raised, trying to pry the animal away from her.

She stared up at the handsome strangers, wide eyed, and to her mortification, the wavy-haired one then released a light chuckle at the sight of her, standing waist-deep in the lake, with a rabid cat attached to the side of her face. Then, without a word, both young men turned away and moved on.

Elissa watched them go, heart racing. Vetty then released her, and she winced, pulling the rest of her hair free, her gaze briefly breaking away from the backs of the retreating cloaked individuals. When she looked back, she was astonished to find that they were already gone.

* * *

Hypnos smirked in amusement as they walked away from the sight of a strange mortal girl wrestling with her cat in the river.

"How curious," he remarked. "That cat strongly resembles the ones my Aunt keeps as pets, doesn't it?"

His companion, Thanatos, remained silent.

"I wonder what it's doing up on the surface…" Hypnos mused.

Once again, he received no response.

"We were drawn here to collect a soul. That girl was meant to drown, wasn't she?" He pressed. "She shouldn't have been able to come back up. That water was deep."

Thanatos did speak up then, for he had indeed come to the river bank sensing that a soul was ready to depart – only to find that in fact, the girl it belonged to was unexpectedly safe and well.

With a peculiar cat attached to her face.

"It seems," he answered quietly. "That it was not her time."

"Cheating Death…" Hypnos remarked. "Well. She wouldn't be the first the Fates have spared at the last moment. Though we've never seen a mortal with a pet like that, before."

The remainder of the walk was completed in comfortable, familiar silence.

* * *

Slayte grabbed her phone as it rang. Levi gave her a pointed look – but said nothing else, as he turned back to the customer he was serving.

"Hey," Slayte greeted. "What's up?"

"Hey!" Elissa's voice spoke on the other side of the line. "You busy?"

Slayte eyed the queue of three people on the other side of the counter. "We're about to shut up shop for the evening, actually. Only three more people left!"

"You guys extending your hours?"

"Yeah. More hours, more people, more money. At least, that's why Levi says-" she paused as she heard an angry meow in the background, and her friend call her pet's name in exasperation. "You okay?"

"Ugh. Yeah. I just got back from a walk in the fields. This damned cat almost got me drowned today. _Vetty!_ Put my shoes _down!"_

Slayte's eyebrows drew together in concern. She'd tried everything she could to persuade her friend to get rid of the cat. But it seemed that Vetty was determined to follow her new human around everywhere. This worried Slayte. She wondered if the feline had bit her friend's finger, or anything like that, but Elissa was adamant that she hadn't assaulted her that badly – _yet._

 _"Drowned?_ " she echoed in alarm. "Elissa, what on earth?!"

Levi cast her an expressionless glance as he handed change back to a departing customer, picking up remnants of the conversation.

"Yeah," Elissa informed her on the other side of the line. "This psycho cat thought it was a great idea to jump right in the river. I went in after her because I was scared she'd drown, and she kept struggling and scratching and pulling my hair. I thought I was a goner!"

"You need to be more _careful_ ," Slayte censured. "Elissa, you can't just keep doing reckless things like that!"

"I didn't know the river was _that_ deep," Elissa defended. "It sure doesn't look it!"

"Well, are you okay?" Slayte worried, shaking her head at her friend's antics.

"I'm okay now. My new dress got ruined. But no big deal. Just another day with Vetty. And I was more embarrassed that someone saw me. Two guys actually. They were dressed so weirdly."

"Oh?" Slayte balanced the cell on her shoulder, tipping her head to keep it pressed to her ear as she turned back to help her boyfriend, picking up a dishcloth to wipe the coffee machine clean.

"Yeah. They were in these fancy black cloaks with masks on their faces."

Slayte froze. Her heart skipped a beat.

 _It can't be,_ she thought in horror. There was no way.

 _"Masks…?"_ she got out, trying to keep her tone neutral. "What sort of masks?"

"I don't know," Elissa answered. "Black with gold and silver. One of them had long hair, the other one had short hair. They looked like they were in costume or something. It was really weird, but whatever. Maybe they work in theatre."

Slayte's heart began to pound. There were no theatres in _Canterbury._ "Did they… speak to you?" she got out.

"Oi," Levi called behind her. "Cappuccino. Stop slacking."

She shot him an apologetic look, and moved to work faster.

"No," Elissa replied. "One of them just laughed at me, and they moved on."

Slayte exhaled in quiet relief. Then she said, "Hey. Just maybe stay away from rivers from now on, okay?"

"Huh?" Elissa laughed at that in surprise. "That's a bit of an overreaction, Slayte. It's not like I jump into rivers on the daily."

"Better to be safe than sorry," Slayte answered. In her mind, she silently added:

_And better to be safe than dead._

* * *

Nyx stood in her private chambers, looking out at the sprawling gardens below. The night was her element, and she had the power to command it, to scatter new stars in the sky, to influence the moon, and to use darkness to cloak herself from all eyes.

Even the most _perceptive_ of ones.

Her husband, Erebus, she knew, was busy again that night. As he had been most nights of late. A twinge of sadness filled her. She loved him terribly, but he was a stern, serious, stoic sort of man, who did not allow himself much time for pleasure or leisure.

In that regard, she supposed, her eldest _was_ truly his father's son.

Her youngest was more like her. Feisty and full of life. She smiled, thinking of her precious little Hades. He was an adolescent now, fast growing to maturity. And just as popular with the girls as Thanatos was.

Her smile waned when she sensed movement behind her. Chills surfaced on the smooth flesh of her milky arms. She knew. She felt his presence, even before he addressed her.

His power. His smothering aura. The absolute _chaos_ he commanded.

The skin of her right ear tickled, as a warm breath fanned against it.

"Alone. _Again…"_ the deep voice exhaled. She tensed, as calloused fingertips, worn from the passing of time, trailed lightly from her shoulders, down to her wrists, encircling them there. Fingertips that held within them such destruction – and yet, with her, were capable of being alarmingly gentle.

"Such a pity," Cronus murmured. Nyx swallowed, and closed her eyes, her heart drumming within her chest. If anyone were to see them, it would be sacrilege, she knew. Treason of the highest order.

But she was the night. And she could keep everything concealed. Everything she wished to hide. To keep secret. Everything she was forced to bear and endure, for the sake of ensuring her family's safety.

If she could contain his chaos, she told herself, reminding herself of why she allowed this to take place, though it was a gross betrayal of her husband's trust, her sons' honours, and her own – if she could contain him, then he would surely not unleash it upon those she loved.

Warm lips ghosted along the graceful column of her throat.

"A pity," he whispered. "For a woman to be left so cold in the dead of night…"

Powerful fingers laced in her midnight, loose tresses, angling her head back to allow open access to pillaging lips, as another hand lifted to cup her right breast. Squeezing firmly. Possessively. She could not help the gasp that fled from her treacherous lips as his mouth clamped over the heated flesh of her throat, sucking hard.

Once again, she gave herself up to the commanding darkness of his touch, and all the chaos it stirred to being within her

Thanatos!Itachi & Hypnos!Shisui by Vetty (https://vettyart.tumblr.com/)


	7. Part VI: Expect the Unexpected

* * *

**Part VI: Expect the Unexpected  
**

* * *

_A few weeks prior…_

Elissa and Slayte pushed open the double doors to the rescue center, walking into a cacophony of meows and barks and tweets. The tiled, white floor was surprisingly clean, and they were met by a stout, elderly woman wearing a pair of spectacles that hung from a beaded chain around her neck.

"Welcome!" she greeted kindly, "Are you looking to adopt-?" her face fell on Vetty who was scrambling to get out of Elissa's arms as if she knew why they were there.

"Oh." The woman commented, her friendly expression falling from her face, only to be replaced by one of thinly veiled derision.

"Hi!" Elissa greeted, stepping forward. "I found this stray in the rain, and I couldn't possibly keep her-"

"Has she had her shots?" The woman interrupted, opening drawers to pull out two different forms.

"Er, no. I mean, I don't know, I just found her…" Elissa stammered, trying to explain.

"How old is she?" The woman asked, securing the papers to a clipboard. "You'll need to fill out these forms, with a complete history - "

"Are you even listening?" Slayte snapped, angry at the way the older woman was overriding her friend.

The stout woman blinked up at her.

"My friend here found this stupid cat in the rain and gave it a place to stay for the night. We don't know how old it is or if its had its shots, or how many furballs she coughed up in her life before bringing her here. Are you going to be helpful or should we just leave the stupid cat here in the hallway?" Slayte crossed her arms in exasperation as she stared the woman down.

Elissa blinked up at her generally good-natured friend. Slayte was usually mild-mannered and compromising, unless she felt the people she cared about were being wronged in some way. "Hey, Slayte, it's okay…" she tried to calm her friend, but both Slayte and the older woman refused to back down.

The tense silence held for two beats, before the older woman barked, "Lockwood!"

An impossibly tall young man appeared from a hallway behind them, stalking up to the elderly woman with smooth strides. "You called, Nellie?" he asked. His voice was deep and mischievously flirtatious as he smiled easily at the older woman.

The aging woman paid him no heed however, as she gave the girls a dry look. "These girls want to give up their cat." She walked away from the island counter as if to say, _take care of it,_ and disappeared somewhere in the back of the shelter.

"It's not our cat!" Slayte called after her, still fuming.

The man who had appeared had a genial smile on his face. He had beautiful, statuesque features and his dark eyes flashed with mischief. His platinum blond hair was tied back in a neat ponytail. His attire seemed somewhat out of place, dressed as he was in a crisp, white, button-down shirt and pressed black slacks. The first two buttons of his shirt were left open, showing his collarbones peeking through and the sleeves that were folded up to his elbows revealed sculpted, muscular forearms.

"Well, let's see…" his deep voice lilted in a teasing way that did not match at all with the words he spoke. Elissa fought back a nervous sensation as he approached her, and Slayte narrowed her eyes at him. She despised his type. The kind of guy that seduces everything that moves, often without even trying.

He stepped closer to Elissa than was comfortable, into her personal space as he peered down at Vetty. The refreshing scent of sandalwood filled her nostrils. He reached down for the cat, his hands brushing over Elissa's as he did so. "You're a good girl, aren't you?" he spoke in a low voice and Elissa blushed as that cool, deep voice met her ears at such close proximity.

Slayte bristled, immediately feeling the need to defend her friend. "Are you going to take the damn cat off our hands, or not?"

The man looked up at her then with a smile that did not meet his eyes and answered brightly. "Certainly. Follow me, if you will." He picked up the clipboard the old woman had left behind and led the way into the back of the shelter.

They passed by a wall of sheer glass behind which multiple cats were divided into different compartments, ready to be adopted. Some were adorable, some sullen, some injured, but every single one of them looked far more amiable than Vetty. The man pushed open a door to what looked like a veterinary station and turned the corner, leading them further in. He pushed the clipboard into Slayte's hands, surprising her, and said with what she perceived as false cheer, "Just fill out as much as you can." He took her elbow and guided her to a chair, handing her a pen before asking Elissa to follow him behind the counter.

Slayte narrowed her eyes at him distrustfully but set to filling out the questionnaire. Elissa smiled apologetically at her friend before following the much taller man – he had to be well over six feet – into the veterinary station. The man lifted Vetty easily out of her arms and Vetty complied obediently. More obediently than Elissa had ever seen her. _'I guess the people at rescue centers really know their stuff'_ , she thought to herself in surprise.

"There you go, precious," the man purred, and Elissa felt butterflies alight in her stomach. Was he doing it on purpose? She couldn't tell, he seemed engrossed in his examination of Vetty. He stroked the cat gently while peering into her ears.

"My name is Cain, by the way. Cain Lockwood." He supplied conversationally, "I don't think we had a chance to introduce ourselves yet."

"Right, I'm Elissa. Elissa Caelum." She smiled. There was no way she was going to let this man keep intimidating her. Elissa was nothing if not a professional when the situation called for it and she would use that professionalism now to put some much-needed distance between herself and this stranger with no respect for personal boundaries.

"I've never seen Vetty so docile. You must have a lot of experience with animals." She complimented him sincerely. Anyone who could get Vetty to behave was no less than a genius in her eyes.

A trace of a smirk played on Cain's lips before he answered her. "Thank you for the compliment, but I'm only volunteering here. Maybe they just like me." He looked at her with an expression between a smile and a smirk and Elissa found herself hoping Slayte would finish with those papers soon. She wasn't sure if she liked the attention, even if it _was_ setting her pulse racing.

"Well, Vetty seems good to go." He announced, turning to face her as he stroked Vetty over the head gently. "I'm going to be honest with you, Elissa. I find you very interesting."

"What?" Elissa blurted in confusion. That was not a statement she had been expecting.

"Any chance I might see you again?" he asked, his dark eyes meeting hers with a sincerity that confused her, even as his smile stayed unfalteringly in place.

"Oh, I – I don't know…" she trailed off, her gaze dropping to the floor. To be honest with herself, he was the most handsome man she had ever seen. Impossibly tall, smooth, good with animals, handsome… but also dangerous. Something about him screamed danger. And he was so forward! It made her somewhat uncomfortable. Would she regret it if she walked away from here without leaving an opportunity open to see him again?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the loud clack of Slayte slamming the clipboard down on the counter. "Your forms," she deadpanned. "Are we done here?" She looked from the blushing Elissa to the handsome devil towering over her.

"Yes, I'm sure Vetty will be quite happy here." He smiled at Slayte again, but Slayte only frowned at him before putting a hand on Elissa's shoulder. "C'mon Elissa, let's get out of here."

Elissa nodded at her friend, before waving at Cain in parting. "Bye! Thanks again for all the help!"

Slayte scowled, leading her friend out of the building. No sooner were they out in the fresh air than Slayte turned on Elissa. "Don't encourage guys like that!" she admonished.

"What do you mean, guys like that?" Elissa threw back with a raised brow.

"Guys who flirt with everything in their vicinity!" Slayte threw her hands up in exasperation, "They're trouble. I don't like how he looked at you."

Elissa rolled her eyes, "Come on, Slayte, I can take care of myself. You're acting like a jealous boyfriend."

Slayte gave her a look, "I just don't want you to get hurt and that guy gives me a bad vibe."

Elissa linked her arm through her friend's reassuringly, "I'm a grown adult, Slayte, give me a break. Yeah, he said he wanted to meet me again, but I let him down easy. See? I can take care of myself." Or at least, she would have done that, if Slayte hadn't jumped in at that moment.

Slayte breathed a sigh of relief as they trudged further up the road. "Okay, Elissa, I'm sorry. I know I'm stupidly overprotective," she admitted.

Elissa smiled at her friend, "Hey, it's okay, I'm protective of you, too, you know. I just know I have nothing to worry about with you."

"Yeah," Slayte scoffed, "As if. People don't hit on me left and right like they do with you."

"Only because Levi would probably claw their eyes out," Elissa joked.

Slayte rolled her eyes with a laugh, "He would not!"

The two friends chattered cheerfully as they made their way down the street, stopping for ice cream on the way and glad to have left at least a part of their troubles behind them.

* * *

It was nearly midnight when someone stopped at Vetty's cage, the pale hand stroking the trembling cat gently. The familiar touch eased her pain somewhat, but she mewled pathetically.

"Poor thing," the pity in the speaker's voice was dripping with sarcasm, "Forging a blood contract with a mortal. Did Nyx put you up to this?"

Vetty looked up at the man shrouded in darkness and whined.

"Can't bear to be apart from her, can you?" he sneered.

"Very well, then." He unlatched the cage. "Do what you must."

Vetty bounded out of the open door, stopping once on the tiled floor to shoot her benefactor a look of thanks before making her way back to Elissa's apartment.

* * *

_Back to present day…_

Thanatos' eyes skimmed the glimmering surface of the river the mortal girl had nearly lost her life in. There was no doubt in his mind that the feline that had clung so adamantly to the girl's face was from the underworld. The demonic aura it emanated was unmistakable. The girl, however, did not seem to have summoned the cat. How then, had it ended up in her care?

As he travelled along the riverbank with his faithful cousin Shisui, he considered the sight they had just seen. A mortal maiden being dragged to her death underneath this very river, a fact attested to by the summons he had received. The demon cat seemed displeased that she had survived, indeed, it seemed to have been trying to force the mortal back into the water. Itachi had not intervened, although what he had seen was evidence of someone trespassing quite clearly in his domain. Itachi exercised absolute control over the threads of life and death and he did not take kindly to outside interference, nor did he tolerate it when mortal life was being toyed with. Only a fool would dare tamper with his element. Itachi did not suffer fools.

Shisui had been at Itachi's side for millenia and knew the telltale signs of his cousin's displeasure well, rare though they were. Underneath the calm exterior, the thin set of Itachi's lips and his focused gaze were enough for Shisui to share in his cousin's discomfort.

"Any mortal foolish enough to take in a demonic feline of the underworld should assume sole responsibility for the consequences of their rash actions. Wouldn't you agree, cousin?" Shisui supplied casually, in an attempt to reassure his companion.

Itachi did not reply, his eyes caught on a tome the young woman had left behind in her distressed state of mind. The words "Eros, Hypnos, and Thanatos: Understanding Greek Mythology" were emblazoned on the cover. Itachi narrowed his eyes. Of all the things the maiden could have been reading, the last thing he expected was for his own name to be looking back at him.

"Cousin?" Shisui paused, and Itachi tore his eyes away from the book lying in the tall grass and moved to follow Shisui.

"Your logic is sound." Itachi agreed, "However, she did not seem to be aware of the demonic nature of that feline."

Shisui laughed, "I hardly think it likely that a mortal takes a demon cat to their home and enters into a blood contract with them, all the while being ignorant of their demonic nature! What obscure circumstances would be required for that to be possible?"

"…" Itachi did not answer. He recalled how desperately the young woman had fought to pull her cat from the waves. She had seemed none the wiser that the cat she sought to save was eagerly trying to pull _her_ under. He could not fathom what circumstances had led to the current situation but this much was clear. A demonic cat had escaped the underworld and sealed a blood contract with an unsuspecting, clueless human and was dragging the girl to her death. A death brought about before its time that would be the responsibility of the Uchiha, the residents of the Underworld that had let the cat loose.

The entire affair left a bad taste in Itachi's mouth. His intuition told him there was more to the matter than meets the eye. As he followed Shisui back to the Underworld, he determined to uncover this mystery.

* * *

"Ow, Vetty, you can be such a pain!" Elissa groaned as she disinfected the scratches on her arms and face in the safety of her living room. She had dragged the cat back home and had taken a shower to wash off the rest of the lake water and change into something more comfortable than her soaking, scratched up summer dress. She sighed. She had spent a little more on the dress than she usually would because she liked it _that_ much. That had clearly been a mistake.

Well, there was no helping it, she told herself. What's done is done.

"I like you, Vetty." Elissa muttered, even as her arms stung. "I understand what it's like to be on edge all the time. It's not a nice feeling." She replaced the disinfectant in her first aid kit and pulled out a salve instead. Treating her wounds, she added, "When we're not feeling our best, we sometimes hurt people we care about. I get that, Vetty. I do."

She screwed the cap back on the salve and snapped the first aid kit shut. "But you have to pull it together!" She moved across the sofa, toward her cat, petting her with long, gentle strokes. "Slayte already thinks I've made a terrible mistake in keeping you, and we almost died today!"

Vetty mewled pathetically, and Elissa felt guilty. "I know you didn't do it on purpose. You wouldn't do that, would you?" She sighed. Vetty crawled into her lap and snuggled up against her. Elissa laughed at how docile the cat was suddenly being.

"Yeah, okay, I'm sorry, too. Slayte has gotten me so on the defensive with you, I forget you're just a cat." She held the cat close in a warm embrace and the two curled up on the sofa, Vetty purring happily. Elissa watched the moonlight stream through the open window and enjoyed the cool, night breeze that brushed over her. In a minute, she decided, she would get up and head into her own bed. At that very moment, however, she was so comfortable, and Vetty was so warm and affectionate for once. In a minute, she would crawl into bed but in less than a minute, she was asleep.

* * *

"I'm worried about Elissa." Slayte announced.

Levi closed the bedroom door behind them and raised a brow at the outburst but said nothing. Moving toward his dresser, he pulled his sleepwear out of the drawer and let his girlfriend continue her rant.

"I keep telling her, but she never listens to me. Can't she see that cat is trouble?" She stalked up and down the room, showing no signs of slowing.

Levi crawled under the comforter and folded down the corner of the opposite side in invitation, but Slayte took no heed.

"First, the broken bowls. And she bled, I know she did, would that stupid cat let an opportunity like that slide?" She bit into her thumb as she continued churning up the carpet.

"Are you going to be monologuing about that shitty cat all night?" Levi asked finally, his irritation apparent as he watched her pacing back and forth.

"She almost drowned today. That stupid cat almost killed her!" she threw her arms out to the side in exasperated frustration as she turned to face him.

"Could have been an accident." Levi muttered automatically. He could think of better ways to be spending his time than discussing her best friend's cat.

"No!" Slayte insisted, "That stupid, demon cat is out to get her! I know it!"

"That damn cat sure has been causing a lot of trouble, but demon cat?" Levi raised a brow, "You're letting your imagination run away with you."

"This is what I can't stand about humans!" Slayte groaned in frustration, "You can't see what's right in front of you!"

Levi was no longer surprised by such strange statements when Slayte was upset. Acknowledging with a sigh that she wasn't about to stop pacing anytime soon, Levi settled under the covers and rested his head against the pillow. She would wear herself out eventually.

"I can't possibly sleep, I'm going downstairs for some tea." She announced finally and switched off the lights before leaving the room without another word.

Levi glared at the darkness. Elissa would rue the day she ever took in that shitty cat.

* * *

The gardens of the Underworld were a sight to behold. Their enchanting beauty was a thing of wonder, praised even on Mount Olympus. The flower beds that led the way to the inner garden bloomed in a myriad of colors to delight the senses as they led toward a series of wooden arches as wide as two men were tall. This was his mother's private arbor. The arches were overgrown with rose bushes in varying colors, trimmed just so to encourage their growth over the archway.

Thanatos passed through without an eye for the beauty all around him. He approached his mother single-mindedly, the recent disturbance in his realm at the forefront of his mind. The first person to approach was, logically, his mother, who possessed ownership of nearly all the underworld felines.

He spied the elegant, raven-haired queen at an archway of midnight blue roses, her faithful gardener Kayt at her side.

"Mother," he greeted, coming up behind her. After a short pause, he queried without preamble. "Are any of your felines missing, by any chance?" He could scarcely imagine his mother allowing a demon cat loose in the mortal realm and yet, he couldn't shake the feeling that he _had_ seen that very cat in his mother's presence, centuries ago, perhaps.

Nyx did not immediately answer, choosing instead to take a few moments to admire the rose arch in perfect bloom before her. Her back turned to her son, a small smile crept over her face, invisible to him.

"Isn't it lovely?" her voice was like the night itself, clear, melodic, and hypnotizing. "When the seeds you have planted, sprout and bloom? Is that not so, Kayt, my dear?"  
  
She turned to the brunette at her side, and the nymph smiled up at her demurely, "Absolutely, my queen. I am overjoyed the arches please you, your Majesty."

Nyx cast her servant a look of approval before turning to her son, her full, black skirts, sequined with silver beads like a starry sky, twirled around her as she did so. Her elegant gown was high-collared and embroidered with silver thread over her small shoulders and down the length of her arms. The low cut of the bodice revealed pale collarbones and a slim throat. Her head was ever held high with the bearings of a queen and her inky black tresses were styled into an elaborate bun on top of her head.

"My love," she stretched her arms out towards him, taking one of his hands affectionately in her own. "Forgive me, my dear. You were saying?"

Itachi regarded his mother distantly. He held great affection for her, as he did for all those belonging to his family. He was protective of those he called his own. "A cat of the underworld has crossed my path. Are any of yours missing?" He repeated patiently.

"Why, no, my dear. All of _mine_ are accounted for." She smiled up at her son. "Where did you see this cat?" She inquired with curious innocence as they began a stroll through her gardens. Her son towered over her, the top of her head only barely coming up to his shoulder.

"In the mortal realm," Itachi provided neutrally, his gaze falling over the gardens around him. Nyx's own eyes dropped to the floor in front of her, restraining the small smile that tugged at a corner of her lips. Indeed, all of her cats were accounted for, and one, _very special_ cat was accounted for in the mortal realm, fulfilling a very important duty. She looked up at her son once more.

Her mother's heart ached at his loneliness. By virtue of his duties he was always met with trepidation and unease. She had watched his sole silhouette for eons. Seen his solitary figure passing through the night shadows for millenia. Never taking a nymph for comfort or a bride to call his own. When Hades was born, it had somewhat eased his loneliness and yet, Nyx desired nothing more ardently than for her son to finally find a woman who would look affectionately up at his handsome face. One he would call "my love."

It is for that very purpose that she had endured the strenuous tasks the Fates required, laboring for centuries in their Temples, before receiving the Prophecy. Yes, there would be love for her son. A mortal, regrettably, but love, nonetheless, and she would stop at nothing to find it. Vetty was her most trusted familiar and had been to the mortal realm often, searching for the woman of the prophecy. Being a demon cat, she naturally brought with her some undesirable consequences but those were sacrifices necessary for the greater good.

She hoped Vetty was right this time. Nyx had been waiting for so long to cast eyes on her daughter-in-law. If Vetty has found a maiden for her son, then either she was the woman of prophecy, which would be a cause for great joy to all the underworld dwellers, or she was not, in which case she would die sooner rather than later. But what was one mortal life more or less? She would certainly not be the first.

* * *

Vetty's eyes glowed red in the darkness of Elissa's apartment. She rose from Elissa's embrace and leapt off of the sofa as she regarded the human pet she had sealed a blood contract with.

She liked this one.

Humans generally loathed her appearance and avoided her, but Elissa had held no such qualms. She had taken Vetty in, out of the rain, and provided her with a warm place to stay. Showed her kindness and affection the likes of which Vetty had never known. Not even in the Underworld.

Vetty purred at her cute, little mortal in the darkness. That was precisely why, the cat mused, she wanted to take her pet home as soon as possible.

Activating Elissa's blood within herself, glowing red tendrils, wisps of smoke, snaked from the cat to Elissa, wrapping around her ankles and wrists and snaking up her body before entering her head through her ears. Elissa's eyes shot open, her hazel irises replaced with eyes that were bloodshot and crimson. Not even the whites of her eyes could be seen.

Yes, Vetty noted with satisfaction. Elissa was fast asleep, giving Vetty, the other party of the blood contract, complete control over her body. It was high time to put an end to all this, Vetty decided. Already planning where to take Elissa as soon as they were in the Underworld. Imagining her joy at seeing all the wonders of her home, Vetty directed Elissa towards the sliding doors of her balcony.

Elissa lived on the seventh floor, if she jumped headfirst, there would be no risk of surviving, would there? Vetty surmised. Elissa slid open the doors, and a gust of cold, midnight wind rushed past her body, clothed loosely in nothing but her pajamas. She shivered, a subconscious reaction, but Vetty pushed her further out onto the concrete floor of her balcony.

Elissa obeyed, still deep in the realms of sleep. Her bare feet touched the cold concrete and she shuddered but pushed on. Finally, she reached the barrier separating her from the drop below and lay a hand on the cool metal as she peered down. She swallowed thickly, her legs trembling, as human instinct fought with the vice-like grip of the blood contract. Vetty approached her, eyes glowing a deadly red. They were so close now, Elissa couldn't possibly stop here!

With another mental push from Vetty, Elissa raised one leg over the handrail, climbing over. She rested on tiptoe on the bit of concrete that jutted out from the other side and gripped the barrier until her knuckles were deathly white. The wind tore at her hair, and Elissa looked out at the world beyond. Below her was a steep fall to the concrete, beyond that, fields of grass, and further on, a highway where cars, like insects, buzzed on, honking at one another. The noise of the traffic was distant, the crickets chirping nearby were much closer and the wind whistling in her ears, even closer than that, seeming to enter her body and steal her very breath.

 _Now,_ Vetty willed, _headfirst…_ She was not willing to take any chances and Elissa's body reluctantly obeyed. Lowering herself slowly she swallowed thickly, her heartbeat erratic. Her vision blurred as her unseeing eyes regarded the ground below. With a final command from Vetty, she pushed away from the barrier, diving headfirst to the floor below.

The instant the jarring feeling of dropping through the air tore through her stomach, she was awake. Awakening from a sound slumber to find herself tumbling to her death. Terror tore through her veins like ice, her heart nearly bursting from horror. She could not work her lungs to gasp for breath and her mouth fell open in a silent scream as tears burned in her eyes.

Death. The very death she feared so terribly, was suddenly all too close. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see her own impending demise. Reaching out in her heart for her parents, her family, her friends, Slayte… wishing for someone, _anyone,_ to save her while knowing there was no hope as the ground below hurtled closer and the claws of the night wind tore mercilessly at her as she fell.

Her eyes flew open as she felt strong, warm arms wrap around her. She looked up in a daze, to find the masked face of the man she had seen on the riverbank looking kindly down on her. His very gaze set her pulse scrambling.

She looked down on the concrete floor below and gulped at the sight of how close she had been to the irrevocable end of her life. Her savior turned his ebony eyes skywards, the long strands of his raven hair floating in the night breeze, almost glowing in the moonlight. In a single leap, she found the two of them were soaring through the air, approaching her aparment. He landed neatly on the handrail she had been clutching only moments earlier, and then alighted onto her balcony.

Her heart still thundered in her chest, and she struggled to find words to convey anything she wanted to say in light of all the unbelievable things that had happened. The mysterious man carried her back in through the double doors, gently laying her back on the sofa she could not remember rising from.

"Who… who are you?" She asked, unable to believe his ethereal presence in her very living room. He met her hazel eyes wordlessly, and her mouth went dry as she felt a flutter in her stomach. She was a mess of nerves from her near-death experience, in addition to the terrible effect his very presence was having on her. She had never laid eyes on a being so breathtakingly beautiful. Even with the mask, he was an image of resplendent glory, of dark enchantment and seductive, dangerous beauty. His voice, when he finally spoke, was dark as sin as it washed over her.

"Hypnos." He called.

It was in that moment, that she saw there had indeed been another man, concealed in the shadows of her apartment who now stepped forward. She struggled to hold onto her consciousness as her eyelids grew heavy and weariness overcame her body. She saw her savior approach Vetty, his aura threatening and she weakly reached out a hand to protect her cat, but could not summon the strength to move. She watched shadows morph into being from his outstretched hand, wrapping around Vetty. Vetty darted to the left and right but could not escape and mewled helplessly.

Elissa moved her lips to stop him but could not summon her voice as her world faded to black.

* * *

It was a little past six when Levi entered the tea shop to find Slayte hunched over in a chair, her head in her hands. "Oi," he said by way of greeting, "Didn't you sleep at all?"

She lowered her hands slowly, her recent phone call with Elissa fresh in her mind. Elissa had told her about a very strange "dream" she had had. Falling from her balcony and being caught by a masked stranger. The same one she had seen by the lake. "Isn't that odd?" Elissa had laughed into the phone, "Those strangers must have left a stronger impression on me than I realized."

Slayte swallowed and her hands trembled. Although she couldn't bring herself to say the words to Elissa, she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt - that had been no dream. The demon cat had really and truly formed a blood contract with her best friend and would stop at nothing until Elissa was dead. Slayte fought back the tears that were lodged in her throat.

She had risked everything to escape the Underworld, but it seemed that world was now catching up with her and threatening to steal everything she held dear.

"Yeah," she answered weakly, trying to keep her voice from breaking. "I had a lot on my mind."

Levi said nothing as he moved to prepare for the coming day. He withdrew a knife from the block, flipping it expertly in his hands, twirling it between his fingers as he reached for the vegetables he intended to chop up for a breakfast omelet. He noted the way Slayte's eyes were drawn to the glint of the knife, transfixed as if she had found a lifeline, but thought nothing of it. It wasn't the first time he had caught her watching him, spellbound.

"What about work?" he asked gruffly, a little irritated by Slayte's reckless behavior.

"It's no big deal," she muttered absently, running a hand through her hair as she tore her eyes away, "I'll just push through and go to bed early."

He shot her a disapproving look, "Get some sleep. I'll do the morning shift and you can take over in the afternoon, I have somewhere to be anyway." He answered candidly as he cracked a few eggs into a bowl.

Slayte nodded wordlessly; her eyes still drawn to the knife lying on the counter.

Less than an hour later, she found herself lying flat on her back in bed, her hands folded over her stomach as she stared mutely up at the ceiling. The knife glinting in Levi's hands playing endlessly through her mind. The answer was so painfully obvious.

"I have to kill her cat." Slayte whispered into the empty room, suddenly sure of the solution.

And Elissa would hate her for it.

Itachi & Angelissa by Em (https://emilyisnursebaymax.tumblr.com/)


	8. Part VII: To Kill a Cat

* * *

**Part VII: To Kill a Cat**

* * *

_(The next day)_

Slayte untied her apron, and hung it over the hook on the wall. Smoothing her long, straight dark hair back, she tugged down the sleeves of her black and white plaid shirt, and placed an affectionate hand on her boyfriend's back.

Levi released a grunt of acknowledgement as she passed him, stepping out from around the counter. He was deeply occupied by the receipts and paperwork he was studying.

"I'm going to go check up on Elissa," she said, "Will you be alright on your own for a bit?"

"Yeah, whatever," he replied brusquely. It was their lunch break, and he didn't really care what she wanted to do, as long as it wasn't anything that gave him a headache or made a mess. "Do what you want."

Slayte lingered by the front door of the tea shop, looking back at him for a moment, her heart swelling with affection. Levi was always blunt, often expressionless – but she knew that were it not for him, she would have never had the courage to remain in the mortal world.

Sensing her gaze on him, Levi's head lifted to angle an incredulous glance her way.

"What's with that look? Are you stupid? Haven't I told you it's rude to stare?"

"Well," she shifted, hand slipping unthinkingly to her lower back to ensure her shirt had not ridden upwards. "I thought that only applies to strangers? You _are_ my boyfriend."

Saying the final word out loud still flooded her with warmth. _Her boyfriend._ A man she had found to call her own, and who had filled her with unspeakable happiness. Her dear friend Rain had been right in the words she had spoken to her so long ago. Slayte _had_ found someone who returned her affections – though he often had a strange, unorthodox, funny way of expressing it.

She never would have found it possible, after spending almost a millennia pining hopelessly, foolishly after an unattainable other. Had she known she would have discovered love within a matter of years within the mortal world, she would have escaped her home so much sooner.

"Still," Levi deadpanned dismissively. "You gonna stand there and gawk at me all day?"

When Slayte simply continued to look at him, he shook his head resignedly.

"Tch. Just go see you friend." As Slayte unlocked the door, he added, "And oi. Don't be late."

She nodded, and stepped outside. No sooner had she done so, than she exhaled a deep sigh of relief.

 _Good._ He hadn't noticed anything amiss. Slipping her mobile out of her pocket, she checked the time, and continued onward toward her destination.

* * *

Levi had finally finished checking the last damned receipt – when there was a knock on the window. He looked up, irritated. It seemed a lot of people in the town couldn't read, he thought to himself. _Closed_ was apparently the new word for open.

To his surprise, he saw Elissa waving brightly at him from the other side of the glass. She was dressed in a casual white sports jacket bearing black stripes at the arms that half slid off one of her shoulders, skinny pale blue jeans and a black top. Her hair was piled in a messy ponytail above her head, and she was holding her familiar journal in hand. He sighed, though his features remained outwardly expressionless. Sometimes, it felt like she was the third inhabitant of their establishment, with how often she visited and hung out with Slayte.

He opened the door, and regarded her, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"Hey, Levi!" she smiled brightly. "I know it's your lunch break."

"Yeah," he intoned in mild exasperation. Tapping a fingertip against the glass pointedly, he informed her, "Closed."

"To the public!" she lifted a finger. "I'm a V.I.P!"

 _V.I.P?_ Sure. If that stood for Very Irritating Pest, Levi thought to himself.

Elissa didn't know what the word _lunch-break_ meant, and never respected it, with how often she tended to waltz in during that very hour to chatter endlessly with his girlfriend. Speaking _of_ his girlfriend, a quick glance behind her informed him that she was nowhere to be found.

"Where's Slayte?" he asked.

"Huh?" she blinked at him. "Isn't she inside with you? That's why I came over."

Levi stared at her. Suspicion began to trickle through him. He recalled the previous day. Their conversation. Slayte's lack of sleep and how upset she had seemed. The intent way she had watched him flip the knife in his hands as he'd chopped up ingredients. The gears in his shrewd, intelligent mind turned, and without a word, he spun around, moving back to the counter, his grey eyes stopping on the wooden block beside the chopping board.

His favourite knife was missing.

Elissa, who had drifted inside, asked, "Levi? Are you okay?"

He turned back to her. "Where's your cat?"

His girlfriend's best friend stared blankly at him. "At home? Why?"

Understanding clicked into place in his head.

"We need to go." He swiftly grabbed the keys from beneath the counter, and ushered her out the door.

"Go _where?_ " Elissa asked, frowning in confusion. "What's going on?"

Levi didn't respond, as he locked the door shut behind them.

* * *

Slayte quietly closed the front door behind her. Having a spare set of keys to her best friend's apartment was definitely working to her advantage – though she felt a flash of remorse for entering without notifying Elissa of her visit beforehand. But that was precisely the point. She _couldn't_ let her find out that she was here. Slayte was a nymph on a mission. A mission to save her best friend's life – even if she ended up hating her for it.

She padded carefully through the apartment. Just like her beloved friend, it was bright, airy and warm. Elissa was tidy and organised by nature, but as Slayte passed the kitchen, she noted that even Elissa had her off-days, when she spotted unwashed plates left messily in the sink. She continued along the hallway, until she reached the cosy living room, her heart beating faster with every step forward she took.

The phone in her jean pocket was on silent, so she had no way of knowing at that moment that she was missing call after call. Entirely focused on her task, her eyes darted around the lounge, seeking out her target.

 _There_. Her eyes widened. She'd found the cursed animal that had almost gotten her best friend drowned one day, and flung off a building to her death on another. Vetty was curled up at the base of one of the sofas, her long, fluffy tail wrapped almost protectively around her plump, small body. Luck seemed to be on Slayte's side. The demon cat was asleep.

She glared at it. How could humans not see that it was cursed? Abnormal? How could they not see what was so painfully obvious?

 _If you think,_ Slayte thought out hatefully to the creature, _that I'm going to just stand back and watch you try to harm my best friend and take her away from me, then you've messed with the wrong nymph!_

She inched closer, reaching out behind her back to draw out Levi's favourite – and sharpest – kitchen knife. She'd snagged it from the knife block just before lunch, when Levi had briefly left the counter to gather paperwork from the accounts room. She desperately hoped he would not notice its absence – and if he did, that it would already be too late because she would have finished doing away with the threat that dangerously compromised her best friend's safety.

Gripping the blade tightly in her hand, she crept closer still, keeping as silent as the shadows into which she had been born. When she was close enough, she reached slowly out with her left hand – and grabbed the cat's collar roughly. Vetty's huge eyes opened – and Slayte gasped, her suspicions and fears immediately confirmed, when she found hellish crimson slits staring right back at her, as the cat's true nature revealed itself in response to being startled awake by what she perceived to be danger.

 _An Underworld cat!_ As she had feared!

Vetty meowed, and scratched savagely at her, writhing to be released. Slayte did not hesitate. Seeing the real monster before her, she drew her right arm back and stabbed into the animal's fur, missing on the first few attempts as the cat wriggled her body frantically in an attempt to escape. Slayte managed to connect on the third attempt, plunging her knife into Vetty's side, causing the feline to release an inhumane hiss – but lost her hold on the animal in the process.

Vetty immediately inched back, bristling fur standing up on edge, eyes glowing ominously as she bared her sharp teeth – _fangs_ \- Slayte noted – at the Lampad in open fury.

"You might have Elissa fooled," Slayte said, voice shaking with adrenaline and anger. "But I see _exactly_ what monster you truly are. I know where you've come from. And I won't let you hurt her, do you hear me? That's twice you've almost gotten her killed! Death's eyes are now fixed onto her thanks to you – I'll end you and put a stop to this madness, I swear it!" With that, she lunged at Vetty, who released a shrieking, loud meow and jumped beyond her reaching grasp. Slayte ran after her, chasing her from room to room, until she finally got her cornered in the utility area. Vetty hissed, near-growling, and Slayte noted with alarm that tendrils of shadow were drifting over her body.

The wound, she realised with sinking horror. There was no blood. The wound was… closing?!

With an enraged shout, she jumped forward and succeeded in grabbing hold of the cat's trailing tail. Yanking her viciously back, she then stabbed into her dark fur again with the knife, again and again, over and over. With each violent attack, plumes of smoke drifted into the air.

"Why won't you bleed?!" Slayte shrieked. " _Die_ , you demon!"

Footsteps ran down the hall, and moments later, strong arms grabbed at her from behind. Slayte's pounding heart leapt, when Levi's voice spoke into her ear.

"Slayte," he used her name, which meant he was being even more serious than usual. "Drop the knife. Put the cat down!"

"No!" she cried, near-hysterical, struggling against his restraining hold. "You don't _understand_ – can't you see it?! The smoke. It's evil-!"

"Let go of the damned cat," Levi ordered. _"Now!"_

Vetty screeched, struggling wildly in distress like a cat truly possessed, and was finally able to wrench herself loose. She bolted out the room, and came to a stop behind a pair of sneaker-clad feet that were standing by the doorway. Slayte's eyes followed the feet up, to find Elissa's horrified face. Her stomach lurched. Her best friend was looking at her like… like she was _insane_. Like she had lost her mind.

Frustration crested within her chest. She didn't _understand_ . How _could_ she? How could she have any idea what the appearance of the masked men had meant?! She had no perception, no clue of the true extent of danger she was in!

"Elissa-!" she began desperately.

But Elissa was shaking violently, disbelief and disgust painted all over her face. She had turned as white as a sheet from shock. Kneeling down, she scooped Vetty up into her arms – just as the last tendril of smoke dissipated into the air.

 _No_ , Slayte thought in fury. _No, it couldn't be!_ She had connected with the blade enough times to massacre an ordinary cat! How was it possible that Vetty was unhurt?

Deep down, she already _knew_ the answer. The undeniable, horrific truth. This cat was clearly anything but ordinary. It was demonic. And immortal. And had roped her hapless best friend into a deadly blood-contract. If there was no way of killing Vetty – then that surely meant there was no way of removing her from Elissa's side – unless the girl truly _did_ die.

Horror and panic flooded through Slayte. No. She couldn't let it happen. She _wouldn't!_

Holding Vetty tightly in her arms, Elissa swallowed, her eyes blurring over with tears. "I finally manage to get attached to something else," she whispered. "And you try to _kill_ it?"

Slayte's throat felt dry. Levi was still holding tightly onto her – as if he didn't trust that she wouldn't make another crazed attempt on Vetty's life if he let her go.

"No, Elissa, that's not what I-!"

"Don't you think I've lost enough things I care about this year?!" she demanded, the open pain of betrayal plastered all over her face.

Slayte swallowed. "Elissa, please, that cat's _not_ normal! Just let me explai-!"

" _You're_ the one that's crazy!" Elissa exclaimed in disgust, wanting to hear no more. Then she turned and fled tearfully down the hallway, taking Vetty with her.

Seconds later, the front door slammed angrily shut. Slayte gulped, and collapsed back against Levi, body shaking.

"She… hates me…" she whispered, stricken, sinking down to her knees on the floor. All she had wanted... all she had wanted was to protect her from an evil she could not see.

Levi lowered her carefully, and finally released her. Hastily retrieving the knife, which he slotted under his belt, he regarded her in silence for a long moment, as tears pooled from the corners of her eyes.

Then he sighed, and closed his eyes briefly, as if praying for patience.

"What do you expect? She walked in on you trying to murder her cat."

"I'm telling you," Slayte turned near-hysterical eyes to him. "I'm _telling_ you, that cat will get her killed!"

"So you decided to _kill_ the cat?" Levi cast her an irritated look. "Did you leave your brain at the shop? How did you think that would help? You've only gone and made yourself look like a complete psycho."

Slayte lifted her hands to her face in despair. He didn't understand. None of them did. They were human. How could she possibly make them see?

Levi grew silent, noting her forlorn body language. His irritated expression softened, shifting back into neutral.

"When you kill something," he spoke up suddenly, " _you're_ the one to die."

Slayte caught her breath. Slowly her hands lowered from her face, and she stared at him in bewilderment. His words slowly sunk in. Something about them made her shiver. Made her remember the nature of the one she had served, for countless centuries.

Something about his words, about how certain he sounded speaking them, made her afraid for his very _soul_.

"You're no killer," he added, as he rose to his feet, a distant look on his face. Then he blinked, the expression walling over entirely, as he reached a hand down to help her up.

"Let's go."

* * *

Elissa ran tearfully through the field. It was approaching late afternoon, and the sky outside was once again a beautiful, spotless blue. But she barely paid attention to her surroundings, as she sobbed inconsolably, the reality of what she had just witnessed finally slamming into her full force.

She'd raced back to her apartment with Levi – only to be met with a most impossible and alarming sight. Slayte. Her own _best friend_ . With a knife in hand, _stabbing_ her pet cat.

Why? Had she lost her senses? In all the years she had known Slayte, she had never known her to be violent. It shook Elissa to her very core. Her friend had taken an immediate dislike to the cat she had saved – and her paranoia and constant warnings had only escalated since that day. Vetty was harmless! Besides being temperamental and unpredictable, she was an otherwise affectionate pet. Why couldn't Slayte _see_ that? What on earth justified or warranted someone killing a poor, defenseless animal? Her heart pounded. She felt physically sick.

 _All life_ was sacred. How could Slayte betray her in such an awful way? She sniffled, finally slowing down in her steps, to find that she had drifted subconsciously toward the winding river again. She collapsed on her knees on the grass by the river's edge, beneath the shades of the oak trees, hugging a mewling Vetty closely to her chest.

She then realised it was the exact same place she had visited before. For lying on the grass beside her, was the library book she had left behind, and hadn't been able to find in her first visit back after the incident.

"I can't believe her…" she spoke out loud to Vetty, for there was nobody nearby. Her voice trembled, as she added, "What's gotten _into_ Slayte all of a sudden…? I- I can't believe that she would try to kill you." She bowed her head, burying her face against Vetty's soft fur. The cat meowed. "I just don't understand…" she whispered sadly.

She continued to sniffle, when a deep voice suddenly spoke. A voice that was as rich and dark as night itself. It caused an immediate and unexpected jolt to shoot down her spine.

"That cat. Where did you find it?"

She sucked in a sharp breath as her face lifted, looking to the other side of the river bank. Her eyes widened at what she found there, and her heart leapt to her throat. Standing beneath the trees, was the arresting, darkly handsome form of one of the masked men she had met at the same location on the day Vetty's antics had nearly gotten them both drowned.

He was staring straight at her.

She blinked at him in open surprise. He wore the same shadowy cloak, his long, silky black hair drawn back high up atop his head, spilling like a river of silk behind him. The gentle summer breeze caused glossy strands to sway across his concealed face, caressed by the touch of wind.

Her lips parted in astonishment. She couldn't seem to tear her gaze away from him. Something about him, about the quiet intensity of his gaze, about the way he stood, so confident, so regal, so poised and effortlessly composed, caused a whisper of alarm to flutter through her veins. Vetty, too, had grown strangely silent and still in her arms.

His words seemed to compel her to answer, for she answered back in confusion, "She was a stray… I… found her in the rain. I took her in."

The stranger's eyes lowered to the feline in her arms. Vetty meowed softly, and seemed to shrink back in Elissa's lap. A fierce wave of protectiveness rushed over her owner, causing her grip to tighten around the startled animal.

"…" The enigmatic man noted this, and blinked behind the eye-slit openings in his mask. "Her name?" he enquired. His tone was level, calm – but something about it was irresistibly commanding.

Bewildered, and too ensnared by the striking sight of him and the rich allure of his voice, she answered, "Uh. She's Vetty."

There was a pause. "And yours...?" he intoned quietly next.

 _Who was this man_ , she thought to herself. And why was he dressed like that again? Something about his voice seemed familiar. She was certain she had heard it before. But they hadn't spoken when he'd seen her near-drowning with Vetty.

Had they?

Then it hit her. Her dream. That was where she was sure she had heard him speak. Hadn't she? She frowned at him, confusion lacing itself on her features.

"I- have we spoken before?" she blurted stupidly. How could she remember his voice, when it had only been a dream?

She remembered that in her dreams, he had saved her from dying. But he wouldn't know that. Because it was only a dream. _Right?_

"…" His eyes locked onto her again. "Your name," he repeated, ignoring her question completely.

"I... I'm Elissa," she shook her head, as much in response to the way her heart was racing, as to his blatant disregard of her words.

He seemed to be waiting for her to expand. Feeling even more unnerved, and not quite understanding why she was so freely supplying her name to an absolute stranger, she supplied, "Elissa Caelum. Who are _you?_ "

"His name is Itachi," a voice called lightly, from somewhere up in the trees. Elissa blinked, and looked up, trying to locate it – and found the second masked man was sitting up on a branch lazily, one long leg drawn up, the other dangling off the edge of the sturdy wooden limb. He offered her a brief, thoroughly disarming smile. "And I'm Shisui. We are pleased to make your acquaintance."

His companion, Itachi, turned his head, to angle a silent look back up at him. Shisui grinned down. They stared at each other for a few seconds, and seemed to be sharing a private, unspoken exchange that Elissa didn't understand.

She glanced from one young man to the other incredulously. What were the chances of meeting them in the same place? Two in a million, surely?

"So you say that cat's a stray you found," Shisui went on casually. His voice was smooth, and held within it darkly hypnotic tones. "And you decided to take her in?"

"Yes," Elissa nodded. Then she finally voiced, "Why are you so interested in my cat?"

"Oh, no reason," Shisui answered offhandedly. "Other than, she almost got _you_ drowned."

"That was an accident," Elissa defended automatically.

"Was it now." Though the words Shisui formed were a question, the tone was anything but uncertain.

Elissa's eyes moved from the trees, back to Itachi, who was now staring at her cat in silence. Vetty shifted in Elissa's arms, clearly wishing to be released. Gingerly, Elissa's arms loosened from around her, and her pet padded onto the grass, swishing her beautiful tail. She meowed – seemingly at Itachi directly.

Elissa wiped at her eyes, embarrassed that once again, these two had caught her at a bad time. What a mess that had to think she was.

"You seem upset," Shisui remarked. "Has something happened?"

"No," she said, a little too fast. She certainly wasn't about to tell a pair of _strangers_ that her supposed best friend had just tried to kill her cat. No matter how outrageously gorgeous they both seemed to be – even with half their faces concealed from her view.

In one fluid, languidly graceful motion, Shisui hopped down from the branch, landing perfectly on his feet. He drew up next to Itachi, slightly taller in stature than his long-haired friend, and said gently, "Are you certain?" His eyes met hers across the river. "Perhaps you would like to reconsider your answer. Tell us what happened."

"What…?" Elissa's eyebrows drew together. Sunlight hit against his mask, glinting silver. It had to be playing tricks on her vision, for she was certain she spotted a flash of crimson. But it was gone when she blinked, and she found herself unexpectedly disclosing, "My best friend... Slayte... sneaked into my apartment and tried to kill my cat. She thinks she's dangerous. But Vetty's just a cat. I saw Slayte do it, and I got upset. So I ran… here."

No sooner had the words tumbled from her mouth, Elissa slapped a hand over her lips. Why had she just said that?!

"Ah…" Shisui commented carefully. "I see. How…" he glanced across at his friend. "…Unfortunate."

Vetty splashed at the water's edge. Elissa leaned worriedly forward, concerned that she would fall into it again – only to watch in astonishment when her cat suddenly lowered her head meekly. Elissa glanced up to see that Itachi was once again watching the feline intently.

Vetty swiped at the water, and caught a small fish. Mewling, she then jumped in, before Elissa could stop her. Startled, Elissa reached out a hand, and instantly tried to lean over to grab her to safety.

"Vetty! No! Get back here!"

"She can swim," Shisui reassured her.

Sure enough, Vetty made it effortlessly across the river. With ears flattened in submission, she drew to a stop at Itachi's feet – and lowered the writhing fish there.

"…" Itachi regarded the animal in aloof silence. Elissa gaped, both in amazement at Vetty's unprecedented behaviour, and at Itachi's emotionless reaction. How could he be so unaffected by such an adorable gesture? She surmised that he wasn't much of a talker – or as approachable - in comparison to his more easy-going friend.

"I guess… she likes you?" Elissa suggested, clasping her hands together on her lap. "She's not usually so friendly."

"Hah," Shisui chuckled shortly. "My cousin is flattered, I am sure."

 _Cousins?_ She supposed she could see some resemblance in the dark hair and the chiselled jawlines – but also in the identical manner in which they were dressed.

Vetty was mewling imploringly up at Itachi, who remained impressively unaffected. Elissa watched in disbelief, as Vetty then rubbed her body against his right leg, clearly trying to endear herself to the stern, stoic masked man.

"Umm. He doesn't look it. I guess… he doesn't like fish?" Elissa attempted to joke – only to fall silent when Itachi's eyes flicked briefly up to her again.

Her gaze dropped. She felt heat creep into her cheeks. If Shisui was easy and approachable, his cousin was anything but. He was downright distant and intimidating.

"Interesting book you have there," Shisui nodded to the discarded text to her right, reminding Elissa to retrieve it. "You're into Greek mythology?"

Elissa picked up the book. "Yeah. You could say that."

"And those gods, specifically…?" Shisui pressed. "That's very particular."

Elissa was quiet. Then she said earnestly, not quite sure what it was that made these two so easy to reveal things to, "Well. I've lost a lot of people to death recently, and I guess I've been trying to understand the concept of an afterlife better. If there is one."

She could feel a heavy gaze weighing on her, and glanced up again to find that Itachi was looking at her again. The power of his stare was frightening.

"Your forte," she heard Shisui mutter under his breath.

Failing to understand the odd choice of words, she questioned curiously, "Why are you both dressed like that?" When they simply stared at her, she went on, "Do you work in theatre?"

Shisui laughed. "You could say… our surroundings are somewhat…" he paused, before offering, " _dramatic._ "

"What kind of theatre plays do you perform…?" Elissa asked, noting that Vetty had given up on trying to appease the reticent Itachi entirely. She had curled by his feet sadly. Elissa wondered what had happened to the brat cat she had taken in, and who this unrecognisable, tame imposter was.

"Oh, I don't know. What do you think, cousin?" Shisui looked to Itachi.

Itachi was silent a long moment. Then he replied simply, "A tragedy."

Shisui coughed, as if concealing a laugh. Again, it seemed that they were sharing a private exchange, an inside joke lost on her.

"Oh," Elissa looked at him. She wanted him to speak again. His voice was wonderful, quiet seduction. "Well, where do you guys perform? It must be nearby if you're always in costume when you pass here? Maybe I could come and see it."

"Maybe you could," Shisui said blithely. Itachi shot him a sharp, warning look. He simply grinned back.

"Vetty," Elissa called. Her cat meowed, and rose. Looking mournfully from the fish, back up to an unmoved Itachi, she then jumped back into the water, and swam across, re-joining Elissa on the opposite side of the river.

A silence fell between them, in which she was unnerved to find that they were watching her and Vetty quite closely. What was it with these two?

"Well," Shisui then nodded politely to her, "Elissa. This has been very enlightening. Thank you for your time."

With that, he and his silent companion turned and departed, leaving Elissa gaping in bewilderment after them. 


	9. Part VIII: Night

**Author's note:** Time for Nyx's backstory! Her past is a tragic one, much like everything that Cronus touches, but I hope you all enjoy.

* * *

**Part VIII: Night**

* * *

The girl briskly strolled through the opulent gardens, admiring the wondrous, luminous trees. Colors of all hues, flowers of all varieties captured the attention of the young Goddess. She lifted her small, milky white arm and touched the bark, only to smile happily when its light begun to shine brighter; as though the tree responded to the new Queen to be. These trees were of the Underworld. Eerie, magical, enticing, beautiful. Exactly like her.

Nyx was the Night. Within her thundered a power so fierce that could create constellations with a delicate wave of her small fingers, paint the sky with gleaming stars, a power that could cloak the entire world under a dark midnight veil, conceal all beings and all things imaginable.

Demure and polite as always, young Nyx followed the crowd of the nymphs and handmaidens. Her long, ebony tresses, decorated with pearls danced behind her as she was heading for the resplendent doors of the Underworld Palace, ready to pay her respects to the rightful King of the Underworld.

* * *

When she first laid eyes upon the Lord Supreme, Cronus, the Titan God of Chaos, it felt more like _he_ had laid his eyes on _her_ instead. He carried himself with an air of absolute, unquestionable authority and grace, so much so that her very soul fluttered in his presence. It was to be expected. After all, Lord Cronus had been their Patriarch, the source of the Underworld's strength, the root of all the Uchiha. He had carved their world out of pure darkness. Precious gems seeped out of his palms, scattered all around the Realm. He was a true Lord, unmatched, unrivaled. His glory and might had been known from the high Mountain of Olympus, to the Surface and beyond.

His presence alone emanated immense power, complete and utter dominance. He oozed magnificence in such a way that he could with ease snatch away the breath of all standing at his perimeter. Pure Chaos raged within him; and yet he stood with such resolve and composure, that you'd for a moment forget his deadly function. His long, ebony and unruly mane was the only herald to his true chaotic nature, that he hid underneath the perfectly composed exterior.

His eyes were dark and sharp; a set of pure, piercing black diamonds. His features haughty, but undoubtedly arresting. His jawline fit to cut through ground rock. His shoulders wide. Even concealed by his regal attire, one could fathom how toned his muscles were, how sturdy his whole body rippled through the very air of their Realm.

Nyx stood tall and proud, keeping her regal composure even while kneeling in respects to the Lord, their absolute King. She needed to be gracious and noble, exactly as she was raised to be. At the same time, she was born to become something more, a Queen. And Queens do not shrivel and cower before authority; they meet power straight ahead with an air of dignified regality that must never allow room for question.

Cronus neared to where she had knelt. She did not fear, but she still held her head bowed. Unexpectedly, his strong, cold hand, gripped her chin to angle it upwards and towards his bewitching features. "What are you called, maiden?"

She dared shift her gaze to his; perhaps a little too brazenly, but she meant no disrespect. Instead, it was her own way of recognizing his absolute dominion over all that stood and drew breath in the Underworld. Including herself.

"I am Nyx, my Lord."

The corners of his lips seemed to curl into a barely-there smirk, as his eyes roamed her much smaller form, finding secrets only for him to know. "As sweet as Night itself..."

* * *

When she first laid eyes upon Erebus, their meeting was brief. What commanded her rapt attention was how stoic he appeared to be. He possessed the renowned dark Uchiha charm, his features chiseled to perfection. Shoulders tense and posture straight. His attire black and aristocratic, his darker-than-darkness-itself cape trailing after his every move. Jaw sharp, eyebrows furrowed with thoughts she could not yet decipher, ghosting behind his temples.

As the true well-mannered Uchiha he was, Erebus guided her beautiful, small hand to his lips and placed a noble kiss. Nyx beamed a kind smile to her husband-to-be. She had heard tales of Erebus's achievements, for his intellect and battle prowess. A fine man he was indeed.

He spoke to her bravely. It was often that deities and nymphs have stammered before her. Some said because of her striking beauty, her long, silk and ebony hair, her slender but curvy womanly figure, her elegant limbs, her melodious voice, her eyes glistening with ingenuity, that left others breathless and completely docile under her palms.

Erebus was not like those others. He was proud and regal. A true Leader. He was firm and clever. Hardworking and precise. He knew when to speak to her and how to behave.

She took a final, measuring look into his onyx eyes and vowed to unravel and protect all secrets he housed within.

* * *

When first she laid eyes upon the adorable feline, she knew she'd cherish her for all eternity. The little female cat's fur was as dark and thick as smoke. She looked so light, so soft and beautiful, inviting Nyx to stroke her to no end. Her feral dark eyes gleamed in the dark, two beads radiating mischief.

"How beautiful you are, little one!" Nyx cooed sweetly and lowered herself, mindful of her long, resplendent dress, in order to comfortably run her fingers along the back of the small animal. The kitten did not run away, or cower at her touch. The rich fur was as soft as she imagined it to be; a total delight to pet for hours and hours long.

"Meow!" the cat responded, nuzzling her little face to Nyx's hand. The young Goddess supposed that this _meow_ had been a rather pleasant one. It seemed that the feline had taken a liking to Nyx, as much as she had taken a liking to her too.

The kitty purred appreciatively and blinked innocently at the Goddess of the Night. A small flicker of red in her coal eyes was proof enough to Nyx that the impossibly cute, sweet little kitty was no ordinary animal. In response to the red in her cat eyes, Nyx commanded her aristocratic Sharingan to appear, and smiled to the young feline.

Young and thriving where the Sun did not reach, possessing inner powers that no one could ever truly tame put both in a very similar, yet also very starkly different position.

Nyx heaved a sigh. "It seems we are both of the Night." She gently scratched at the kitten's chin and behind her ears and then let her hop peacefully into her arms.

* * *

When next she spoke with Lord Cronus in an alarmingly close proximity, the engagement had already been long decided upon and very soon after, she'd be formally united in formal wedlock with Erebus. Her relationship with her soon-to-be husband had grown to be a very loving one. He was a man of few words, but of many actions. He clearly adored her and she had come to love him wholeheartedly. She had learned to admire his stoic personality, his wits, his devotion to the Clan and their Realm. Nyx would be proud to be called the wife of Erebus, the Underworld's Queen.

"Death and Shadows," he spoke and her stomach coiled with trepidation. She was alone in her Gardens, basking in the tranquility of the scenery, alone with naught but her thoughts. Nyx could now see that venturing in the Gardens alone, may not have been such a wise decision after all.

She should have known. She shouldn't have dismissed the intensity of his gaze, locking upon her much too often for her liking. It was a fool's hope to consider that his interest was of harmless nature.

"Your _matrimony_ ," he spoke the word with a degree of apparent disgust, "only serves this purpose."

Cronus started circling around Nyx, like a kingly animal does to its prey, ready to pounce at any given moment. "I watch you," he simply offered.

Nyx gulped. His eyes were indeed gleaming with heavily suppressed desire every chance they happened to meet hers. It was not a simple silly notion to realize that he had more than once attempted to accost her in the Palace. It was not a misunderstanding on her part, that he was fixing intense stares upon her rosy lips, and that he, once, even dared to come close enough, so that only a wisp of breath kept their bodies apart.

Suddenly, the dark figure she had thought was hovering about her room at the dead of the night took a very familiar form in her mind. Oh…

"Sweet Nyx," he muttered under his breath, his onyx eyes conquering every part of her. She had no room to protest. None dared to defy the Patriarch.

Cronus forcefully neared. With a simple move, he brought himself very close to crushing his body onto hers. His strong hand was lifted to invasively grab at her lower torso. She couldn't even _think the thought_ to escape. "Bear the perfect sons for me." Her breath arrested in her lungs. "That is your task." He declared, shamelessly, authoritatively.

The Titan God leaned closer to her ear, leaving an utterly frightening caress in her ebony hair, and seductively whispered. "You are _mine_."

* * *

She had no one to speak to. No one to tell of this utterly frightening _adventure_ she had plunged herself into. Well, except, maybe, from her dear Vetty, but the feline was unable to understand. After that close encounter with Lord Cronus, he has been emboldened to an astonishing degree.

She loved Erebus. Truly, she did! The Ceremony was only a short while away and her betrothed had earned his rightful place in her heart. Their conversations sparked her fiery intellect so much, that she slowly started to discover that Erebus was capable of making very long conversations, if the topic was opportune and his partner was deemed a worthy one to speak to.

As much as her heart delighted in these sweet moments with Erebus, a treacherous guilt had established itself deep into her gut. She could do nothing to stop the storm that was coming towards her. She could never refuse Cronus. She was only thankful that her powers allowed her to conceal and remain concealed under the nightly veil.

He would visit her in the dark of midnight. He would stir her awake with all kinds of sensual touches she could not inhibit. He could catch her in her private chambers and steal passionate kisses that she hadn't even exchanged with her soon-husband yet. How treacherous, how impious!

Nyx could hardly believe that her body, as young of a deity as she still was, responded so _vividly_ to his ministrations. Heat pooled in her body. Some of it was liquid, the rest was dry heat, leaving her breathless, gasping for air, like an animal in the desert.

How dreadful it was that she got accustomed to responding to his touches… to his kisses… And how he would always smirk sardonically at her shy reactions, finding immense pleasure in how he made her body respond, shake and flutter in his wake. It was as though he thoroughly enjoyed this blasphemous secret they now shared. Nyx hadn't even been asked whether she wanted to participate in this maddening dance. Cronus just came forth and pillaged! How could she enforce her power as Queen, if she could not reign in her own self?

Her Lord was infecting her with pure chaos...

* * *

He was an absolute wonder! Nyx could never imagine that her heart could be so full of love, adoration, utter bliss! Looking at her newborn son's handsome features, made her soul quiver. Tears started to well up in her eyes. _Itachi…_ It felt like her existence was complete! The infant was looking at her with his expressive, truly beautiful eyes and her whole _being_ drummed with joy! They could leave her here with him for all eternity and she'd never tire just to simply study him in all his splendor.

"My love," she breathed out, tears finally escaping her. She couldn't possibly contain her love. It was still very early to tell, but her observing eyes could discern Erebus's features on her son's little face. He seemed to have his coloring. Itachi was such a calm and meek baby. Her love for him came as huge light waves, drowning her in more happiness by the minute. Her very soul sung in joy.

"Sweet Nyx." The voice boomed like thunder in her heart. She had shown such pure, unadulterated emotion towards her son, that it was hard to gather her musings quickly enough to be presentable. Nevertheless, she tried to.

"My Lord!" Her words came out like a pray for salvation, but they were anything but that. Instinctively, she hugged her newborn son closer to her chest. But that did not deter the Titan.

He stepped closer to the bed and without even asking for permission from the mother of the child, he lifted his hand towards them, to move the fabrics around the baby away for him to examine.

Nyx inwardly implored every deity in the world to protect her, in her vulnerable state, and, most importantly, protect her sweet son from the Titan's hands. To her utter relief, he did not attempt to take the infant away from his mother's embrace. The God regarded young Itachi with rapt interest, searching for answers she, at present, did not have to offer back to him. Cronus's eyes seem to sinfully linger over her bare flesh, as Nyx had only just paused feeding her little one. She drew in a sharp breath.

"Death," he simply stated, not averting his eyes. Only a moment later, his gaze shifted over to her eyes, that were clouded with fear. Her fingers gently stroked the baby, and, to her immense relief, Itachi showed no signs of crying. He was simply looking at his mother inquisitively.

She did not even have the chance to speak. She angled her neck to regard the Patriarch resolutely. But –

"Well done." With these words, he was gone.

* * *

To her extreme discomfort her apparent _obedience_ into fulfilling the task he had assigned to her, had filled Cronus with increased bravado. Soon after her son was a little bit old enough to be able to do without his mom for more than an hour, the Titan's visits have become alarmingly regular.

He would sneak up on her and steal fervent kisses, lustful caresses in places that she'd allow only her husband to touch so intimately. To her absolute horror, their trysts had become more and more blasphemous. He had compelled her to pleasure him far too many times to count. Nyx was forced to bend her knees before the Patriarch, even while her chest was still producing sustenance for her adorable baby.

Inside her, a fiery storm was raging.

* * *

The final installment of her assigned task came in the form of her second son. Hades was a marvel to look at! His locks resembled hers more than Erebus's, whereas Itachi's long ones were a very dark brown, similar to the hue of his father's. While Itachi had been a calm and docile little baby, Sasuke was a whole racket by himself. He'd raise a storm much more easily than his well-mannered older brother. Such a feisty little thing! Hades reminded her of herself.

Nyx had seen in her oldest son's eyes how much he loved his younger sibling. Her heart was filled with joy yet again! When once she had thought that she couldn't be more blissful and complete while having infant Itachi in her arms, Nyx could now see that her second son came into this world to make her own world completely perfect! Seeing her happy family filled her with a sense of accomplishment and incredible happiness!

This time she had expected Cronus's appearance in the room. He found her just as she was about to gently put a sleepy little Sasuke in his crib. She was thankful Erebus was with Thanatos and Hypnos, occupying them, while she was nursing Hades. The Titan gave his evaluating and piercing look to the adorable, yawning baby and turned his attention to her. This once he grabbed at the nape of her neck and forced her into a passionate kiss. Her protests drowned in her lips. Leaving a trail of incriminating saliva behind, he finally pulled away.

"Shadows," he whispered appreciatively and lifted his index finger to place at her pink lips, finding hidden pleasures, scorching desires. Hades's loud cries were what stopped Cronus before he could make any other move on her.

Cronus spared a last, calculating glance to the baby. "Spirited that one." And disappeared into the darkness.

She heaved a very deep sigh and took the crying baby into her arms, trying to calm him down as best as she could. At that very moment, her dear husband with their beloved first-born in tow entered the room. She turned towards them with a twirl and beamed a gleeful smile.

Oh, how she loved them so…!

Erebus and Thanatos came closer to the crib of the new prince. As her husband circled a loving arm around her waist and gently caressed the baby's small head, Itachi was watching his little brother with keen interest.

"Why is he crying? Is he hurt?" Nyx shook her head, reassuring her little boy.

"He is not." She smiled widely, despite Sasuke's nearly deafening cries. "Do you want to have a better look at your brother, Itachi?"

As if by magic, when Nyx lowered the infant to Itachi's level and the two brothers met each other's eyes, Sasuke's cries stopped.

Her heart fluttered in her chest seeing how lovingly Itachi was looking at his little sibling. The child lifted his small hand.

"Careful now," Erebus warned, his usually stern voice, laced with love and kindness.

Itachi placed his small palm on his brother's tummy, but the little one had a plan of his own. He grabbed at his older brother's fingers and firmly held them in his tiny hand.

At that moment, Nyx vowed to herself. What had already plaguing her mind for a very long time now was as clear to her as clean water. She would give her life to protect her family, she would sacrifice her whole being for their safety and well-being.

And thus, she would use Cronus's desire to her advantage.

* * *

Eons passed. Her troubles and concerns had diminished in one way and towered over her in another.

Her womanly charms permitted her to utilize Cronus' intensity to her best interests. His passion was catastrophic, his desire scorching like lava. She could not hope to defy him. But she has found ways to divert his chaotic nature into paths she could retain a certain degree of control over.

She would allow him to pillage her completely, to express his rage and savagery on her delicate body, in exchange for her family's safety. His chaotic insanity would then be contained firmly in her grasp and would not run loose over those that she held dear. She knew well that he was eyeing her precious sons with picked interest. After all, Thanatos and Hades were the reason he even allowed her marriage with Erebus. If not for her children, Cronus would have claimed her as his own woman long ago.

In a sense, she already was, irrevocably, his own. But that was only in secret, only behind closed doors. Only under the careful concealment that her powers afforded her. Oh, how much the Night knows, how much she hides from prying eyes...

Meeting Erebus' devoted gaze each time was truly heart-breaking. She loved him dearly. And yet, she was so _generously_ sharing herself with another man. How unbecoming of the Queen of the Uchiha. Still, she had no other choice. Cronus's chaos was her own responsibility to contain. He had already claimed her in ways Erebus would never, could never have. It left a bitter taste in her mouth.

What troubled her the most was that her own treacherous heart learned to find her trysts with Cronus thrilling, intriguing. She was not the young innocent Goddess she had once been. Surely, she should have had the sense to detach herself from such kind of pleasure. And yet, her body was magically, so dishonorably responding to Cronus in a most favorable way. No matter how rough, how domineering he had been, a deep ache within her begged for release by _his own hand._

She could find some semblance of peace in only a handful of ways. The first and most important was her loving family. Even though, as her sons grew, new worries have been plaguing her mind, she found consolation in their beautiful eyes! The second was her wondrous gardens. With the help of her trusted young gardener, Katie, she had made a beautiful arbor, worthy of the finest tales. Her Royal Chef, Rain, had assured her that her gardens were truly a sigh to behold! The third was her cats. Especially her most beloved one, Vetty. She always found solace in the feline's sharp eyes. Her purring against her hand had offered a much needed sense of calmness. She knew she could trust her beautiful cat with her life and she often shared her misfortunes with her. Vetty's devotion was unquestionable. Nyx too, came to know of Vetty's deepest secrets.

Seeing her oldest son suffering with the immense fortitude of his devastating powers left Nyx sleepless many nights. If only she could find a way to ease his burden! She was immensely thankful to her dear nephew, Hypnos, for always staying by Thanatos's side. These two were truly inseparable. The two masked, truly arresting young deities, even at such a young age, would, one way or the other, wreak havoc in their path. They were undoubtedly powerful, incredibly smart and alarmingly talented. Such power at such a young age…

She was, at least, happy that her second son, young Hades, did not seem to suffer the same fate as his genius older brother. That way, feisty little Hades would live a life full of adventure and wonder, without being dragged down by desolating powers crushing his shoulders to the ground.

She often wondered what she could hope to do to alleviate that predicament. Her complicated affair with Cronus was of no help now.

Nyx had visited Temples of Old, paths least walked, in order to find an answer to her pleas. She had only wanted to help her son to escape the crushing solitude of his deadly function. When she had almost gave in to despair, the Fates have revealed to her the most intriguing prophecy. And Nyx had held their words in her heart, like lungs hold on to air. At first, they rung empty to her ears. After all, she sought salvation for her son, Thanatos, and not empty promises concerning another individual. It was the Great Goddess Hecate that had assured her that what the Fates had foreseen was the ultimate key to her son's happiness.  
  
And so the prophecy ever rang in her mind, and she vowed she would do whatever it took to bring it to fruition.  
  
_  
~*~  
  
Chaos averted by affection,_  
_A mortal soul - barred of direction,_  
_That death's touch may, her fate awaken,_  
_Usurper's arrogance mistaken._  
  
_Time fragmented as the cosmos scattered,_  
_Immortal bequest to mortal matter,_  
_Prophecied child; anointed by love,_  
_Receive thy heritage from stars above._  
  
_Tread no path of stone beneath the waves,_  
_Vile greed buried in watery graves,_  
_Let mortal over immortal reign,_  
_And crown fall where her hand would deign._

Cronus & Nyx by Vetty (https://vettyart.tumblr.com/)


	10. Part IX: Prayers to the God of Death

* * *

**Part IX: Prayers to the God of Death**

* * *

_ Please, just… It's all too much… _

_ I've never asked you for anything, _

_ so just this once… _

_ Just kill me! I can't take this anymore! _

**_Hey…_ **

_ I hate this life! _

_ They tell you to keep living, _

_ They say don't give up, _

_ but no one ever says for what! _

**_Can you hear me…?_ **

_ It's not really that I want to die, _

_ so much as that I've never wanted to live… _

_ Just scraping by, for what? _

_ It's all so useless… _

**_God… or whoever…_ **

_ I'm just so tired, please, just make it end. _

_ I've never wanted anything _

_ as badly as I want to die. _

_ I've been defeated, I can't get up. _

_ No, I don't even want to. _

**_If you can hear me, then…_ **

_ It hurts! _

_ Oh my God, it hurts so bad, please! _

_ Just let me die already! _

**_Could you help me?_ **

_ I'm going to do this. _

_ It's a steep fall but _

_ I've already made up my mind, _

_ just, please don't let it hurt too badly… _

_ Please don't let me wake up… _

_ Are you going to kill me? _

_ This is a good time… _

**_I've put a lot of thought to this,_ **

**_it isn't a spur-of-the-moment thing…_ **

_ I'm done! I'm done! _

_ I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! _

**_Can you just let me die?_ **

**_I don't want to do it myself._ **

**_I don't want anyone to be hurt._ **

**_Just…_ **

**_No matter how much I think about it, I just…_ **

**_You know it, too, right?_ **

**_How much better everyone's lives would be without me?_ **

**_I'm serious._ **

**_Please._ **

"Please!" The desperate cry reverberated off the blank walls of the clinical, white room.

Itachi blinked slowly, regarding the aging woman in front of him. He pushed back the myriad of voices begging an audience to the back of his mind, reducing them to little more than faint whispers. The elderly woman in front of him deserved his undivided attention.

"I –" she gasped, pressing the palms of her hands together in a helpless plea. "I've been waiting so many years, my grandson is coming today, just… Please, just give me a little more time. I only want to see his face once more, please…" The woman's kind gray eyes filled with tears that streamed over her face.

She attempted to kneel, but her knees had grown stiff with age and instead, she fell gracelessly at his feet. She took hold of the hem of his cloak and wept bitterly. "Please, I beg of you! Only an hour! Show an old crone this mercy! One hour is all I ask of you!" Her voice raised in pitch as she grew more agitated, "No, I beg of you! I haven't seen his face in ten years!"

Itachi knelt until he hovered over the elderly woman, "Madame," he said kindly, his voice gentle but irresistible, "The time has come. It will not be delayed." Her lip trembled in anguished resignation, as her eyes caught on him, transfixed and mesmerized. Slowly, Itachi reached up for the gold-embroidered mask resting on his face, for every living being must look once upon the face of death. As he slowly withdrew his mask, the woman's jaw dropped in horror, she scrambled to distance herself from him. Eager to put space between herself and the final culmination of all mortal life, but before she could attempt to take even one more breath, her soul responded to his summons and glided forth smoothly, obediently.

Itachi rose and observed the hollow shell of what had once been an elderly woman, desperate to live another hour to see the grandson she had not seen for ten years.

_ Please, don't force me to live through another day… _

Itachi's eyes narrowed as he turned to leave the hospital room, passing through the walls as if they were little more than air.

These were prayers to the god of death, and he did not heed even one of them.

* * *

Elissa had returned to her apartment no less unnerved.

Of course, Levi and Slayte were gone when she arrived, she had expected as much, and she was glad for it. Slayte was the last person she wanted to see right now. She stalked through the hallway, looking decidedly anywhere but the utility area where Slayte had clung to Vetty's collar with a knife in her hand.

She saw that Slayte had picked the place up before she went, and there were no longer any signs of the mad chase that had surely ensued between her and Vetty. The thoughtful gesture only served to upset Elissa further. The hypocrisy of trying to kill her cat but cleaning up after doing so was simply too much to bear. She tore open the balcony doors and headed outside for some much-needed fresh air before she could face her apartment again.

Looking out over the grassy fields and the highway beyond, she sighed, remembering her dream. It was bad enough to dream so intimately of a complete stranger… even worse, despite never having heard Itachi's voice before, when he spoke, it was precisely the voice she had heard in her dream. It was unsettling to say the least.

But that dream couldn't possibly have been more than a dream. She remembered hurtling to the ground until she was suddenly rescued, caught in the warm, strong arms of a handsome and mysterious stranger and returned to her apartment with a single leap. Something like that had no basis in reality, there was no way that could have really happened. Just thinking about it made her uneasy.

She sighed, knowing there was no simple answer for all the uncertainties plaguing her mind at that moment. She looked towards her feet at Vetty who was aimlessly bumbling about and was struck yet again by the heartlessness of Slayte's actions. It hurt all the more, because Slayte was one of the few people who knew precisely how much Elissa was suffering with the loss of her loved ones. How terrified she was of death, and how disinclined she had been to  _ ever _ taking a pet for fear it would die on her. Yet, that very same friend had disregarded all of that and hurt her, betrayed her, in a way she had never thought possible.

Blinking away tears, she frowned. She had promised herself to stop thinking about it and yet, here she was again, trying desperately to understand Slayte's actions.

She turned back into the apartment, closing the door to the balcony behind her.

* * *

Slayte was curled up in a chair, her knees drawn up to her chest, eyes looking out on the empty tea shop unseeingly. Unfocused.

Vetty was not only a demon cat. She was immortal.

The gravity of what she had learned was crushing. There were, in the history of the Underworld only very few felines that had received immortality. That could only mean that Vetty was not simply an escaped underworld cat, no… she belonged to some deity of the underworld. Clearly, one of very high ranking. Slayte shuddered. But who?

Not a single deity roamed that dark, illustrious realm that was not terrifying and whose effect on mortals was not devastating. She suspected Thanatos, thinking of the masked men Elissa had met, but she knew from her centuries of serving him, that Thanatos had no pets. The most he interacted with underworld felines was when one crossed his path in his mother's gardens.

Her eyes widened. Nyx, on the other hand… was known to keep a number of underworld cats, delighting in their company. But what reason could the goddess of night possibly have for sending such a terrifying demon to an innocent mortal. What could they possibly want with Elissa?

She was shaken from her thoughts as a cup of peppermint tea was placed on the table beside her. Peppermint, one of her favorites, to calm her nerves. She looked up at Levi, who was looking down on her with what seemed like concern, veiled as always by his characteristic irritation with the world in general and this time, with her in particular.

He had chosen, in a gesture of uncharacteristic consideration, not to open the tea shop to the public that afternoon. She supposed that was something she should thank him for but feared he would be even more irritated if she mentioned it.

She looked at the steaming cup of tea beside her and lowered her feet from the chair to the floor, unwinding. "Thank you," she muttered quietly, hoping to include all of the things she was grateful for, without saying it in so many words.

"Don't mention it," he threw back gruffly, before pulling out a chair to sit beside her. She sipped hesitantly at the tea, wincing as she scalded her lips, and saw a flicker of concern pass through Levi's blue eyes. She lowered her own dark eyes to the table.

"What were you thinking?" Levi finally broke the silence with a direct line of questioning, a rare occurrence between them. Their relationship flourished under the mutual, unspoken understanding that neither of them would pry. They each had their own secrets, they knew, and respecting that had served them well over the last five years.

"It's that cat…" Slayte answered bitterly, not wanting to evade the question in light of how rare it was for him to be asking at all, and how much trouble she had caused for him. "Elissa, is…" Her voice broke, and she stared down at her tea, furiously fighting back the tears that were blurring the image in front of her.

"She's in trouble, Levi. She's in so much trouble and there isn't a thing that I can do about it." She confessed bitterly, helplessly. The tears won over and finally streamed down her face.

A long moment passed between them as Levi watched her cry, silently, her choked sobs echoing through the empty shop as she wiped the tears away hastily. His gaze slipped away from her then, settling on some distant point outside the window when he spoke.

"What do you want me to do?" He said at last, his voice clear and gentle. She looked up in surprise to find his characteristic scowl had disappeared, his expression blank as he watched the scenery beyond the window.

"Wh- what?" she blurted, disconcerted by his sudden change in demeanor.

His eyes slid away from the window, settling on her upturned face, catching her dark eyes in his icy blue ones.

He knew there were things she did not feel comfortable talking about. Secrets she had brought with her from her past life. He would never forget the day she had appeared suddenly in front of his tea shop, looking as if she had stepped out of a fairy tale. Surreal. She was a girl who had known next to nothing about the world they lived in, something that should have been impossible at her age. And the five years they had spent together had blurred his perception of reality and his beliefs on the supernatural.

Only what he could see and feel and kill was real. That had been the outlook that had made the most sense to him until Slayte had walked into his life. Her fear of Elissa's cat seemed unjustified. Ridiculous, even. But he knew her well enough by now, to know that nothing less than pure, unadulterated terror for her friend's life could have led her to the actions she had taken that day. He trusted her judgment, even if he did not understand it.

"Is there something I can do to help you?" he asked, his voice level.

Slayte looked up into his expressionless eyes, his words hanging in the air. She knew he was not asking as her boyfriend, as Levi, owner of the Wings of Freedom Tea Shop. He was asking as the man who had forged an identity for her out of thin air, providing her with official documents. He was asking as the one with a threatening glare in his eyes, subdued quickly once he was aware of it. It was the Levi with a switchblade, glinting as it danced between his fingers, that was offering his aid.

But powerful and competent as she was sure he was in the mortal world, the very thought of him standing on the banks of the Styx, or staring down Cerberus, or worst of all, looking into the very face of Thanatos, broke her heart and filled her with horror.

Was there anything he could do to help her?

"Yeah," she whispered, reaching out to take his warm hand in hers. She leaned forward until her head was resting against his shoulder. "Just stay with me, like this, a little longer." She closed her eyes, breathing in his reassuring scent and after a moment's hesitation, he lifted a hand to her back in a comforting embrace.

* * *

"Now you choose to make an appearance, Vetty."

Nyx's tone was displeased as she turned to the feline appearing from the shadows. The cat crawled into her lap, nuzzling against her, and Nyx could not help but stroke her favorite familiar lovingly.

"You have a lot to answer for, little one… letting yourself be seen by Thanatos." Nyx murmured, even as a gentle smile tugged at her lips. Vetty had been a constant in her life, and she loved the cat most dearly.

She scratched behind the black cat's ears, feeding into her memories of the past few weeks, weaning the information she required. She withdrew her hand with a start, and her face paled. "Vetty!" She gasped.

The cat had sealed a  _ blood contract  _ with the mortal girl? That was impossible! She had certainly not ordered her to do so. Her beloved familiar was now bound to the foolish girl until one, or both, of them was dead.

"What were you thinking?" she looked down on the cat in her lap coldly, icy fury flowing through her veins. There was no way to dispose of the girl away from Thanatos' eyes now without killing Vetty as well.

Nyx was alone in the gardens, she knew, and still, she suddenly feared being seen with her familiar, now that she was acutely aware of just how close Thanatos was to discovering who was interfering with mortal life on earth.

She had seen through Vetty's memories how he had nearly choked the life out of her poor cat, his shadows wrapping around her menacingly. Her heart clenched when she recalled how pathetically Vetty had mewled. "Tell your master…" Thanatos' voice had been low and threatening, dark and deadly, "death is not to be trifled with."

_ You should hope,  _ Nyx whispered to Vetty telepathically,  _ that this girl is the right one.  _ Her narrowed eyes fixed on the cat blinking up at her remorselessly. However much she loved Vetty, she could not afford to be discovered.  _ You are sadly mistaken if you think I will not dispose of you at the bottom of the sea with her. _

Vetty seemed unperturbed as she stretched lazily in Nyx's lap before leaping away, her tail swaying in the air as she disappeared into the shadows.

* * *

"Vetty, no!"

Elissa raced over the blades of grass, dropping her bag as she hurried desperately to catch up to her cat. Reaching for Vetty, she held her fast as she did her best to pry the cat's mouth open.

"Let go, Vetty! Stop it!" she cried, struggling to rescue the little bird that was clutched in her cat's jaws. Vetty narrowed her eyes at Elissa, irritated.

"Please, Vetty! It's going to die!" The anguish and fear in Elissa's voice gave Vetty pause and she gently lay the bird at her master's feet. "Oh, goodness…" Elissa sank to the grass, looking at the little bird whose leg had been injured by her temperamental cat.

She felt tears sting her eyes. It felt like death was everywhere these days. It was always taking something from her, or threatening to. Her accident in the river, the dream, Slayte and Vetty, and now this bird. She didn't want to think about it anymore. Weren't other people living their lives happily without even going a day thinking about what it means to die? Couldn't she just be one of them?

She gently lifted the small bird in her hand, shielding it with the other. It was still alive. She could feel its terrified heartbeat fluttering against her palm. "Hey there, little guy," she cooed reassuringly. "It's alright now. You're going to be okay."

She addressed her cat without looking at it, "Now, look what you've done, Vetty. His leg is injured." She looked up at the tree above, spying the nest with two more warblers looking curiously down on her. The injured bird in her hand was feathered, which meant he must have recently been pushed from the nest and his parents would not be taking him back.

"We'll just patch you right up. You'll be okay." She whispered, reassuring herself more than the bird at this point.

"How long do you hope for a crippled bird to survive in the wilderness?" a smooth voice spoke up behind her. The dark tones prickling the skin at the nape of her neck in alarm. She knew that voice. She had spent the last three days replaying it in her mind until she wished to hear it again, if only to be sure she had not contaminated the memory by repetition.

She turned to the source of the sound and sure enough, a tall man stood over her, golden mask glinting in the sunlight as the breeze sent his inky black cloak flowing gracefully behind him. He regarded her and the bird resting in her hand with an indecipherable expression, and she realized he was waiting for her answer.

"It doesn't matter," she retorted before she could reconsider her answer, "Even if I can only keep it away from death a second longer, it would be worth it."

Her eyes still stung with unshed tears as she tore her gaze away from the handsome stranger. Somehow, he always chanced upon her when she was at her most vulnerable. Or, maybe his presence just left her taut, her feelings strung dangerously close to the surface. "All life is precious." She whispered, lifting one hand to peek in on the bird again, to reassure herself that it still lived, "All life deserves to be preserved."

Itachi said nothing. The voices screaming through his consciousness seemed to retreat, hushed by her words. The silence that replaced them was liberating. All life is precious. Indeed.

He regarded the amber-haired mortal girl that was fussing over the faltering life-form in her hand with concern. Ignorant of the fact that the demon cat she had taken in was dead-set on bringing about her own demise and that death himself stood no more than three paces away from her as she whispered with hushed defiance about the inherent sanctity of life.

He had saved her life. It had not been her time. That was no interference in his duties as harbinger of death and yet, it had been an indulgence. He remembered how it had felt, carrying her in his arms back to the safety of her lodgings. Sheltering the weak life-form, knowing the respite was temporary and she might soon die anyway. He regarded the girl called Elissa once more, and the feeble bird in her hand. Yes, he thought to himself, it must have looked something like that. Saving a life that would soon be extinguished regardless.

"Where's your friend?" The brunette had turned back to him, her hazel eyes meeting his own curiously. In her apartment that night, they had been wide with terror, dark with confusion, like the grassy fields of the underworld's somber gardens. Now, in the light of the sun, they were a myriad of colors, flecked with gold and amber, entrancing like a starlit sky.

"He is otherwise occupied." Itachi answered shortly.

A breeze swept past them as he held out the bag she had dropped in her chase. She blushed and murmured her gratitude as she took it from him. When her fingers brushed his, they burned with an indescribable sensation. She took the bag back hastily, worried he might have felt it as well.

"Would you like to sit?" she asked hesitantly, unsure herself just where she was going with this, but not wanting him to depart so soon.

Wordlessly, he lowered himself to the grass at the riverbank at a respectful distance from her. She wanted to speak to him, to hear his voice again, and watched the river flow by unseeingly as she searched for words to begin a conversation.

Vetty simpered up to him as she had the other day, hoping for affection. The cat slunk low to the ground as she approached him and stopped before him without quite touching him. She looked up at his imposing profile mournfully as she mewled.

Elissa's heart clenched with pity for her cat. She could not explain why her cat was so drawn to this stranger, but it hurt her to see Vetty be so utterly disregarded and denied the affection she so clearly craved.

"You  _ can _ pet her, you know?" she provided, gesturing to the cat. "She seems to really like you."

Itachi's world-weary eyes fell on the young maiden, bemused. "Indeed," he replied, glancing at Vetty dismissively, disapprovingly.

"Do you not like cats?" Elissa tried again, insistent on getting Vetty the love she deserved, "Vetty has been through some things recently. I told you about it last time."

When Itachi still said nothing, regarding her impassively, she added, "It would mean a lot to me if you would pet her. She looks like she really wants your attention."

Finally, his gaze slid to the black feline at his side. Slowly, leisurely, he lifted a smooth, pale hand, and brushed over Vetty's glossy fur with elegant, gold-ringed fingers. Vetty purred in delight and Elissa smiled at the sight.

"Are you in the habit of sheltering every life but your own, this way?" Itachi murmured, his ebony eyes hooded by thick lashes as he observed the cat under the palm of his hand.

Elissa looked up at him, wondering what he could possibly mean.

"Taking home danger," he removed his hand from Vetty, then looked up to meet Elissa's expectant eyes, "Flirting with death?"

"I – " Elissa was confused, but the intensity of both his voice and his gaze would not let her dismiss his words. "I don't know what you mean."

"Your cat was almost killed… for almost killing you." Itachi's smooth voice washed over her. She was perplexed, his voice was doing terrible things to her, making sense of the nonsensical.

"That… that doesn't make it okay." She protested feebly. "She didn't do it on purpose, she's just a cat."

Vetty mewled almost apologetically once more, as she slunk even lower to the ground. If Elissa didn't know better, she might have thought Vetty was asking her to be quiet.

Elissa was tired of Vetty taking the blame for no reason. She didn't  _ like  _ how subservient her cat was being when she was usually so defiant. Sure, Slayte  _ thought  _ she had Elissa's well-being in mind, but she was wrong.

"Is there ever a good reason to kill someone?" Elissa asked, irritation spiking in her voice.

Itachi seemed to still, and even the air around him was suddenly deathly quiet. "All that lives must die." He answered cryptically, his dark, seductive voice cleaving through the silence.

Elissa felt there was more to his words, felt implicitly, that she should not simply disregard them, but her own helplessness in the face of death, her grief, her suffering over the last years, her unanswered questions and daily torment burned within her, escaping her tongue in two anguished words.

"But, why?"

She felt tears burning in her eyes again. She knew the question was foolish. Knew that just about anyone would tell her she was being unreasonable, that death was a fact of life, but she felt – she  _ hoped  _ that this intimidating, mysterious stranger who seemed world-wise in ways she could never hope to be, would understand the depth of her question. Would give her an answer she could finally understand.

He regarded her a long moment, watched her battling her tears. He had seen her before, at the sides of mortals whose souls he had come to take. He had been surprised, he recalled, to have seen her so often in such a short time. Loss, he could see in her grief-stricken eyes, had broken her in ways worse than death. Why did the living need to die?

"Because…" he answered slowly, drawing her attention back to himself, he spoke in slow, measured tones, his gaze both seeing her and turned internally at the same time, "Only gods are doomed to suffer for time eternal."

Her eyes widened in surprise, of all the answers he might have given her, that would never have crossed her mind.

"Life…" she countered, disappointed, "Life isn't just suffering! Life is beautiful, life is empowering, life is… What kind of life have you been living, to think that way?!" Her outburst left her drained, and she realized she had spoken much louder than was appropriate, given how gently Itachi had spoken to her. She rushed to her feet, feeling vulnerable and exposed and eager to leave him.

She clutched the little bird in her hands and was about to rush past him when he caught a hold of her wrist. Warmth radiated up her arm from where he touched her, and her breath caught in her throat. She looked up at the onyx eyes that observed her kindly, wondering when he had risen and how he had moved so quickly that she hadn't even seen it. She felt the brush of fingertips on her shoulder and the weight of her bag settling there. She had nearly forgotten it again.

"I bid you good evening, Elissa." He murmured, his warm breath ghosting her cheek as he spoke, and then moved past her, deeper into the forest. Leaving her behind with her heart hammering wildly in her chest.

* * *

He was tired of it.

Tired of watching her mope around the tea shop listlessly. Tired of the way her head shot up whenever the bell chimed and the front door opened. Tired of the way she flinched when she was lost in thought and he called her name.

A week had passed since he had dragged her out of Elissa's apartment and since then, the life seemed to have gone out of her. Whether she was sniffling into her pillow, or resting her head against her crossed arms on the counter, staring at her phone as if waiting for it to light up, or thanking him uselessly for the most mundane things - she had become an absolute pest since trying to kill Elissa's cat.

He watched her from over his cup of tea while she stared forlornly out the window as if waiting for someone - Elissa, most likely - to walk by. The mop in her hands seemed to be there just for show, seeing as she had been mopping the same square of hardwood floor for the past fifteen minutes.

"Oi," he called out, anticipating the flinch even before her shoulders tensed as they did, "I'm heading out for research." He rose to his feet and turned to set his teacup in the dishwasher. "You coming?"

She turned towards him as if she had just now noticed he was there. "Research", as Levi called it, was little more than visiting local cafés for new inspiration for their tea shop as well as shopping around for new types of tea. Even if Levi called it research, she liked to pretend they were really on a date, and imagined that was what passersby saw as well, when she linked her arm through his.

Although on any other day she would have jumped at the opportunity to head out with him, she shifted uneasily on her feet now, glancing out the window nervously again. "Um…" seeing the abandoned road outside, she turned back to Levi, "What if we bump into Elissa?"

Closing the dishwasher, he glanced at her coolly, "So? You're bound to see her again, eventually."

"I think I'll just stay here." She decided, dropping her gaze to the soapy water at her feet.

"How long are you going to stay holed up here like a rat?" He muttered, giving her a sharp look.

"I don't know, I just… there's still so much to do here. You go on ahead." She floundered, turning her back to him as she scrubbed the floor.

"Yeah, and you'll still be cleaning the floor tomorrow if you don't ever move on from that patch of hardwood." He pointed out dryly.

Seeing that she had indeed been cleaning just one square foot of the floor for who knows how long, she blushed in embarrassment and moved to finish her task with longer, more concentrated strokes of the mop.

"If you're sorry, just say so." He turned to get his keys from under the counter. "Why are you dragging this out?"

"I… can't," she confessed, narrowing her eyes at the floor where she was making more progress now than she had the past half an hour. "Because I'm not sorry. I would do it again if I had to."

Levi frowned at his stubborn girlfriend. "It wasn't your call to make, Slayte."

She scowled at the floor. "I did what I had to."

Levi sighed as he turned to get his jacket, "Everyone has a right to make their own decisions. That goes for Elissa as well. You have to let her choose for herself."

She turned to him now angrily. "Even if she dies?!" she snapped.

He met her furious glare with an unperturbed expression, his pale blue eyes world-weary and tired. "Even if she dies," he agreed.

Slayte gaped at him, shocked at his answer and even more so by the sincerity with which it was delivered. He couldn't possibly mean - ?

"The only thing we're allowed to do in this life, is believe we won't regret the choice we've made. You don't have the right to take that away from her. Choosing for ourselves is what makes us human. It means we're alive." He shrugged on his jacket, pushing a pair of sunglasses up the bridge of his nose as he turned to the front door.

Slayte considered this, weighing the 800 years of her life in the underworld against the five years she had lived taking the reins of her life in her own hands. She had been ready and willing to die on the street that rainy night before Levi took her in. She would have preferred that, a hundred times, over going back to the Underworld to be a meaningless cog in a meaningless watchpiece that had long since stopped ticking.

The front door clicked shut, signaling Levi's exit. He was right. And she resented him for it.

* * *

Elissa reclined on her sofa, absentmindedly stroking Vetty, who was curled up on her stomach, as she scrolled through her phone. Ever since the incident with Slayte, she was decidedly more well-behaved, though she doubted the one thing had anything to do with the other. Like so many times before, she flipped through her contacts until she stopped at Slayte's name. Her thumb hovering over the photo she had taken of the girl she had once called her best friend, wondering what would happen if she just went ahead and called her, before sighing and closing the app.

Slayte was clearly the one in the wrong and if she didn't feel the need to apologize, then why should Elissa be the one to reach out first? She summoned the memory of how Slayte had hovered over Vetty with a knife in her hand to reignite the anger that had gone cold. When she recalled the image, however, she just saw Slayte's anguished expression as she called after her. It was decidedly more difficult to be as furious as she was a week ago and that, in itself, angered her.

She had only known Slayte for five years. She had other friends to talk to, to hang out with, she decided. She went through her contacts again and sure enough, there was a long list of friends she knew she could call up. As she considered who would most likely be free on a Saturday afternoon, she bit her lip, trying to dismiss the thought that Slayte had no one else to call up, to replace Elissa with. Trying to banish the memory of how Slayte had scoffed at the very idea of making other friends, saying, "I don't need anyone but you, Elissa." Angry disappointment burned in the pit of her stomach. That had clearly been a lie.

Hitting the "call" button, she pressed her phone to her ear, gently nudging Vetty off her lap as she moved to her bedroom to pick an outfit for what she decided was going to be a wonderful day out with an old friend.

"Hey, Cami, how are you doing?"

She withdrew a knee-length, green summer dress that looked perfect for the sunny day.

"Listen, I just wanted to ask if you're free and felt like hanging out today? You are? Perfect!"

Elissa smiled to herself as she pulled out a pair of black flats and listened to her friend fill her in on what had been going on in her life. Yes, this was the healthy way to deal with Slayte's betrayal.

* * *

Levi did not miss Slayte's presence at his side as he looked over the wares of one of their favorite sellers at the open marketplace. After all, he had always done his research on his own before she came along. He told himself it was easier to think without her watching him like she often did.

The two of them had many varieties of tea available in their shop, but crafty salesmen were always thinking up new combinations and they enjoyed taking home samples to taste-test and approve for their shelves.

"Hey, isn't this the one we saw…" he began, holding up a package as he turned towards Slayte, only to blink at the nothingness beside him as he recalled that she had not accompanied him on this trip. Feeling foolish, he frowned as he acknowledged to himself that he was probably in over his head with her.

He replaced the package of tea and moved on, irritated. A flash of familiar movement in his peripheral vision caught his eye and he turned towards it. His frown deepened as he saw Elissa strolling through the marketplace, smiling widely, as she chatted amiably with some  _ other _ friend.

This other girl, fashionable, friendly, and cheerful as a chipmunk prattled on, punctuating her own words with random bouts of high-pitched laughter he found irritating. He thought of his girlfriend, moping around at home, and narrowed his eyes at Elissa.

Seemingly drawn by his gaze, Elissa turned her head and met his eyes, before looking quickly away with a guilty expression.  _ Good. _

"He's just the sweetest. I absolutely love him, Elissa, I swear. This time he's the real deal." Cami was saying as she led the way through baskets of flowers. Her light-brown hair was pulled up into a high ponytail and her pale blue dress swished around her knees as the two friends walked together. They had decided to pay the open marketplace a visit and stop for ice cream after, before heading to the movies.

Elissa tried to remember the last time she had seen Slayte wearing a dress. Her black-haired friend preferred neutral, dark colors and generally avoided dresses. She had worn nothing but dresses growing up, she had said, and couldn't stand to see them anymore. Elissa berated herself for thinking of Slayte, yet again, when she was about to enjoy a perfectly sunny day with an  _ actual  _ friend who would not try to murder her pet when her back was turned.

Elissa felt the force of someone's stare and turned to see Levi looking at her disapprovingly, as if summoned by her thoughts. Guilt crept into her stomach and seeing him put a damper on what she was determined would be an ideal Saturday afternoon. But why should she feel guilty? It's not like she was somehow  _ cheating _ on Slayte. She was allowed to spend time with other friends!

"He bought me roses for our four-and-a-half-month anniversary," Cami confided with a laugh. "Isn't that just the sweetest thing?"

Drawn back to the present, Elissa laughed with her friend, hoping that was the appropriate reaction to whatever she had been saying. Cami continued talking and Elissa cast a look over her shoulder to where Levi was standing at a rack of select teas. She scanned the area, but it seemed Slayte was nowhere nearby. Where was she? She loved researching with Levi. Telling herself she didn't care, she followed Cami, wading further past the numerous stalls to a tall basket of roses. "Oh, Elissa, look! The roses looked  _ just _ like this!" Her friend exclaimed.

"Oh, yeah, that's really sweet of him, Cami." Elissa commented, finally picking up on what the other girl had been talking about. "Hey, listen, Cami. I just saw someone I know. I'm going to pop over and say hello real quick, I'll be right back, okay?"

"Sure, go ahead, Elissa. I'll be here," Cami agreed cheerfully, waving her friend off as she turned to a stall of hand-crafted jewelry.

Weaving through the marketplace, Elissa drew to a stop beside the aloof man she had grown to regard as something of a big brother.

"Hi, Levi," she greeted as she approached. He looked up at her with a raised eyebrow, surprised she had come over at all.

"Elissa," he acknowledged, before turning back to the selection of tea in front of him. "Having fun?"

"Look, I just wanted to say…" Elissa drew her hands together, searching for the right words. "Thanks. For helping me out that day. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't realized what was going on."

Levi looked up at her briefly, his blue eyes unreadable, before reaching out for a packet of tea, holding it up for closer inspection.

"She's just looking out for you," he responded evenly before adding, "in her own, stupid way."

Elissa's mouth dropped open. After what had happened, what he had  _ seen _ , she could not believe he was taking Slayte's side on this.

"She tried to kill my cat," she reminded him.

"Yeah. Like I said… stupid." He turned the package over, reading the inscription on the back to see if the tea leaves were handpicked.

"But at the end of the day, between you and me, who do you think she loves more?" he asked casually, before muttering under his breath as he saw that the tea leaves were, in fact, low-quality.

"Um, you? Obviously?" Elissa answered incredulously.

Levi gave her a pointed look. "Are you stupid?" he deadpanned.

"She loves you so much-!" Elissa countered, but he interrupted her.

"Look, the point is, there are friends for good times, friends for bad times…" he replaced the low-quality tea and picked up another package, "and then there are friends who would kill for you." He paused, reading the description again. "Don't screw this up."

Elissa could not believe her ears. How could he seriously,  _ logically,  _ be brushing over the most important aspect of this entire situation?

"She tried to KILL. MY. CAT," she intoned. How could he neglect that fact this way?

"So?" he glanced at her with that characteristic devil-may-care expression, "Looks like the stupid furball is still alive and well, isn't it?"

Elissa was regretting coming to talk to him. She should have known he would be unreasonable and take Slayte's side. "You can't be serious. Does that somehow make it okay?" she sputtered, "I…" she fumed, thinking back to every weird thing Slayte had done. Every overreaction, every odd behavior. "I should have known something was off," she said bitterly, "from the very beginning she was always…"

"What, psychotic? Obsessive? Deranged?" He held her gaze coolly now, the tea in his hands all but forgotten, "Don't act like you just now figured that out."

And it was true. She knew Slayte had her quirks, but she had always assumed that she meant well, and was just a little odd. She had even grown to like her eccentrics. Had come to miss them.

"If she really cares," Elissa swallowed, trying to rein in her emotions, "why hasn't she come to see me yet? Why hasn't she apologized?"

"How the fuck would I know?" Levi's answer was curt as he turned back to his shopping, "Do I look like Slayte, to you?"

Elissa could only stare at him, frustrated. Of course, he would refuse to answer on what she most wanted to know.

The sound of unnaturally high-pitched laughter called their attention suddenly and their heads turned in unison to where Cami was talking loudly on the phone.

"Oi, Elissa." Levi shot her a judgmental look, "Are your hobbies so boring that you hang out with shitty friends now?"

Elissa bristled at the rude comment, "My friends are not 'shitty'. They're good friends. I've known them a long time." She shot him a glare, "And none of them would ever try to kill my pet cat."

Levi held her indignant gaze for a long moment, before turning away again. "Who cares," he dismissed, before turning to the shopkeeper and asking for the price of the tea.

Elissa turned away in a huff, wishing she hadn't spoken to him. What good had that done? He had only dismissed her gratitude, belittled her concerns, and insulted her friends!

Coming up to Cami, Elissa forced a smile, there was no need to drag her friend down with the aftereffects of that unpleasant conversation.

"Elissa, you're back!" her friend exclaimed cheerfully. "Who was that? He's really cute." She commented, glancing at Levi surreptitiously.

Elissa blinked. Hadn't Cami been going on about her boyfriend the past two hours? She looked at Levi again as he haggled with the shopkeeper. Sure, in his leather jacket and sunglasses, she supposed he had some of those bad boy vibes that so many girls found attractive, but they were drowned out, she felt, by his old man aura. What was supposed to be cute about him?

Unbidden, the image of a tall, mysterious man whose entrancing eyes were hidden behind a gilded mask came to mind. Itachi was not "cute" by any definition of the word, but on a scale of attractiveness… She shook her head. She was letting her mind get away with her again.

"Yeah, no." she answered Cami with finality, "He's my best friend's boyfriend."

Elissa bit her lip as she realized what she had just said.

* * *

It was fifteen minutes to their lunch break when Elissa stepped through the glass doors of the Wings of Freedom Tea Shop the next day.

Slayte, who was jotting down something on a notepad from her place at the counter, looked up as she saw her enter and the color drained from her face. Her eyes darted around the room, as if searching for an exit, but finding none, she met Elissa's gaze like a lamb led to slaughter.

"Elissa," she whispered breathlessly, rising to her feet.

Emotion threatened to overtake Elissa as she saw her friend for the first time in over a week. Elissa did not want to acknowledge that Slayte was a mess. She did not want to see the shadows under her eyes or recognize the defeated way her shoulders fell.

"You tried to kill my cat." Elissa announced vehemently, glaring at Slayte as if daring her to deny it.

The store was empty except for an old couple, who hastily drained the last of their tea before rising to their feet and shuffling out the front door. Levi followed the old couple, closing the door behind them and flipping the "open" sign over.

"Y-yeah." Slayte breathed, avoiding Elissa's gaze. She looked at Levi helplessly, as if asking him to rescue her, but he passed by her without so much as meeting her eyes before taking a seat in the kitchenette and burying himself in his newspaper.

"I don't even know what to say to you." Elissa snapped. "What could I possibly tell you that you don't already know?"

Slayte said nothing, as if waiting for the blow to fall.

"You know how I feel about… about…" but she couldn't bring herself to finish the statement. "You knew how I would feel about what you did!"

Elissa stepped further into the shop, emboldened by having spoken her mind. "You knew…" she seethed, "that it would…"

"Yeah," Slayte cut in, not wanting to see Elissa hurt herself further by struggling for words to define what was breaking her very heart and soul. "I did." She swallowed.

"I knew how much that would hurt you, and I did it anyway. I'm a bad friend, Elissa…" she said weakly, "So, why are you here?"

Elissa looked up at Slayte in disbelief, "You…" Why was Slayte closing her out this way? She had no right to!

"You should have apologized! You should have come after me! Why do I have to come here? Did our friendship mean  _ nothing  _ to you?!" Elissa gestured around herself angrily, her glare cutting and unforgiving.

Slayte flinched, clearly hurt, "You mean everything to me, Elissa." She countered quietly.

"Don't lie to me!" Elissa was shouting now, the hurt of Slayte's betrayal taking over her senses. "You would never have done that if you cared about me! Anything else… any excuse you have, is just bullshit!"

It was rare for Elissa to use foul language, and Slayte only frowned. She had expected this much, and worse. Her gaze dropped to the floor and the counter that stood between her and her friend was an insurmountable divide.

"Does it hurt when people you love die, Elissa?" she asked quietly, her gaze glued to the floor.

Elissa sucked in an angry breath; her shoulders trembled with fury. How could Slayte be asking her this? Slayte, who she had confided her innermost feelings to? Slayte, to whom she had told  _ exactly,  _ how much that hurt.

"I've never had someone close to me die," Slayte admitted in a steady voice that belied her trembling lip, meeting Elissa's hazel eyes with her own miserable, brown ones. Elissa was numbed to see that they were filling with tears.

"And I didn't want to start with you," Slayte confessed, her voice breaking now.

The two girls stood there wordlessly, emotion heavy in the air, staring at each other until Slayte's tears flowed over.

With a sob, she reached up to wipe her tears away hastily, ashamed to be crying in front of Elissa who had been hurt so much worse.

"I want to say I'm sorry," she tried to say, her words scarcely recognizable through her hiccupping, "But I can't."

Her shoulders shook with the force of her tears. "I can't because I would do it again. I would do anything to protect you. I don't care if you hate me." She gave up on wiping her tears away – new ones appeared faster than she could banish them - and buried her face in her hands instead.

"I just want you to live. I don't care how…"

She coughed out a choked sob. "I'll die without you, Elissa. I know you can't understand. I know it doesn't make sense. And you love Vetty, but… I had to do it. I'm sorry. I would do it again. But I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." Her anguished outburst was interrupted when she felt soft arms wrap around her.

Slayte looked up in shock, to see that Elissa had stepped around the counter to embrace her. More than that, her own eyes were red and swollen, her face drenched with tears as well.

"You're so stupid, Slayte, I swear…" Elissa choked out, "Can't you just be normal for once?"

"I'm sorry, Elissa. I swear I'm sorry!" Slayte hugged her friend back fiercely, desperately, "but I would do it again if I had to!"

"Will you just shut up?" Elissa cried.

The two girls wept bitterly in each other's arms, the incident not yet quite forgiven, not at all forgotten, but the love they shared for each other overpowering the hurt and the anger and the regret.


	11. Part X: The Death of a God

* * *

**Part X: The Death of a God**

* * *

The deceptive illusion of enchanting moonlight poured through the open balcony doors. touching the glimmering black marble floors with an ethereal, silver glow. Within the resplendent interiors of Cronus's private, royal quarters, two figures lay in bed, limbs intertwined, beneath rich, swathing sheets of pure dark silk.

Nyx's head rested upon a warm, solid, strong chest as she fought to restore her heart's racing rhythm. She listened to the rise and fall of his breathing, growing steady in the afterglow of ravishing her body once more, and swallowed, feeling his heat as she curled against his side. In that moment, private and fleeting and rare, they were in absolute harmony. But she was not fooled, for even an instant. There was no gentleness in their union. No ardently spoken words of affection or pledges of undying loyalty. Cronus had long since set the stage, on which they both performed very distinct parts. She, the giving, docile doll. He, the owner who pillaged and consumed and bent her limbs to his liking. And she knew, though she had briefly calmed his storm then, that his chaos was an infinite, raging inferno that could not be contained.

She knew he allowed her to linger against him, to warm his bed, simply _because_ his mood at that second permitted it. At any moment, he would pull away, throw on his clothing, and dismiss her. That was always their way. That was the deadly and dangerous dance they had partaken in for centuries.

She barely managed to suppress a shudder when she felt calloused fingertips tracing tantalising circles against her left shoulder. Blinking in surprise at the idle, deceptively gentle touch, she peeked up at him, to find him staring up at the heavy canopy above them. She could not read his expression. A sliver of uncertainty whispered through her.

"Tell me," his deep voice rumbled. "What of your cat? What progress has been made?"

Nyx inhaled quietly. If he was not displeased at that moment, she told herself he surely _would_ be, when she revealed the truth of Vetty's actions to him. Ever since she had discovered them, she had been plagued by worries and anxieties. Had known she would have to inform her Lord Supreme of the developments - for it was only they alone who knew of the Prophecy. Only they alone who knew of the unspeakable things Nyx had done, in her seemingly eternal quest to liberate her son of his loneliness and burdens.

How many had she had to bury deep beneath the sea? How many girls had Vetty found, who had turned out to be nothing but ordinary mortals, sent to a premature demise before their intended time because of Nyx's desperate meddling? Her search far and wide for the Chosen Child of Starlight had caused her to do unimaginable things. Each girl that had not been The One, Nyx had trapped in stone, so that their souls could not be claimed by Thanatos to pass on to the Afterlife. Had she not done so, then her perceptive son would surely have known of her meddling in his affairs. And he would surely not have taken kindly to it, knowing as she did, the pity he held for mortals and their lot.

She had started the search with good intentions. With nothing but love in her heart. The first time she had allowed a girl to fall to the bottom of Poseidon's oceans, encased in a tomb of stone, her sadness had been genuine. But over time, her heart had grown hardened to it. What were several dozen mortal lives, or hundreds, when weighed against ensuring her son's eternal happiness?

To secure that, she would wipe out a continent, and more. She would do whatever it took, to see Thanatos take a worthy bride, and to be crowned a just, wise, gentle King.

When she had first discovered the Prophecy, she had told not a single soul. But Cronus had caught her in the act of turning a girl to stone. Compelled her to explain her actions. And once she had informed him of the Prophecy - omitting her wishes to see her son as King in his stead - he had agreed to keep her secrets hidden - provided she kept him informed of the progress the servant she had deployed to locate the Child of Prophecy made on the surface.

And so she had kept true to her word. To Cronus, she wished only to find a bride for her son. But deep within, Nyx yearned for more. She yearned to see Thanatos ascended to ruler of the Underworld - where he would then have the power to share out at least some of his burdens amongst the rest of the clan.

Licking her lips carefully, Nyx revealed, "Vetty has… forged a blood pact with a girl who happened upon her on the surface. She tried to take the girl's life, to bring her to the Underworld. But she was halted in her attempts."

He continued to trace the symbol for chaos over her flesh. Nyx felt tingles from the point of contact, her very blood simmering as if in response to the chaotic aura of darkness that seeped from his fingertips.

"Go on," he ordered, his dark voice coaxing, persuasive.

"She was halted - by my son. He somehow discovered her."

The fingers at her shoulder suddenly stilled. There was a long pause.

"Thanatos has met this girl." The statement was flat. Devoid of emotion. She could feel that his body beside her had grown tense. Shut off to her, once more.

"It would seem he has at the very least saved her life," Nyx replied. "But, if my son has discovered this, and chosen to intercept, then that is surely because his suspicions have been raised." She exhaled, tension coiling within her own body, as she whispered, "If he learns who has interfered within his domain-"

Cronus blinked. "He will not, woman," he stated, with such confidence, as to leave Nyx in confusion.

A moment later, his arm had been drawn out from around her, and he left the bed, depriving her of the warmth that she had felt beside him but moments before.

* * *

The pale, hesitant rays of early dawn shone on the sidewalk in front of the Wings of Freedom Tea Shop with a purplish hue, as if they were still cold from the night. Levi Ackerman unlocked the glass door to his establishment and propped it open as he moved to carry out the wicker tables and chairs for the guests that would prefer to enjoy their tea outdoors.

Slayte had left early that day to take care of some shopping ahead of opening hours. Glancing through the window at the clock hanging over the back wall, he saw that it had been nearly an hour since she left. She should return at any moment.

In the two days since the young women had hesitantly put aside their differences, his girlfriend had once again been filled with a renewed sense of purpose and was considerably more tolerable. He wondered if she would be back in time for them to share a cup of tea before they officially opened for business, when a raspy voice tore him from his thoughts.

"Nice place you got here, bro."

Levi froze in place, holding the chair in midair as he recognized the characteristic drawl that had sounded behind him. Calmly lowering the chair to the pavement, he turned to regard the man who had spoken expressionlessly.

A man in his mid-thirties, whose face was marked by a thin, jagged scar that ran from his right temple to the corner of his lips, stalked between the tables, trailing his calloused hands on the surface as he pretended to admire the wickerwork. His scraggly, blond hair was drawn back in a messy ponytail and he sneered mockingly as he released a low whistle.

"Fancy," he appraised sarcastically, glancing up at Levi with a condescending smirk.

"Hands off," Levi grunted, a spark of warning in his steely grey eyes.

"Ooh, right, wouldn't want to get anything _dirty_ now, would we?" the teasing lilt in the taller man's voice was met with cold silence. The stranger approached him through long, steady strides but as Levi's eyes narrowed, he came to a sudden stop as if sensing the border of the Ackerman's tolerance.

"How long you going to keep this up, man? You know he doesn't like to be kept waiting." The smirk faded, only to be replaced with a stern expression, a warning.

"Tell him to clean his shit up himself." Levi dismissed, turning his back to the man as he continued arranging the chairs. "Either that or wear diapers."

The stranger's mouth fell agape at the rude comment before he collected himself. "You know it doesn't work that way." He retorted gruffly.

Levi shot him a glare over his shoulder, indicating the conversation had come to an end. "I'm done with the lot of you. Get lost."

The broad-shouldered man frowned at Levi, who only continued his work, unbothered. "You better listen while I'm the one talking, you little shit." The man snarled. "It'll only get worse from here."

"They told you, right?" Levi answered evenly, in a voice that was deceptively calm as he continued unstacking the chairs. "Not to get too close to me?"

He shot the stranger a look over his shoulder, his blue-grey eyes flashing dangerously. "That's why you're standing there, keeping your distance."

The intensity of the silence that passed between them left the stranger uneasy, before Levi broke off the eye contact and resumed his work. "They're not wrong."

The blonde was fairly confident of his strength, but hesitated. He had been told not to engage, or more accurately, not even to approach him, and orders were orders. "Tch." he scoffed, "Consider yourself lucky this time. We'll see each other again."

He turned away from Levi and stalked up the road. Hearing the receding footsteps, Levi lowered the chair in his hands to the floor and watched the man go. A spark of concern flared in his chest as he saw Slayte approaching from the other direction. She balanced a rather large paper bag in one arm, leaning slightly to the side in order to see past it. He watched through narrowed eyes as the two neared each other and she stopped walking briefly to bid the man a "good morning".

Levi frowned as the man responded in kind with more enthusiasm than necessary. The nasty blonde then dared to look over his shoulder and meet Levi's eyes with a smug, challenging smirk. Slayte seemed to take no notice as she continued on to the tea shop.

"Good morning, Levi!" she beamed at him as she approached, eager to set the heavy groceries on the table. "I got us fresh mint," she announced cheerfully, rummaging through the parcel until she procured the herb. "It smells delicious!" she exclaimed, holding the bundle of leaves up to his face. "Now we can make fresh peppermint tea again, it was so popular last time…"

"Do you feel the need to greet every piece of shit you see on the street?" Levi growled, and it was only then that she noticed something was amiss.

"Wh- what?" her smile dropped from her face and she looked over her shoulder, but the man who had spoken to her was already long gone. She turned back to Levi, concerned, "Did something happen?"

"Forget it." He turned on his heel, and headed back inside, frustrated. Slayte hastily replaced the mint leaves in the parcel and followed him with the groceries. By the time she reached the counter, he had already disappeared into the kitchenette.

"Levi, wait!" she left her burden on the service counter and rushed after him. She found him downing a glass of water, his gaze fixed decidedly on the wall in front of him, anywhere but at her.

"Is everything okay? Was that someone you know?" she asked hesitantly.

Levi took a deep breath, his outburst had been childish... and counterproductive, considering he hadn't wanted Slayte involved in the first place. He closed his eyes, calming his nerves, ignorant of the way her eyes were drawn to his hands, clenching the edge of the kitchen sink, his knuckles white.

Turning back to her, he said stiffly. "Don't talk to strangers." His grey eyes met hers, the demand in them clear, but the emotion lingering deeper was veiled from her.

She blinked up at him. "I only said good morning."

"Do you see me saying good morning to every Tom, Dick, and Harry?" he raised a brow at her, and when she didn't answer, he added, "No, I didn't think so."

She watched him pensively, feeling implicitly that there was more than he was letting on, but if Levi did not want to discuss it, then she had no choice but to respect that, just as he respected the secrecy of her past.

"What else did you get?" he asked, changing the topic as he crossed towards the parcel on the counter. She came up behind him, frowning as she saw the easy expression with which he unpacked the groceries as if nothing at all had happened. She wished to share in his worry, to ease away his concerns, but what could she do if he chose not to confide in her?

"Ginger, lemons, basil… and bleach, we were running out." She listed the items off, feigning nonchalance, just as he was. "Yeah, that's good." he muttered, pulling the herbs out of the bag. He stilled in his movements as he felt her hands skim past his sides to meet at his waist. She closed the embrace and leaned into his back, resting her head on his shoulder.

"I won't greet any more pieces of shit on the street," she whispered reassuringly, "Promise."

He sighed, and his expression relaxed as his gaze dropped to the counter in front of them. A warm, gentle hand came to rest on her folded ones. "Alright." he murmured, not wanting to drag the topic out any further. He turned around in her embrace to return it, and hold her close, but she released him suddenly.

"Oh! Elissa will be here any minute!" she announced, catching sight of the wall clock.

"Elissa?" he had completely forgotten about her.

"Yeah, we were going out this morning, remember?" Slayte asked, taking the mint leaves to the sink to wash them.

Levi's frown reappeared. "Right," he agreed. Slayte bustled around the kitchen, rushing to finish the preparations before their opening, so that she could be ready to leave when her friend arrived.

"You're skipping out on work a lot, lately." Levi commented as he crossed his arms, leaning back against the counter.

She cast an uncertain glance over her shoulder. "You said it was okay, though?"

He watched her work through hooded eyes. "I did," he agreed.

That didn't mean he was happy about it. He wasn't about to tell her how much more slowly the day went by when she wasn't there. Or, how the newspaper seemed less interesting when she wasn't not-so-secretly watching him read. He would _never_ be telling her that he enjoyed watching her work as well, as soon as she turned away from him. He was considerably more discreet than she was, though, and doubted she had ever caught his eyes on her.

Setting up the large, glass dispensers with the freshly brewed mint tea and the second one with a mixture of lemon and basil, she glanced at him again, taking in his displeased expression.

"Can I make it up to you somehow?" she asked, not wanting to leave on a bad note.

Levi considered this. Now, there was an idea. "You could," he said slowly, the gears of his mind turning.

"Sure," she supplied cheerfully, hanging up her apron, "What would you like me to do?"

He met her amber eyes and a moment's silence passed between them before he answered, "I'll think of something."

"Okay, just let me know. I don't mind taking over a shift on my own every now and then, if you ever want to head out." she encouraged as she moved to take her jacket off the hook.

"I had something else in mind," he said dryly, but she didn't seem to hear him as she continued with her preparations to leave.

"Hey, Slayte! Good morning, Levi." a kind voice called. Levi sighed as a familiar shadow darkened their doorstep. He nodded at the brunette who had brought the sun back into Slayte's world, just as Slayte exclaimed, "Elissa!" and threw herself happily on her best friend. Whatever concerns Slayte had had, disappeared completely, catching sight of the young woman.

"Ready to go?" Elissa asked, a hesitant smile on her face.

"Yeah, I got everything done." She agreed cheerfully, "I'll see you later, Levi!" She waved at him offhandedly as she linked her arm through her best friend's, heading towards the exit.

"Yeah, whatever," Levi returned with half a wave, already searching for the newspaper that would have to occupy him for the next few hours.

* * *

"How are things?" Slayte asked, attempting small talk as the pair strode down the sidewalk, shadowed by the pear trees that grew in a neat row along the road.

They had decided to enjoy a walk through the city and get some breakfast together to catch up after the time they had been apart. For some, it might only have been a week, but for the two close friends, who shared nearly every occurrence and thought with one another, it had felt like an eternity.

"Alright," Elissa answered shortly. They walked on a while in silence, each wondering what they could say to resume the easy banter they usually enjoyed with one another.

"How's Vetty?" Slayte asked carefully.

Elissa shot her a sharp look, and then caught herself. "She's … fine," she answered stiffly.

"Not still being… weird?" Slayte asked, for lack of a better word.

This time, Elissa did frown at her friend. "Stop it, Slayte," she reproached.

"What? I just want to make sure she's okay." Slayte protested with a weak laugh.

"No, you don't," Elissa shot back, stepping to the side to allow a bicycle to pass. "You want to make sure she isn't getting me into trouble again."

Slayte said nothing to this as the two reached the town center and the hustle and bustle that came with it. "I'm not stupid, Slayte." Elissa muttered, her eyebrows furrowed in irritation.

They walked along in silence before Slayte finally spoke up. "You're right. I was just trying to make sure there haven't been any more… _incidents,_ recently. That was dishonest of me, I'm sorry." She stared glumly at the floor beyond her feet, ignorant of the signpost she was about to walk into, before Elissa grabbed her elbow and pulled her to the side.

"Open your eyes, Slayte!" she rebuked. "Are you going to be this way every time we have a fight?"

Slayte met her friend's disapproving hazel eyes. "I don't know, we've never fought before." She shrugged, trying to cast off the shadow of guilt that had settled over her once more.

Elissa sighed. It was true. Their friendship had begun awkwardly, perhaps over eagerly on Slayte's part, but they had grown close. They shared similar values and had never truly had a fallout. The sanctity of life was just one of the many values they both agreed on.

"Vetty's fine," Elissa clipped, "to answer your question."

"Okay," Slayte said quietly.

"She's really shaken up by what you did. She's become really… docile. Shy, even. You should have seen the way she slunk up to Itachi like she was ashamed of something, or terrified, or… I don't know. It was just really sad." Elissa thought of her cat, and how much the feline had changed over the course of a few short weeks.

"Itachi?" Slayte asked, curiously. The name was unfamiliar to her, and she wondered if it was a recent acquaintance.

"Oh, yeah, I told you about him. The guy with the mask." Elissa tossed back as she opened the door to The Pancake House.

Slayte's feet refused to move and she could only gape at Elissa, frozen in place until the door of the establishment swung closed, hitting her in the back of the head. Rubbing her head at the impact, she winced as she stepped in after Elissa.

The masked man? But if Vetty wasn't trying to kill Elissa, then what reason would Thanatos have for being there? And who was Itachi? Slayte had never heard that name before. Was Thanatos going by a fake name? But why would he? And why stop for small talk with a mortal and her cat? Her pulse raced as she struggled to connect the pieces.

"Slayte."

Slayte's head shot up as she heard Elissa call her name and saw that she had already settled herself at a table. Slayte slid into the seat in front of her.

"Alright, let's get some breakfast, shall we?" Elissa hummed, attempting to lift the mood.

"Ohhh, look at this. Nutella-Strawberry-Pancake… that would hit the spot! It looks delicious, doesn't it? Slayte?" Elissa looked up at her friend to find her staring a hole in the table. She had not even picked up the menu.

"Slayte!" Elissa called again, and Slayte looked up, dazed, as if torn from a dream.

"Is everything okay?" Elissa asked, seeing her friend's lost and shaken expression.

"Oh, yeah, yeah… I'm fine." Slayte picked up the menu with trembling hands and Elissa frowned.

"Slayte, what is it?"

Slayte looked up at her best friend, the girl she loved most in the whole world. "I…" she floundered, searching for words. She wished, not for the first time, that she could just tell Elissa everything. Tell her about Vetty and Thanatos and the danger she was in. But knowledge of the Underworld before its time inevitably led mortals to an early death. She had seen the shadows of death clinging to mortals many times before.

She remembered visiting Elissa at the hospital when she was suffering from a particularly nasty stomach virus. Watching the shadows seep through so many closed hospital doors, scurrying over the laminated floors, clinging to the bodies of the ailing who dragged themselves down the halls as if physically being held back by them had made her sick to her stomach. She knew, the instant one was covered completely in those shadows, Thanatos would arrive to fulfill his task.

She had cried herself to sleep that day, terrified of ever spying those shadows clinging to Elissa or Levi. As she looked into her friend's concerned hazel eyes, she knew it was a risk she simply could not afford to take.

Their friendship was newly mended and fragile. Slayte closed her mouth again, unsure what to say that would be truth enough not to hurt their tender reconciliation but lie enough to protect Elissa from knowledge that could kill her.

"I… could you describe this mask to me again?" She asked, finally. Elissa raised an eyebrow at her friend, already certain where this was going.

"Can we order first?" Elissa replied, looking back down at the menu.

"Yeah, of course." Slayte agreed hastily, just as a lanky waiter with a freckled nose walked up to them.

"Can I help you, young ladies?" the young man asked cordially.

"I would like the Strawberry-Nutella-Pancakes, please." Elissa ordered politely.

"I'll take…" Slayte glanced at the first item that caught her eye, "...the blueberry pancakes, and a coffee. Thank you."

The waiter wrote down their orders and, taking the menus, disappeared behind the counter.

Elissa fixed her friend with a stern look. "Why do you want to know?" she asked.

Slayte swallowed. She met Elissa's disapproving eyes and almost backtracked, but she couldn't, it was too important. She _had_ to know. Had to make sure it wasn't Thanatos shadowing Elissa.

"Your new friend sounds like someone I once knew." she admitted honestly. "I'm worried it's the same person, because if it is, then he's very bad news."

Elissa's expression softened as she recognized Slayte's genuine fear. "Did this person hurt you, Slayte?" she asked gently, as if afraid of the answer.

Slayte avoided Elissa's gaze. She wasn't prepared for her friend to turn the questioning back around on her, but Elissa deserved truthful answers wherever Slayte could give them. Had Thanatos hurt her? He had broken her irreparably. Damaged her sense of self, her worth, her very being and purpose in this world. He had, perhaps through no fault of his own, allowed her to love him for what mortals would have called an eternity, only to crush that love into pieces smaller than air. Showed her how insignificant and meaningless her existence was. Showed her that she was inconsequential, intangible, invisible.

"He... broke me." Slayte confessed quietly, and the words seemed to drag the very life out of her, but she took a shaky breath and continued, "and I don't want him to do the same to you." She clenched her hands in her lap, away from Elissa's concerned gaze. "If it _is_ the same person," she added hastily.

"Slayte," Elissa frowned, "You never told me about this." Her concerned expression surprised Slayte as she belatedly realized, of course, her friend wanted to protect her as much as she wanted to protect her friend.

"Yeah, well, it isn't easy to talk about." She laughed weakly, but Elissa looked unconvinced.

"What did he do to you?" she wanted to know, and Slayte recognized the angry look in Elissa's eyes. It was the same fire she felt when her friend was mistreated.

"It's nothing, I just…" she dismissed, hoping to get back to the matter at hand.

"How can you say it's nothing when you're shaking in fear!" Elissa whispered indignantly, "Do you not want to talk about it or do you not want to talk to _me_ about it?"

"No, that's not it!" Slayte protested, then sighed, knowing she wouldn't be getting around it. "I was… in love with him," her voice dropped on the words, as if she were ashamed to voice them, "for a very… very long time, but he… he wouldn't give me the time of day." She struggled to break it down into mortal terms. "I guess you could say, I kind of worked for him, so my whole life revolved around him and I just… well, one day I just realized that he didn't even know my name. This sounds so stupid," she interrupted herself, uncertain if this was making any sense to Elissa.

"But he _should_ have known my name and known who I was, because every waking second was spent on him. Do you know what I mean?" Slayte's face burned with embarrassment. She had never told this story since leaving the Underworld. "Anyways, he was involved with some _very dangerous_ business and so, one day I just decided to leave, knowing that any number of other La - girls -, would be more than happy to take my place and he wouldn't even notice I was gone."

She summoned the courage to meet Elissa's caring hazel eyes. "I was right. He didn't notice."

Elissa frowned. "Then he was dumb. How could he not notice you? You're brilliant, and beautiful, and loving to the point of being creepy. His loss," she dismissed, patting her friend's hand reassuringly.

"Thanks, Elissa." Despite her initial discomfort, she felt relieved to have bared her heart out before her friend. Elissa's words comforted her, even if she didn't feel they were true. She felt a vague anxiousness, knowing just _who_ Elissa had just called dumb, but of course Elissa couldn't know that individual was the god of death himself.

"I'll draw it out for you, okay?" Elissa said with a comforting smile, as she took a pen out of her purse and reached for one of the diner's napkins. The pancakes arrived as Elissa sketched out the mask and they thanked the waiter in unison.

"I'm going to be honest with you, though, Slayte. I don't think this can be the same person because... Itachi's very solemn. He's polite and… wise, even. He doesn't seem like the type to play with someone's heart." She remembered the few conversations they had shared, and the way he had replaced her bag on her shoulder. She remembered his elegant hand petting Vetty and how it had felt when he grabbed her wrist. The jolt of electricity - of warm power - that spiked up her arm. "He's very perceptive. There's no way he wouldn't notice someone staying by his side for years."

Slayte struggled to make out the image Elissa was drawing. The name didn't match and the description of his personality most certainly didn't match. Perhaps, with any luck, it would all turn out to be some odd coincidence.

Elissa slid the napkin across the table towards her. "Well, what do you say?" she asked.

Slayte's breath caught in her throat as she saw Elissa's drawing. Luck was clearly not on her side. She looked up at her friend and panic blocked her throat.

"Oh, Elissa…" she murmured, her voice breaking.

* * *

In all his effortless grace, Thanatos walked along the path, surrounded by the wondrous gardens his mother has been keeping for ages long. Trails of stone seem to invite the Underworld dwellers to admire the striking sight that Nyx had envisioned. Tall trees, vibrant flowers, orbs of fluorescent light, of gold and silver seem to sway along the dance of an invisible breeze. The Underworld's allure was unmatched. The surface had always feared what lurked underneath the sturdy, earthly ground. Little did they know that a world of wonder was flourishing right beneath the soles of their feet. An eerie, but enchanting place. A place of plentiful riches, of unparalleled beauty, of grace, and of _death._

With his black cape and his long high tail trailing after him, Thanatos's stride was elegant and precise. He always carried himself with an air of absolute regality. A Prince. A noble, well-mannered, but deadly in his function, God. He was undoubtedly pure _Death_.

Itachi neared the white-stoned fountain that adorned the grounds. As of late he had found himself strangely drawn to this particular spring with the winged angels tipping water to the full, crystal clear basin. The structure seemed to emanate a peculiar sense of serenity. He glanced at the small angelic statues above the spring with newly-discovered curiosity – odd, over such a trivial thing – and seated himself on the edge of the white marble.

His musings traveled unbidden towards the affairs that he felt strangely amiss. Fixing his gaze on the water, he found his masked visage gazing back at him. Thanatos thought of his recent meetings with the mortal girl and the peculiar cat she had been keeping as company. A true death wish, to be keeping Underworld creatures as pets, indeed.

Could Death ever be kind in his give, he had wondered for many centuries. Could he be merciful and allow ripples of events to decidedly curve the linear path towards a mortal's ultimate demise? After all, the times Itachi had refused kindness to departing souls were, regrettably, not few. Death was absolute and could not be delayed. Such was the finality of it. _All that lives must die._

The sound of nearing steps stirred him away from his thoughts. Kindness, Itachi realized, was a sentiment that he offered aplenty to the person he was now seeing treading towards him. For he loved him dearly and unconditionally.

"Sasuke," he acknowledged the deity's real name when the adolescent god finally neared. Unbeknownst to even him, an honest, hearty smile set itself on the God of Death's lips. His little brother was his pride and joy. He always had been, ever since he was born to this world.

"Brother," Hades saluted. With one swift move of his elbow, Hades better adjusted his blade that he always held on his hip and lifted his onyx, inquisitive eyes towards his elder sibling. So, he had been sparring again, Itachi observed. "You seem pensive."

Sasuke has been trying to read his brother's thoughts for ages. But he found no success in deciphering what his wise older brother was designing or mulling about in silence. What appeared to be a kind chuckle left Itachi's lips.

"And you seem brooding, little brother. Has something happened?" Itachi asked, amused. He knew that his brother had been enjoying himself in the company of the Sun God, Apollo, and a beautiful blossom-haired Goddess of the surface. His endless fights with his good friend were surely a very entertaining sight. The constant competition between the two younger deities left Itachi with a feeling of gratitude and contentment. It was truly fortunate that Hades has found a sparring partner, a true, good friend to spend his days with. It reminded him of his once slightly more carefree days with Hypnos. Seeing his beloved sibling enjoying fun, adventurous shenanigans with Apollo filled Itachi with mirth.

"No," Hades decidedly answered and, at Thanatos's invitation, perched himself next to him. Itachi held a small, kind laughter inside. Clearly Sasuke's brooding look had something to do with his rivalry against the son of Zeus.

"Did you win?" Itachi teased, half-expecting the reply his brother was about to give him.

Almost appearing insulted at the sudden implication, Sasuke was quick to respond. "Hn. Don't I always?" and snorted, offering a smirk at his brother with pride.

Thanatos raised a fine eyebrow in a teasing manner, subtly reminding Hades of the countless times he had been defeated by the ever playful Hypnos and his relentless headlocks.

Sasuke properly turned his head to fix his brother with a nearly pointed look. This wasn't about that, Thanatos should have known! "No stupid _surface_ deity, like that loser Apollo, can match me. And certainly none of them can match _you,_ or the Uchiha," he stated resolutely.

Thanatos found himself smiling widely at his sibling and couldn't help but agree to appease his brother. "Certainly."

It slightly pained Thanatos that his brother was so adamant on the superiority of the Uchiha over the surface dwellers. But, he knew, the Underworld has been teaching its residents of pride and perfection, of elegance and wisdom. The Underworld, in all its enchanting beauty, did not suffer foolishness. This was the land of the Uchiha.

"Prince Thanatos, Prince Hades!" a voice called right behind the pair. Hades was the first to turn, seemingly recognizing the person. The female youth, nearly scurried over to where they were seated to bow in respect to the Princes. Her dark eyes blinking in slight embarrassment and excitement as she curtsied in greeting.

"You may speak," Thanatos prompted softly and the girl shyly held her palms against her chest. She was wearing an almost full body armor, the metals clanking as she moved.

"My Princes, Lord Hypnos has instructed me to summon you to the east sparring grounds." She paused to take a long breath and turned her eyes to the younger God of the two. "He said you have arranged this with him, my Prince Hades."

Hades raised both of his eyebrows, measuring the stature of the dark-haired girl. " _You_ are my new sparring partner?" Hades asked, more incredulously than Thanatos would have liked.

"Yes, my Prince! I'm Kagura," she excitedly beamed with newly-found confidence.

Rising from his seat, Thanatos veered to address his brother. "Hades, never underestimate your opponents." The adolescent blinked at him, surprised at the sudden remark. "All beings deserve respect."

Thanatos acknowledged the girl with a swift, polite gesture. He turned on his heel and started walking, in all his elegance, towards the trail leading to the east sparring grounds. He paused for a split second and slightly angled his neck, thus wordlessly urging his stubborn little brother to accompany him. Hades spared another measuring glance at the young warrior and signaled his intent to follow. The boy soon caught up to his masked and taller sibling. He cast his gaze towards the man he admired most, pondering heavily over his words.

* * *

Elissa left Slayte at the tea shop before heading back home, her mind buzzing with what Slayte had told her. Was it possible that Itachi had somehow misled her? Was he the same person that had hurt her friend so terribly? The man involved in some very dangerous business that Slayte had been unwilling to clarify further? Slayte had seemed to identify the mask, but masks were a dime a dozen, right? It wasn't completely unthinkable that there were two such masks in the world.

She pulled out her phone, and searched the internet for nearby theatres. What had they said? They were acting in a tragedy? Expanding the results, Elissa's concern only grew when she saw there was no theatre within a hundred kilometers. Had they lied to her?

Which one had said they were actors? She tried to remember, was it the smooth talking Shisui? Or the stoic Itachi? What were the exact words? She rattled her brain, but couldn't quite recall. They had said something about a tragedy. Was that the play they were acting in?

Gritting her teeth in determination, Elissa walked straight past her apartment building to the fields beyond. It was a ten minute walk to the river from here. With any luck, she might find them there and she would not back down until she had some definite answers.

She spied him, as she hoped she would, standing at the riverbank. The very sight of him gave her pause and she faltered in her determination. Itachi stood like a mythical vision at the riverbank. His long, black hair swayed gently in the breeze as he stood tall, his regal back, black-cloaked and gold-embroidered, turned partly towards her. She could just make out his profile from where she stood and saw a gentle, forlorn expression on his aristocratic face, otherworldly in its beauty. She was spellbound, mesmerized, without even knowing when the magic had been cast that seemed to stop her very heart in her chest.

A crow stood at attention on his shoulder, its head cocked intently, and his arm was raised at an angle to observe a swallow that had come to rest on his wrist, chirping up at him cheerfully. Seeing both predator and prey so at peace with one another, both drawn to him, was surreal. The careful attention he gave the swallow beeping up at him set her heart aflutter.

How could someone who did not even neglect such a tiny creature possibly be the one who had broken Slayte's heart so terribly? Doubt crept in. How embarrassing would it be to confront him about Slayte's past, only to have him be the wrong person?

"Death is my protector. He will not come before his time." His soothing voice echoed clearly through the forest, over the bubbling river beside them, as he stood still, patiently observing the little bird, until it chose to flit off into the air.

"What brings you here today, Elissa?" he murmured, turning towards her and capturing her hazel eyes in his own fathomless onyx.

She had forgotten the effect he had on her. The way he made every rational thought flee from her mind. The way he made her want to catch hold of him, sit him down, and listen to him speak for hours.

"What was that?" she asked finally, "What you were just saying?"

He observed her silently for a moment before answering. "An ancient saying. My life is secure so long as the time for my death has not come. No one can kill me before my time." He walked towards her slowly, until he was no more than an arm's length away.

"Death, himself, is your protector." His expression as he looked down on her was indecipherable as he searched her eyes. For what, she did not know.

"Is that not odd?" he asked gently.

"Very," she agreed, trying to calm her nerves and gather her courage.

"I'll say," spoke a voice behind them, and Elissa looked up to see Shisui walk up to them, a wry smile on his masked face.

"Death is supposed to be killing people, not protecting them." He came to a stop beside Itachi, "Is that not so, cousin?"

A brief silence lingered between them, before Itachi finally answered. "Quite."

Elissa was relieved Shisui had appeared. His carefree nature dispelled some of the charged tension in the air when she was alone with Itachi.

"Who are you both?" she asked directly, not wanting to lose her nerve again, "Tell me the truth."

The men exchanged a glance before turning to her with solemn expressions. "What is this all of a sudden, Elissa? I thought we were almost friends," the short-haired man teased.

"You lied to me." she pressed, "there aren't any theatres within a hundred miles of Canterbury. My friend… warned me about men who matched your description." Her cheeks warmed as she expressed her concern openly.

"I just want to be sure you are who you say you are." She glanced between the two, taking notice of their grim expressions.

The short-haired man stepped forward, meeting her gaze. She felt an unease in the pit of her stomach as the light of the sun shone on his onyx eyes, the flecks of red that appeared were almost familiar, unnerving her. She shrunk back, afraid.

"Elissa," he said evenly, his voice hypnotic. "You know who we -" his words were cut short, and something inside Elissa seemed to snap awake as she saw that Itachi had taken a hold of his arm, stopping him from further approaching her.

Shisui's lips set in a thin line as he glanced at his cousin, surprised.

"You assumed our identities." Itachi turned his penetrating gaze on her, "We did not lie to you." Itachi's voice was compelling, forcing her mind and heart to lend ear. "We provided you with our true names."

Suddenly, she remembered. They had never claimed to work in theatre. She glanced up at Shisui, remembering how he had said their surroundings were dramatic.

She was the one who had made the assumption; they simply allowed her to believe it. And yet, it was deception all the same.

"Then who are you, really? What do you want from me?" She took a cautious step backwards.

Shisui, who had been eyeing their exchange with surprised interest, spoke up now, "We're investigating some odd occurrences in this area. Our identities must remain concealed for the duration of our investigation."

Elissa regarded the two tall men warily. This explanation made considerably more sense. They had been very inquisitive since the first time she had seen them. "Are you… private investigators?" she asked, thinking those outfits certainly couldn't belong to any _official_ agencies.

"Something of the sort," Shisui agreed, "I'm sure you'll understand, that we can't tell you any more than this."

Elissa hesitated, thinking of what Slayte had told her. "My friend… she said there was a man involved in dangerous business, who went around wearing a golden mask. That's… not you, right?" she asked Itachi directly, hoping for him to dispel her concerns.

"This isn't by any chance the same friend who tried to kill your cat, is it?" Shisui interrupted with a light chuckle.

"Well..." Elissa tried, painfully aware that she had not cast Slayte in the best light the last time they had spoken.

"Ah," Shisui grinned in understanding. "Very reliable opinion, then."

"Slayte was only worried about me…" Elissa said, stunned to find herself defending her best friend's actions. "A lot of weird things have been happening and...I guess she thought Vetty was to blame. Of course, it's still terrible but… she said she's sorry…" Elissa floundered, trying to defend both her friend and her principles at the same time and missed the look the two men exchanged.

"Well, perhaps we should meet this friend of yours," Shisui suggested, "Put her concerns to rest."

For reasons she could not discern, Elissa felt a vague sense of alarm at the suggestion. She remembered how Slayte had paled when seeing the sketch of Itachi's mask. Granted, Elissa thought the odds were low that Itachi was that masked man from Slayte's past. Her hazel eyes fell on Itachi who observed the exchange quietly, content to let Shisui do the talking. Why had Slayte only warned her away from the one with the golden mask?

"Be at ease, Elissa. You have nothing to fear from us." Itachi spoke quietly. The intonation on the word "you" sent a spider of unease crawling up her spine. It seemed to imply that others _did_ have something to fear.

"I…" she said, looking from one to the other, feeling cornered and vulnerable. "I need to go home and check on Vetty. I'll see you around, I'm sure." She spun on her heel, suddenly eager to leave them. Wondering why she had never noticed how odd it was for them to stare at her so intently. To listen to her so quietly.

* * *

"Why did you stop me, cousin?" Shisui's question hung in the air between them as they watched the girl's silhouette disappear down the road.

"We need more time. Her trust is more valuable to us than her delusion." Itachi answered evenly, his eyes followed the young woman somberly, recognizing that this time, she left them in fear.

"That friend…" Shisui began, turning his perceptive eyes on Itachi, "She tried to kill a demon cat and warned her about a man in a golden mask." Elissa turned the corner, and was out of Itachi's sight before he turned to Shisui.

"I'm wondering if her friend is truly a mortal, or something else. She recognized that the cat was demonic and seems to know something of Thanatos as well. Mortals are not so wise. The odds are high, that that so-called "friend" is somehow involved in all of this."

Itachi listened to Shisui speak as his eyes sought out the end of the road, where Elissa had disappeared. As usual, his cousin was right.

"So it would seem." Itachi agreed, his gaze lingering briefly, before turning aside, joining his cousin on their way back to the underworld. Elissa's wide, uneasy eyes haunted him even as they left the mortal realm behind. Itachi knew her fear should not prey on his mind. After all, fear was the very nature of their relationship.

* * *

Elissa made her way back to her apartment with steps quickened by an unease that bordered on fear. Only when she had shut the front door behind her, did she allow herself to replay the conversation in her mind.

Investigating, they said? Then why were they so focused on her, specifically? Was there some truth to Slayte's warnings or had her friend simply succeeded in making her as paranoid as she was herself? Elissa sighed in irritation as she pushed her hair away from her face. Her interactions with Itachi had been something she looked _forward_ to, but now… She wasn't sure if she would go back to the river again, so soon.

A meow crossed with a growl caught her attention and Elissa looked up to see her pet cat squinting at her from across the hallway. "Oh, I'm sorry, Vetty. I've left you alone almost all day, haven't I?" She scooped up her cat with a smile on her face.

"Well, Slayte was wrong about _you_ , wasn't she? She could be wrong again, right?" Elissa muttered, scratching her cat behind the ears. Hoping there was truth to her words.  
  
That night, when she went to bed, her thoughts were plagued with mysterious masked men and strange investigations.

* * *

_"Elissa, what are you up to?" A cheeky voice spoke up beside her, too loud and too close for comfort._

_She looked up at the speaker, already recognizing the irritating voice. Sure enough, there was Adam, the annoying brown-haired coworker with a neverending nose who always pestered her at work. But why was she even at work? Wasn't she somewhere else just a moment ago?_

_"Can I help you, Adam?" she asked politely, hoping he would go away. She clicked on the files at her desktop. Might as well get some proofreading done._

_"Dance with me, Elissa?" Adam whispered in her ear. She whirled around in horror. How could he say such an outrageous thing?_

_"Excuse me?" she seethed. "We're at work!" Making a mental note to complain to HR about his inappropriate behavior, she pushed her chair further away from him, hoping to gain some distance, but he only chuckled._

_"No, we're not, Elissa." he countered confidently._

_Elissa was about to give him a piece of her mind when the faint sound of a piano reached her ears. Where was it coming from? She stood to get a better look and was surprised to see that her cubicle stood in the middle of a ballroom full of elegantly dressed partygoers._

_"Dance with me?" he asked again, in that tone that had always made Elissa uncomfortable. Far too familiar, far too confident. Elissa looked around, hoping to see someone she knew._

_"I don't want to," she protested, hoping he would leave her alone._

_"You have to." he insisted, taking a hold of her hand. She swallowed uneasily, his hands felt clammy and uncomfortable._

_"Why?" she asked, almost pleading with him._

_"Because I asked you to." he winked at her and she felt sick as he dragged her across the ballroom floor._

_"No!" she insisted, angry now, "Let me go! I don't want to!" She pried at the hand gripping her wrist, but to no avail._

_"Come on, Elissa. It'll be fun," he teased with a smile, immune to her discomfort._

_The entire ballroom went still as the piano music suddenly came to a stop. The crowd turned collectively to the grand piano standing at the front of the great hall, illuminated by a spotlight. The pianist seemed familiar to Elissa. The man's stature was imposing. His posture regal, his shoulders broad. Long, black hair was tied back in a loose ponytail and he was exquisitely dressed in a tailored black suit._

_A hushed awe settled over the crowd as he stood slowly and turned towards her. His face was hidden by a black, satin mask, theatrical in appearance, more suited for a masquerade ball. The whispers of the mesmerized crowd buzzed around her as he approached her with the smooth grace of a jaguar. The crowd parted automatically for him and his footsteps echoed over the marble floor as he drew nearer._

_"Unhand her." when he spoke, his voice was smooth, but low and threatening. Elissa would recognize that voice anywhere._

_At Adam's hesitation, Itachi took hold of her coworker's wrist and gripped it firmly, causing Adam to release a cry of pain and free Elissa's hand, before shooting them both a glare and backing away._

_Itachi turned his attentive, ebony eyes on Elissa and, resting a warm hand on her shoulder, asked, "Are you unharmed?"_

_"Y- yes, I'm fine." she stammered, blushing in embarrassment at his proximity._

_Suddenly, the piano music picked back up. But if Itachi was here, who was playing the piano? She strained to see through the crowd, but couldn't make out the image of the player. Itachi placed a gentle hand on her cheek, caressing it affectionately with the pad of his thumb, drawing her attention back to him as a rare smile graced his features._

_"Would you be inclined to share this dance with me, Elissa?" he asked, polite as ever._

_Dazed, Elissa only nodded mutely as she accepted his hand. They whirled across the ballroom floor, keeping time with the music. His eyes were fixed on hers, enchanting, entrancing._

_Her heart raced in her chest. She had always found him terribly attractive, but also foreboding and dangerous. Sharing such an intimate dance with him felt like a miracle. She felt the warmth of his large hand around hers, his gentle touch at her waist, and the scrambling of her pulse, the longer she held his dark, penetrating gaze._

_'Wait a minute' she thought suddenly, 'did I even dress up for a ball?" She suddenly looked down at herself and was mortified to see she wore nothing more than her cotton-print pajamas. She looked around in humiliation, wondering where she could go to change._

_"Elissa?" Itachi voiced, sensing her distress._

_"I… I have to go!"she announced suddenly, tearing away from him and racing towards the opposite end of the ballroom, searching for the double doors that would let her out. Although she circled the area many times, she simply could not find the exit. Despairing, she covered her face in embarrassment._

* * *

Her eyes opened with a start to gentle sunlight streaming through the open bedroom window. She groaned as the memory of her foolish, foolish dream came flooding back. Vetty mewled at her side, seeing her awake.

"Oh, Vetty," Elissa muttered groggily. She rolled over to face her cat and buried her face in her pillow. "If I _ever_ dream something so stupid again, just go ahead and dump me right back in the river."

It had been a typical nightmare. Well, with a few, small exceptions.

* * *

"Is there something you find amusing, cousin?" Itachi asked, seeing Shisui chuckle into his closed hand.

Shisui only smiled at his friend as the two sat in the illustrious gardens of the underworld, overseeing Hades' sparring practice.

"Quite amusing, indeed." Shisui agreed, "If you only knew."

Itachi raised a brow curiously at this, but said nothing.

* * *

The grounds leading away from the mighty Cronus' quarters were austere and regal, like the man himself. Elegant in their simplicity and intimidating in their starkness. The stone pathway leading through to the courtyard was paved in white marble, and bamboo groves flanked either side of the wide road. Nyx listened absently to the sound of her own shoes clicking softly against the brilliant stone. She paused, briefly, to look back at Cronus' palace, a majestic building of red lacquer and black marble with a curving roof whose corners curled up like the edge of a lance, in a gesture of architectural magnificence. Everything about this place reflected Cronus himself, and made her both wistful and wary, just as he did.

She turned away from the towering building, steeling her nerves and her expression to face her family after her time in the arms of chaos. A few strands of her still somewhat disheveled hair fell into her face, and she suspected her lips still bore the telltale reddish bruising from Cronus' ruthless passion. No matter, it was nothing she would not be able to amend just as soon as she was in her own quarters. Setting her lips in a thin line, she lifted her head with the refinement and grace that had been instilled in her from the moment she learned to take breath.

A flurry of movement in the corner of her eye caught her notice and she turned to the source. Her lips parted in surprise as she lay eyes on none other than Kokytos. Their eyes met through the bamboo grove and she froze as helplessly as a victim of the gorgon Medusa. Excuses - pleas - rambled through her mind as her heart galloped in her chest. Kokytos was an ancient deity, Lord of the river of tears and wailing, and as such, bore wisdom enough to recognize the significance of her being here in Cronus' courtyard and to deduce the truth from the traces on her countenance.

Having been seen, he recognized the futility of a hasty escape and stepped forward. He draped an arm across his chest, pressing his closed fist to his heart in a humble salute. Lowering his head, he murmured, "My Queen, I bid you good morn." Nyx faltered, the words to answer him lost behind the buzz in her mind. He had seen her. He knew. He would not keep quiet.

"Y- yes, and I you, Kokytos." She finally found her voice, hoping, _praying,_ that he had somehow not concluded the obvious.

Kokytos carefully avoided meeting her eyes. Knowing the danger he would find himself in if she saw the recognition in his grief-black eyes. Suddenly, an ominous presence loomed over him and he could no longer keep his head lowered. Nyx saw Kokytos' eyes widen as he looked over her shoulder. Turning as well, her eyes fell on Cronus, no sign of their tryst remained on his appearance, dressed as he was, like a king who knew no equal. His discerning eyes passed over the two of them, and Kokytos bowed low before turning and making an escape.

Nyx stumbled backwards. Kokytos knew. He had seen it on her face. She turned to Cronus helplessly, fear stealing the breath from her lungs. Her eyes wide in horror as she ran back to him. There was nothing she could do. No way to stop him from going straight to Erebus, to whom he had sworn loyalty. It would all be in the open now. Thanatos, Hades, surely they would shun her. She would be condemned. Her eyes filled with horrified tears as she stumbled at Cronus' feet. He caught her before she hit the ground and narrowed his eyes disapprovingly.

"What is the matter with you, woman?" he growled.

Nyx could only gasp for air, her panic burning in her lungs. "He-" she breathed, "He knows. We have to stop him. We have to _explain_ ," she stammered, her pulse racing. She felt lightheaded and desperate. She wanted to run, but did not know where to, so she clung to him. Clung to her oppressor, her tormentor. He was the only one who could save her, if he chose to do so.

"If I ask him, he might… keep quiet." Her eyes were unfocused as she turned her head in the direction Kokytos had fled. Cronus was entirely displeased with her demeanor. He was not averse to the sight of her fear. It was clear, however, that there was only one individual who should command that emotion of her.

"My woman…" he hissed, taking a firm hold of her chin and turning her head to face him once more, "will beg before _no one."_

The angry words, the threat behind them calmed her more than reassurances would have. Feeling her still in his arms, he released his hold on her face. Turning his perceptive eyes on the bend in the road that Kokytos had raced past, he asked with a guttural growl, "Are you certain he has recognized the nature of our relationship?"

Nyx paused, swallowing thickly. It was an odd way to phrase it. Even after all these centuries, even _she_ had not recognized, was uncertain of, the _nature_ of their relationship. Instead of dwelling further on it, she nodded quietly. "He knows." She said, steadily now. "I saw it in his eyes." Her trembling had passed, and her voice held firm. Cronus was a terrible god to anger, and he was by her side. Kokytos would not be able to stand before his chaos.

"I will see to it." he seethed, his anger still directed at that point on the horizon, he released her and made to leave but gave her one last parting glance. "Get you back to your quarters, and remember this, my Nyx." A pensive silence passed between them as she held his indominating gaze, "You will fear no one."

And with those words, he was gone.

* * *

The sun shone high in the clear noon sky as Slayte made her way to her best friend's apartment. The last time she had been there was the fateful day she had tried to rid her friend once and for all of that demonic underworld feline. She had failed, miserably, and lost her most important friend in the process. She frowned as she climbed the hill leading up the apartment block Elissa lived in.

Elissa couldn't _know_ that Vetty was demonic, and even though Slayte told herself that she couldn't possibly expect her friend to understand the reality of the situation, being shunned for trying to protect her still hurt. She felt nervous and wary. If Vetty attempted to harm Elissa in some way… sure, Slayte wouldn't try to kill her again, but that was only because she now knew that she _couldn't._ The damned cat was an immortal. Would Elissa be expecting her to be _nice_ to Vetty? Just thinking about it made her feel uneasy. She scowled freely at the floor until she would be forced to pull herself together and be sociable.

Reaching her best friend's apartment building, she sighed and rang the bell. If it was for Elissa's sake, she could do anything, even be nice to Vetty. Hearing the buzz that let her in, Slayte opened the heavy door and climbed the steps of the narrow stairway that would lead her to Elissa's apartment. As she approached, she saw that the door already stood ajar.

She stepped through and closed the door gently behind her. "Come in, Slayte! I'm in the kitchen!" She heard Elissa's voice call pleasantly from deeper within the apartment. She removed her shoes, placing them neatly on the side before shrugging off her jacket and searching for her friend.

She found Elissa wearing an apron and standing at the kitchen counter, hovering over two pizzas that looked about ready to go into the oven. "Hey, pizza's okay with you, right?" she asked as she sprinkled mozzarella cheese over the toppings.

"Yeah, always." Slayte agreed, walking over to the sink to wash her hands. "But what on earth are you doing, Elissa?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" the brunette asked, raising a brow at her friend.

"You need to add all the cheese, girl." Slayte chided, taking the bowl out of Elissa's hand and liberally spreading its contents over the pizzas. "ALL the cheese."

"What?" Elissa remarked with a laugh. "That's on you, don't hate me later when you step on the scale."

Pushing the pizzas into the oven, Elissa pulled the apron over her head and hung it on the kitchen hook before leading the way into the living room.

"So, you majored in Greek mythology in college, right?" she tossed over her shoulder at Slayte.

"Mmm…" Slayte hummed in noncommittal agreement. "Something like that. Safe to say I'm pretty well-versed in the subject."

"Great, let me get my notes, maybe you can help me out with some of the finer details of my story," Elissa opened a living room cabinet and extracted multiple notebooks as well as a pouch of colored pens, "I've been borrowing all these books from the library, but they're just not that detailed when it comes to the underworld."

"The underworld, huh?" Slayte chuckled uneasily.

"Well, yeah, it is one of the main settings of my story." Elissa agreed plopping herself on the sofa across from Slayte. She skimmed through the notebook, searching for the right page.

"Here, take a look at this." Elissa handed her the notebook and Slayte took it from her gingerly, knowing how much this story of hers meant to her. Elissa had a writer's heart. Tales of lore unfolded ceaselessly in her mind and she had the talent to transport her readers to the worlds she wove. It irked Elissa to be editing other's mistakes as a profession instead of creating her own content. A sentiment Slayte agreed wholeheartedly with as she would often remind Elissa not to forget the "little people" when she inevitably made it big as a writer.

Under the header of "The Underworld" there was a neat list of bullet points and descriptions as well as a page mapping out the general locations of various underworld highlights. Slayte was surprised to see how detailed it was, and how accurate. Her heart clenched at the sight of her old home, and she wondered how Rain, Juice and Katie were doing. If they missed her at all.

"This is really good, Elissa," Slayte provided honestly, "You've done an amazing job."

"Thanks," Elissa smiled, glad to hear her work had paid off.

"Can I have a pencil or something? I'll add in a few little details you might be able to work in." Slayte tucked her hair behind her ear, mind already working on the map.

"Yeah, sure!" Elissa handed her a pale blue pencil with a penguin eraser, causing Slayte to grin at her friend at the childishness of the stationary, before working on the sketch.

"Here, on the right of the Asphodel Fields, you have a plain of moonflowers. The nymphs often take this route when they want to avoid the Fields." She drew in the flowers she spoke of. "And the Hall of Judgment. It's huge, I mean, _gigantic_. Think of skyscrapers when writing it. Pillars as wide as your apartment is tall. A very intimidating structure." She added more notes, details, and minor additions until Elissa looked at her friend in awe, wondering where she could have learned all this.

A meow broke the spell of concentration and Slayte looked up at her friend in surprise. "Is that.. Vetty?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah, she's in my room," Elissa agreed, avoiding Slayte's eyes. "Thought it best to keep her from… getting underfoot."

"Oh." Slayte turned back to the sketch, not really seeing it. Remembering Vetty, the incident, and her conversation with Elissa made her stomach turn.

"Has everything been alright… between you?" Slayte asked gently.

"Don't do this again, Slayte." Elissa warned, "We've been through this."

"I'm worried about you, Elissa. As your friend, I'm honor-bound to protect you, whether you like it or not." Her face warmed as she turned away from Elissa. She hated fighting with her, hated when they weren't on the same page, but felt compelled to be completely honest with her.

"Don't give me that," Elissa snapped, "I'm not a little kid, Slayte. I'm a grown adult, I can make my own decisions."

Slayte met her eyes, alarmed by Elissa's agitated voice even as her own rose to meet it. "So, I should just ignore it when I see you in danger?"

"Why can't I protect myself? Why do you and everyone else think they need to protect me? You sound just like my family!" Elissa was almost shouting now, her anger burning in her hazel irises. "Your _job_ as my friend is to share your concerns with me! Not to go around doing what you think is right, without considering how that will affect me or how I will feel about it! That's not what friends do!"

Slayte bit her lip and was reminded yet again of her own life in the underworld, whiling away at the whims of others.

"If you seriously think I'm making a mistake, let me make it." Elissa frowned at Slayte, meeting her conflicted dark eyes. "And be there for me in the fallout."

Slayte inhaled shakily, wishing Elissa knew more. Wondering if she would still be saying the same if she knew the truth of what was going on around her. As it stood, however, she had no choice but to acknowledge that no one but Elissa herself should be the master of her own fate. "Okay," she whispered, dropping her eyes to the carpet, "I will."

Elissa was not satisfied with Slayte's faltering agreement and stormed out of the living room, only to return with Vetty in her arms.

"Look at her," she demanded.

Slayte looked up at the hated cat. She saw, for the first time since Vetty had entered their lives, how calmly she rested in Elissa's arms, blinking down at her sagely. "She's become so calm and so sweet, Slayte. I don't know if you shook her up that badly, but I hate seeing her sad. She would never try to hurt me and I need you to promise me the same."

"What - ? I would _never_ hurt you, Elissa!" Slayte countered indignantly.

"You _did_ hurt me," Elissa shot back, "You tried to kill my cat and I don't think I need to explain what that would have done to me."

Slayte bit her lip, looking at Vetty intently, trying to discover the demon hidden behind the demure facade.

"Promise me, Slayte," Elissa demanded. "Promise you won't try to hurt Vetty again."

"I…" Slayte faltered, seeing the hurt in Elissa's eyes. She looked at Vetty's unbothered, innocent demeanor and hesitated. _'Anything for Elissa,'_ she reminded herself.

She met her friend's determined hazel eyes and took a deep breath. "I promise," she agreed.

Slayte was surprised to see how instantly Elissa's expression brightened as she breathed a sigh of relief. She realized then, that Elissa must have been scared Slayte would repeat her actions, but chose to forgive her anyway. And why shouldn't she be scared? Slayte herself had said as much. She could have kicked herself in that moment.

"I'm sorry," Slayte muttered, dropping her gaze to the floor again, "for putting you through all this."

"Well, it's…" Elissa hesitated and then jumped as a loud beeping sounded from the kitchen, "Oh! The pizza!" She rushed into the kitchen, leaving Slayte behind with Vetty.

Slayte regarded the cat uneasily as she slowly stalked towards her and lithely leapt onto the sofa. Slayte watched her approach warily from the corner of her eye, "Just because I won't hurt you, doesn't mean I trust you, demon cat."

Vetty took no heed and crawled closer, stopping just next to Slayte, curling up on the sofa, nuzzled against her. Slayte was flabbergasted by this unwarranted affection. "What are you doing?!" she hissed, as quietly as she could manage. "You and I both know who you are and what you've done, so don't even try any funny business with me!"

Vetty raised her head to blink up at Slayte, before crawling into her lap.

"What? No! Stop it!" Slayte protested, trying to remove the black cat, but froze, paralyzed, as soon as her hand touched Vetty's fur.

Cold, deathly cold. Never ending rain. Soaked to the bone. She was shivering and miserable. "What're you doing out here in this weather, all by yourself?" A kind, gentle face peering down at her. Beautiful, sparkling hazel eyes. Being lifted into warm arms, shielded from the rain, brought into a warm home. Comforted.

Broken bowls. The taste of blood on her tongue. The metallic tang like actual iron chains coursing through her veins. A contract complete.

More scenes flashed across Slayte's consciousness. Elissa's kindnesses, her words, her comfort. Elissa crying. Vetty snuggling up to her for affection. Watchful eyes shadowing them outside the window. Threatening and menacing.

Fear. Love. Desperation. A desire to protect Elissa. To bring her home. Defeat.

Slayte gasped, sucking in a hapless breath of air. She was shaken. She looked down at Vetty curled up in her lap, not believing what she was seeing. Vetty had been wanting to _protect_ Elissa? Loved her in her own way? The blood bond… Slayte supposed, could also have been a form of protection. There were certain advantages to being bound to an immortal being in such a way. The unrecognizable watchful eyes in the shadows. Someone had their eyes on Elissa, and Vetty wanted to protect her.

"Why show me this? What can I possibly do?" Slayte whispered. Vetty blinked up at her wisely, but Slayte understood next to nothing. Vetty seemed to trust her. To expect her assistance in safeguarding Elissa's wellbeing, but Slayte was just a nymph, nothing more. She had no special powers to shield Elissa with and if the opponent was any one of the underworld deities, they were all doomed from the start. What they needed was an ally. A powerful ally that was feared enough for those watchful eyes to leave Elissa alone.

And yet, they had none. All they had was a demon cat and a rogue nymph. Slayte swallowed thickly and stroked Vetty's fur absentmindedly. The two were not on opposing sides, after all. She had tried to kill Elissa in order to bring her back to her _own_ home - the Underworld. Away from those eyes. What was it that Vetty feared would be a fate worse than death for Elissa?

"You can't kill her," Slayte whispered, "It won't help. She needs this life. She deserves it - cherishes it. Mortals are like that."

Vetty purred at Slayte's affections and the black-haired nymph sighed with understanding, suddenly oddly grateful for Vetty's presence. Whoever the enemy in the shadows was, she was sure she couldn't face them alone.

When Elissa returned with the pizza, she froze in the doorway, seeing the unexpected scene between Slayte and Vetty.

"It- it wasn't me!" Slayte blurted, flustered. "She just came up to me on her own!"

Vetty yawned and stretched, before hopping off of Slayte's lap and sauntering back to Elissa's room, sidling affectionately against her ankles as she did so.

Elissa and Slayte exchanged a glance before Elissa laughed weakly and set the pizza on the table. "That's okay." She reassured Slayte, "That was cute. Did you guys make up?" She looked at her friend uncertainly.

"Yeah," Slayte muttered, rising from the sofa to help Elissa set the table. "She's all right."

* * *

There was an uproar in the underworld the likes of which had not been seen for centuries. Posts were abandoned and even the nymphs and servants had gathered at the banks of Kokytos, where the same-named deity lay plunged up to his waist in the river.

Thanatos and Hypnos watched side-by-side from the shadows as Kokytos was dragged out of the murky waters, steam still escaping from a gaping hole in his chest, despite clearly having been dead for hours. A collective gasp shuddered through the crowd huddled at the usually abandoned banks of the wailing river.

The audience was stilled into silence and only the resounding wails of mortal grief rose through the air from the river rushing by and passed over them ceaselessly, hauntingly. Who would dare to kill a powerful god of the underworld?

Whispers darted between busy lips as rumors crept to life in the absence of truth. Itachi watched through narrowed eyes as the hubble struggled to stamp answers on the inexplicable occurrence, if only to stem their own fear. His eyes passed knowingly over them, back to Kokytos, who now lay face-up on the muddy riverbank. His chest still steaming, crackling even. Slowly, he moved forward, Shisui close at his side. They stood over the fallen god and saw the tiny sparks of lightning that remained still flickering over the wound.

"The element of lightning…" Shisui mused, "There are few in the Underworld who command that element." Itachi nodded in agreement. He turned to his cousin, as they exchanged a knowing look.

"My brethren!" A booming voice roared over their heads, and the crowd turned collectively towards the commanding sound. "We have witnessed today, a great tragedy! Even the bounds of our world were not respected! Poor Kokytos… he was my charge, as are you all." Cronus' voice was commanding, inspiring.

By the looks of the faces who had turned their backs on Kokytos to look up at Cronus who towered over them like a general from his perch on top of a large boulder to address the crowd, it was clear to see their great admiration for the Uchiha patriarch. The enthusiasm with which they received his words was ill-placed for the event that had taken place.

"For what crime, I ask you, was our Kokytos slain? Through no fault of his own, he happened to chance upon a goddess that belonged to another.

Kokytos, who we all know to be demure and solemn, mistakenly met her eye. I ask you, is this reason enough to tear his heart out in this barbaric manner?!"

The crowd roared in outrage, Cronus' anger provoking their own indignance to life. "The Olympians!" Cronus thundered. "They know not their place! They reduce us to a life beneath the surface and then dare to trespass on our lands! Murder our brethren! Slaughter fellow gods in cold blood! Will we stand for this?" His question, imbued with his own fury, stoked the flames of rebellion in the listening crowd.

The deafening din that answered him in unison was a battle cry. A storm of bloodlust brewing by the flame lit by the sparks of an unjust death. It was an emotion that Cronus skillfully brought to life in them, one he fully intended to use to his full advantage. Kokytos' carcass lay forgotten on the muddy banks as shouts of "Glory to Cronus!" drowned out even the haunting lamentations of the river behind them.

Itachi met Cronus' eyes silently. Though Cronus spoke of anger, indignance, and revenge, there was a satisfaction in his eyes that did not escape Death's notice. There were not many who commanded the power of lightning in the underworld, but Cronus was one of them.

* * *

"Miss Caelum!"

Elissa jumped with a start, turning to the sound of the approaching footsteps, daydreams beyond the window she had been staring out of - images of Itachi's thoughtful gaze and dark voice, veiled in mystery - dissolving into thin air.

She turned to the heavyset man with an unnaturally full head of black, greasy hair and rose to her feet. "Mr. Waterford," Elissa greeted politely, wondering what could have lured her notoriously sedentary boss out of his office.

She didn't have long to wonder as Mr. Waterford slammed yesterday's newspaper down on her desk. "Explain yourself, Miss Caelum!" the older man shouted, loud enough for all of her coworkers in the surrounding cubicles to hear.

Elissa looked down on the print in front of her. She remembered proofreading that article yesterday, but couldn't imagine what could have happened to warrant this outburst. "Mr. Waterford, what happened?" she asked, hoping she would be able to salvage the situation.

"Look at this! You were responsible for this article!" He pointed a thick finger to the offending print for emphasis. "Were 20% of daycare centers involved in child abuse scandals this last decade?"

Elissa only looked on, wide-eyed, not sure where he was going with this.

"No! It was two percent! Two percent of daycare centers were involved in scandals! We're having a field day with this misprint and my phone is ringing off the hook!" He bellowed at her, spraying spittle as he did so.

"Wait, Mr. Waterford," Elissa countered, pulling out the original, unedited article.

"The journalist wrote it that way. That's an error in the content. I can't change the content of the article as I see fit. That would be overstepping my bounds as a proofreader." Elissa struggled to convey the obvious to her irate superior, missing the way Adam gestured for her to be quiet from behind her boss. Her coworker crossed his arms in a dramatic "X" hoping to draw her attention and stop her from digging what would surely prove to be her own grave.

"Are you refusing to take responsibility, now?!" the sheer indignance Mr. Waterford spewed at her made her hesitate. Was she truly in the wrong here?

"Mr. Waterford!" Adam exclaimed, rushing in. "Am I glad I got a hold of you! Jenny has been looking all over for you… apparently, Ms. Charlotte has decided to give our paper an interview, after all."

"What?" Mr. Waterford turned to Adam in dumbfounded surprise, the wind clearly taken from his sails.

"Oh, yes, Jenny's very excited about it!" Adam winked over his shoulder at Elissa as he led their boss away. "A little misprint about daycare centers will blow over in no time. We'll just post a correction tomorrow and move on to bigger, better things. Things like the fabulous Ms. Charlotte Wutherfield, wouldn't you agree?"

Adam certainly had a way with words. Mr. Waterford's tirade was cut short by her coworker's easily persuading manner and Elissa was left on her own at her desk. Although the crisis had been averted, she couldn't bring herself to concentrate on her work again.

She hated her job, and "hate" was a word she used sparingly. Poring through endless pages of text, searching for and correcting the mistakes of others, instead of producing her _own_ content, tore at her pride.

What she wouldn't give to be free of the tedium of proofreading and to be writing her own, original story. A tale of romance and adventure, tragedy with a hint of humour, a tale blending fantasy and mythology, shedding light on the deeper aspects of life itself? A story that would have it's readers gripped with tension, crying with its heroes and despising its villains? In her heart of hearts, Elissa knew she could write a story just like that. Just as soon as she was free from the neverending search for the minor errors of others. An unappreciated, underpaid task that would never attach her name to the text. She sighed and rubbed her temples. Her job was paying the bills and putting food on the table. Maybe she should stop being such an idealist.

She tried to get her head back in the game and watched the hours crawl by. Despite herself, she wondered if the masked men would be at the river again around this time. Itachi and Shisui. She had been able to find them so far, every time she had wished to meet them. Mr. Waterford's outburst wore her down in a terrible way, and she wished for nothing more at the moment than to sit a few minutes in Itachi's comforting, resilient presence. His calm and gentle manner gave her strength to face her own demons.

The sun was fast declining when the clock finally struck four in the afternoon and she could leave behind the drab, concrete building that marked the offices of The Canterbury Times. She wondered vaguely if Levi had any positions open at the tea shop, if she should choose to quit after all. Just until she found a better place to work.

She idled toward the river, her mind lost down the many roads she could take in her life if she decided to take that leap. She considered each of them. Quitting, getting by on her savings, taking her work, incomplete as it was, to get the professional opinion of an editor. She flirted with each of these fleeting ideas like a neglected housewife, knowing full well she would return in the evening to a husband that did not love her. She knew, deep down, that she would open the doors to The Canterbury Times the next morning, just as she had every day up until now, just as she would continue doing for the foreseeable future - underappreciated, underpaid, unfulfilled.

Her brown, leather purse slipped down the defeated fall of her shoulders and she adjusted the strap as she walked further down the road. She had passed her apartment building already and the bend in the river where she usually found Itachi and Shisui was just up ahead.

She approached slowly, warily, as she recalled how unnerved she had been the last time she had seen them. In retrospect, it had probably just been an overreaction prompted by Slayte's irrational fears. She bit her lip, determined to apologize for her strange behavior when she saw them.

Peering up into the trees, however, Elissa saw nothing but the leaves themselves swaying overhead to the rhythm of the evening wind. The setting sun basked her surroundings in an auburn glow. The squirrels in the trees and the birds overhead were all passing her by, disappearing to seek shelter for the night until only she remained.

She sighed, realizing that she couldn't expect them to simply _appear_ just because she wanted to see him. Them, she reminded herself. Casting one last look at the lengthening shadows around her, to be sure she hadn't missed them, she turned away.

"Looking for someone?"

The deep baritone that had spoken sent a shiver down her spine. It was familiar, but unsettling. Turning to the source of the sound, she saw a tall, blonde man with aristocratic features and laughing, blue eyes leaning against a nearby tree.

She knew that man. She had seen him before, his name was -

"Cain," Elissa acknowledged, "What are you doing here?"

"I might ask you the same question." he tossed back with a raised brow. Pushing away from the tree, he approached Elissa. "It's a little late to be out alone by yourself this way."

"Oh, I- I'm just out for a walk," Elissa replied evasively, "I needed to clear my mind."

"I see," Cain moved closer, stepping firmly into her personal space now. "Rough day?" he asked, looking down on her.

"Yeah," Elissa agreed, taking a step back. "You could say that."

"You looked like you were waiting for someone," Cain smiled genially, expectantly.

"No, I just…" she cast another glance at her surroundings as if hoping Itachi and Shisui would appear from the shadows and save her from this awkward interaction. "Wanted some fresh air," she finished evenly.

Turning to the tall blonde, Elissa met his eye confidently. She refused to be intimidated by his height or his looks. "We haven't seen each other since that day at the shelter. I almost didn't recognize you."

"Is that so?" Cain mused in a low voice, "I've seen you around."

Elissa could not explain why that statement made her skin crawl. "Wh- what?" she stammered.

"I live in the neighborhood. I've seen you around here once or twice. Do you also live nearby?" His tone was light and conversational. Had she imagined the dark undertones just now?

"Y-yeah, somewhere around here." Elissa fought to keep her voice steady. There was something about him that made her wary. He was nothing but friendly and polite, but she didn't feel comfortable around him.

"Well, as you said, it's getting late, so… I'll just head home. It was nice seeing you." She offered pleasantly, turning on her heel.

"In that case, let me walk you home." He offered cordially, coming up beside her. She tried to control the involuntary shudder she felt when his

arm brushed against hers.

"That really isn't necessary," Elissa protested, "It isn't far from here." The idea of him knowing where she lived unsettled her.

"Elissa," Cain chided, her name dripping from his lips like honey, "I insist."

He had the air of a man who was used to getting what he wanted. Elissa bristled, but he nodded towards the road and moved forward, "I wouldn't be a _gentleman_ if I let you go off on your own at this hour."

He looked over his shoulder at her, as she hesitantly followed, meeting her hazel eyes with his own brilliant cobalt ones. "It could be _dangerous_." His eyes sparkled with subdued mirth, but Elissa could not, for the life of her, imagine what could possibly be amusing about that statement.

She followed him quietly, careful to keep her distance from him, walking in the streetlights so anyone who happened to be watching from their windows could report to the police the next day just who had been escorting her. Was she usually this paranoid? Slayte must have really been getting to her.

"Are you afraid of me, Elissa?" Cain asked pleasantly, seemingly not at all disturbed by the idea.

"What makes you say that?"

"A class of grade-schoolers could pass between us, darling." he supplied casually, a bemused grin marking his handsome features.

Elissa flushed at the nonchalant use of the affectionate nickname. "I don't know you that well, Cain. It _is_ late, and it _is_ dangerous." she answered honestly.

"Right. I'm dangerous, too. How could I forget?" he hummed, as if the notion was a pleasant surprise.

Elissa watched him through narrowed eyes. Was he _trying_ to terrify her? Or was he only mocking her?

They came up to Elissa's apartment building and Cain drew to a stop in front of the large, glass double doors framed in blue steel.

"That's advisable. It is good to be wary." He drew nearer to her, reaching out for her hand. Elissa did not know what to say to him. His forwardness had left her quite speechless at their first meeting, and the second was proving to be no different.

"And it is wise not to trust me." He grinned at her as he brought the knuckles of her right hand up to his lips, brushing a feather of a kiss over her smooth skin.

"Cain." Elissa's voice was stern, even as her eyes wavered between alarm and embarrassment. "That is wildly inappropriate. I hardly know you."

"That is why it is wise not to trust me." he blinked at her innocently, "Is that not precisely what I said?"

"Not that!" Elissa snapped, flustered, "You can't just be kissing my hand like we're living in the 1800s!" She tore her hand out of his grasp, rubbing absentmindedly at the place he had kissed as if trying to wipe away the tingling sensation that lingered there. "I barely know you!"

"And I seek to remedy that. Is that so wrong of me?" There was no amusement in those sky blue eyes as he regarded her seriously now. "I've been thinking about you ever since that day at the shelter. Sure, I've met other girls, been on dates, the whole 12-step program to forget an unreasonable crush… but my mind keeps coming back to you."

She felt oddly trapped, intimidated by the intimate words that had no place being voiced aloud between two people with so brief an acquaintance. She felt stuck on the wrong side of Cain, with her apartment door just behind him.

"I wonder why that is?" he asked, trapping her in his intense gaze.

"Cain." Elissa interrupted him, "You're making me uncomfortable. Please leave now." She met his eyes with honesty.

The sincerity of her words gave him pause. "I apologize, Elissa." he stepped back, allowing her to pass him easily. "It seems I have that effect on you more often than I would like. I hope to see you again, and to have the chance to prove to you, that given the chance, I would like to bring more joy into your life. You are a queen. You deserve to be treated like one."

"And you have no business saying that!" she snapped, losing patience with him. "This is only the second time I've ever seen you! Of course it will make me uncomfortable if you behave this way. Please stop. I don't want to see you again." She pushed past him and tore open the door to the apartment building, not wanting to hear his empty apologies again.

She reminded herself that the apartment block housed nearly fifty families, and simply knowing she lived in this building could not tell him where her apartment was. She was safe. She had nothing to fear. She was being paranoid. The words were like a mantra that she repeated over and over until she tore open the door to her own apartment and slammed it shut behind her. She fumbled with the keys, turning the lock as quickly as she could, as if Cain was standing on just the other side.

She sighed with relief as she heard the lock turn and sunk to the floor. With a sigh, she closed her eyes and tried to dispel the anxious panic that had overtaken her. He was friendly. Too friendly. And it was dark. But Slayte had also been too friendly and that was just one of her harmless quirks. She was overreacting.

She took a deep breath and removed her black flats, neatly placing them on the shoe rack. She dumped her purse and keys on the sideboard, shrugging off her blazer as she walked towards her room. Her eyes searched for Vetty as she reached up to remove the pins holding her hair in place, allowing the long chestnut locks to tumble down over her shoulders.

Vetty meowed as she came up to her, allowing Elissa to lift her in her arms. Elissa stroked her cat lovingly, pressing her cheek affectionately to Vetty's fur. She allowed herself the comfort of Vetty's warmth when a stray thought wormed its way into her mind paralyzing her with alarm. She turned suddenly back towards the closed door, watching it fearfully. Beyond was nothing but silence. Elissa swallowed thickly.

He had led the way to her apartment, but she had not told him where she lived. 


	12. Part XI: The Masks We Wear

* * *

**Part XI: The Masks We Wear**

* * *

A cloaked figure alighted silently atop the balcony, landing with effortless grace, his tall, fetching form concealed by the shadows of nightfall. Straightening, Itachi turned to the balcony doors. His eyes, much accustomed to darkness, easily made out the view within the lightless room.

The hour was late. The young woman was wrapped snugly beneath crisp white sheets, sound asleep in her bed. The end of one slender arm hung off the edge off the mattress as her chest rose and fell steadily in time to her deep breathing. Curled up affectionately beside the slumbering girl, was the very creature he had arrived to see.

' _Come to me,_ ' he telepathically summoned the feline within.

Vetty's ears immediately perked up, hearing his call. Her head lifted and turned, and slanted eyes locked onto him. Obediently, the Underworld cat rose, stretched, hopped off the bed, and padded quietly to the balcony doors. Itachi held up a hand, not quite touching the glass panels, willing them to silently open. They parted at his command, allowing Vetty to slip outside.

She mewled softly, fluffy, full tail swishing left and right as she lifted her head eagerly in hopes of once again receiving affection.

"..." Beneath his mask, Itachi's eyebrows lifted slightly at the cat's persistence. Then he lowered himself to one knee, crouching before the animal, and reached out with his right hand.

 _'Tell me how you came to be in this world,'_ he mentally communicated, as the cat purred in satisfaction and rubbed her head against his open palm. Vetty belonged to his realm, and so he knew she could hear him in her mind. _'Why have you bound yourself in blood to this mortal?'_

When he received no reply, Itachi's lips thinned in displeasure. _'Vetty. Underworld felines are prohibited from taking human familiars. I will not ask again. Who sent you, and why this girl?'_

Vetty meowed. Her eyes met his, and he watched as the black irises glowed to crimson, burning like embers. She moved forward, allowing his palm to brush over the length of her body - triggering images to flash through his mind.

_A rainy night. A kind, beautiful face. Being swept up into gentle arms. A bowl crashing. Droplets of blood. A desperate, fierce urgency to protect the girl that she had bonded to. Fear. Shame at his disapproval. Guilt. Cracked stone statues, sunk to the bottom of the ocean. Screams of terror. A midnight sky. A milky galaxy. Shooting stars. A broken crown._

Itachi drew his hand back with a start. The disjointed images that had followed Vetty's memories of being found by Elissa made no sense. They did not answer any of his questions. They served only to give rise to even more.

' _Forgive me, Great Lord,'_ a voice then echoed in his mind. Vetty's, he realised. _'I am bound by duty and sworn to silence.'_

'B _y whom?'_ Itachi pressed, eyes narrowing.

' _I cannot say, or forfeit my own life,_ ' the answer reverberated. Vetty then sat back, looking up at him with remorseful eyes that had reverted back to black. _'I did not wish to hurt the human. I wish only to save her from a wretched fate. She has treated me...kindly.'_

"..." Itachi rested his elbow on his knee, keen mind working to deduce what he could from the exchange. He rose fluidly, and his face then turned back toward the girl sleeping on the other side of the glass. She had rolled over onto her left side and was facing toward them. A silky, messy lock of chestnut hair had fallen into her face, and her rosy lips had parted, still lost in the deep flush of sleep.

She was in danger, he affirmed. Someone - or _something_ \- was threatening her. But who? What? Who or what would dare to intrude on his domain of Death, and seek to bring a mortal's demise before their time?

Whoever it was, he silently vowed, as his gaze lingered momentarily upon her, he would stop at nothing to find - and eliminate - the culprit.

' _Return to her side,'_ he ordered the cat, who mewled in compliance. Once Vetty had gone back inside and taken her place beside where Elissa slumbered, Itachi quietly shut the door, ensuring it was safely locked - before he silently departed, melting away into the shadows once again.

* * *

_She was floating in rivers of liquid bronze and silver, her silky, chestnut-brown hair flowing around her as though she was submerged in deep waters. Elissa fluttered her eyes open, only to gaze at an infinite sea of glistening metal. She curled her fingers at her sides, finding her arms, and all of her limbs, impossibly light. Suddenly, the liquid bronze seemed to harden and at that point she found the strength in her to somehow sit up in, seemingly, mid-air. She straightened her back and her surroundings seem to gradually darken._

_She had to lift herself up, but couldn't. In that moment, she remembered to draw a deep breath, only for the air to still in her lungs. A hand was suddenly offering her aid. Observing it seemed to clear up its form more and more. The hand became an arm, cloaked entirely in black; but it was only an arm, connecting to nothingness. Should she take it? Should she rather try and stand, relying in naught but her own strength? She was perfectly capable of protecting herself, wasn't she? She had made it known to Slayte, too, that she could take care of her own issues._

_And yet, a force that she could not entirely place or recognize, seemed to holler at her to take that hand. Inviting her to participate in a dance, that she had no clue if she'd be able to follow. Enticing smells seemed to fill up her nostrils; trees, pinewood and cedar, and any vestige of logic she retained seem to weaken as rapidly as her surroundings dimmed._

_Take it… You're already flirting with Death …_

_Unbidden, her hand lifted towards the suspended arm, her fingers intertwined with that of the stranger._

_Elissa…_

_That voice! Echoing like pure, dark silk, caressing her eardrums, her whole being even… She knew who was calling her._

_"Itachi…?"_

_He did not answer. The hand helped lifting her up and she was now standing on her own two legs. Elissa glanced at her feet. How could that be… She was standing still, the soles of her feet were touching sturdy ground, but all she could see was a river of strangely sparkling blackness, of liquid black marble._

_She raised her gaze to acknowledge the man before her. The shadows were dispersing, giving way to a strong, but noble build. His silky, dark hair was unbound, flowing around him, much like her own. A strong gust of wind seemed to raise goosebumps on her skin and lift the veil that was placed around both of their bodies. Their long hair stopped flowing and brushed gently to rest over their shoulders. Itachi's familiar, so incredibly arresting, form appeared before her._

_He looked absolutely breathtaking. His regal and dramatic attire spotless and perfectly in place. His hair unbound offered a sight more mesmerizing than her mind could even register. His mask always acted as a wall, prohibiting her from truly knowing his thoughts, his true identity._

_"Elissa..." he beckoned. And she could do nothing but lift her eyes and dive into his bottomless ones. Pure onyx. So wise, so beautiful, his dark, long lashes not concealing, but rather emphasizing how bewitching his gaze truly was._

_"Itachi…" she blinked, entranced, "I –" but the words did not go past the rosy gates of her lips._

_Instead of Itachi, Cain , his dark eyes gleaming seductively, his long, light hair cascading down his elegant form, was the one staring intently right down at her. His lips seemed to curl up in amusement, noticing something on her, that she couldn't quite discern. He was towering over her, making her feel smaller and smaller. Weakness, though, was not one of her attributes._

_"Cain!?" she asked in alarm, not realizing how they could change places so alarmingly fast._

_"Elissa..." Cain's voice was distinctly different from Itachi's. But that did not make it any less inviting. It seemed to weave a dangerous spell over her; one that she could not break or escape._

_"Where did Itachi go?" she asked again, disoriented._

_Cain lifted his eyebrow inquisitively, almost in an accusatory manner. "Itachi? " his voice was oozing with veiled disgust._

_"He was right her –" before she could finish her sentence, his left hand came to take her chin and angle it upwards._

_Crimson… His eyes seemed to have morphed into orbs of raging fire. The fierceness of his gaze weighed her down more decidedly than gravitational pull. Crippling dread gripped at her neck, stealing her breath away._

_Cain's blonde hair suddenly darkened, painted by a cloud of volcanic ash. It was now dark as shadows and a gold and black mask appeared to conceal his features._

_Itachi, his eyes scorching and commanding, looked down at her, emanating pure, liquid fury._

_" Surrender…" the voice was a dreadful mix of the two. A menacing echo of vicious was neither Itachi, nor Cain. It was both, but not quite so. "Death is inevitable..."_

* * *

Elissa opened her hazel eyes, covered in cold sweat. Her skin felt icy. Her hands were trembling. She raised her hands to her head, desperately trying to ease the throbbing pain. She was panting, trying to gain back her breathing. Despite her efforts, the much-needed oxygen was not nearly enough to calm her trepidation.

A ball of heat came to place itself on her lap, a form of consolation, perhaps, but Elissa did not even know how to process reality. She swallowed, attempting to regain her sense of the world. She was in her room, wasn't she? It was nothing but a terrible nightmare…

"V-Vetty?" she hesitantly asked and tried to look over at her pet. The shifting of the cat's small weight came as the answer. "I'm sorry for worrying you! I'm alright. I –" the words died in her throat.

Vetty's eyes were burning vermilion. Elissa gave her mightiest not to scream at the bottom of her lungs! _It couldn't possibly be….!_

Her eyes fluttered repeatedly, in absolute, devastating fear. Only to find that Vetty was gazing at her, her black, feline eyes back to their original color. A calming mewl escaped Vetty and her small paw patted reassuringly at her thigh.

 _How…!_ Elissa brought her hands to her chest, trying to appease her drumming heart. Everything was alright… It was nothing but a terrible dream...

"Vetty! You … You scared me so... much!" Elissa managed to breathe out, tears welling up at her eyes. She glanced at her digital clock. It was 3:42 am. Elissa heaved a deep sigh and decided against calling Slayte at this late hour. Vetty rubbed her soft body against Elissa in a gentle reassuring manner and let out one more worried meow. Taking another deep breath, she petted the beautiful feline affectionately. Still somewhat shaking, Elissa got up to pour herself a very much needed glass of water before settling back into bed.

* * *

"I'm running _so_ late," Elissa exclaimed in dismay, as she slammed her car door shut, and shoved the keys into the ignition switch. "Slayte, my hair's _a mess_ , and I haven't even had breakfast!" she lamented to her best friend, nearly dropping her phone in her rush to secure her seat-belt.

"Okay, you need to calm down. So what if you're late?" Slayte's voice answered reasonably. "It's not like it's the end of the world."

"Are you _serious?_ " Elissa's eyes widened as she placed her phone in the holder on her dashboard, and hastily grabbed a hairbrush from her open handbag. Dragging it through her long tresses until her reflection in the rearview mirror told her that she at least looked somewhat presentable, she tossed the brush carelessly back into the bag, started the car, and answered, "You know what a _jerk_ my boss is! He's insufferable! I can't even go for a loo break, without him counting the minutes I'm away from my desk. Can you imagine what he'll do if I'm late? Ugh!"

"Oh, yeah," she imagined Slayte was wincing on the other side of the line. "That jackass. I remember you saying. Okay, maybe it will be the end of your _working_ world."

"Exactly," Elissa said, as she pulled away from the kerb. "So now I'm driving to work, starving and speeding, and I might get fired for being late."

"No speeding," Slayte warned gravely. "To hell with that jerk. He'd be crazy to fire you. Just focus on the road, and drive safely, okay?"

Elissa sighed tiredly. "I can't _believe_ I overslept," she groaned. "I hate mornings!"

"Want me to bring you some baked treats to work?" Her best friend offered. "You're not too far a cycle from our shop, and I'm sure Levi wouldn't mind." She seemed to consider this, before plastering on, "Much."

"No, it's fine," Elissa responded, as she overtook another car on the main road. "It's Willa's birthday today, and she'll be bringing in loads of cake- oh my God, I forgot to sign Willa's card!"

Slayte's laugh filled the car. "It's definitely not your morning."

"I'm starting to feel it's not my week, or month, or even year," Elissa muttered back. "Okay, I better go."

"Message me when you get there, okay? I need to make sure you didn't run something over in your rage."

Elissa felt a smile tug at her lips despite herself. "I'll talk to you later," she replied, and hit disconnect on the call. Her stomach growled in protest. She always made absolutely sure to take her time and eat breakfast - but when she'd awoken that morning, she'd been horrified to see that she'd overslept by 45 minutes. She hadn't even _heard_ her alarm clock go off at all.

She'd thrown any outfit on in her mad dash to get ready. She glanced down at herself, just to check that her clothing choice of a white blouse and blue pencil skirt were acceptable. Not as polished as usual, but that couldn't be helped. Her eyes moved back up onto the road - and a sudden hard bump beneath her car caused her to gasp. She gripped the steering wheel tightly in panic, eyes wide as she glanced in all mirrors, trying to figure out what had just happened to rattle her vehicle.

The car began to jerk. Elissa's heart sunk.

"You've _got_ to be kidding me!" she shrieked to herself. Had a tyre blown? Sure enough, she could feel the car moving sluggishly. The driver behind her honked their horn, confirming her fears. "Ugh, could this morning _get_ any worse?!" she moaned, as she jabbed her finger at the hazard lights. Indicating left, she pulled over onto the side of the road, and switched her engine off.

With an angry sigh, she grabbed her phone and stepped out of the car,, bending down to inspect her tyres. To her dismay, the back left one was completely burst, and the culprit - a large nail - was still wedged into it.

Elissa glared at it, as if willing it to feel shame. There was no way, she realised in distress, that she was making it to work on time. Lifting her phone, she speed-dialled Adam's number. He would cover for her, she knew - but how many more times could she expect her kind colleague to do so?

"Hey Elissa-face," he said affectionately, picking up on the third ring. "Running late?"

"Adam! My tyre's just gone bust in the middle of the road. I have to change it. This is the worst morning ever."

"Even worse than the last worst morning ever?" he teased lightly.

"Even worse. Can you tell our wonderful manager I'll be there as soon as I can? I'll send you a pic of the tyre. Show him, okay?"

Adam chuckled. "You got it."

"Thanks. I owe you one," she said gratefully. "As always."

"A bag full of coconut cakes from your friend's tea-shop should do it," Adam answered smilingly.

"You got it," Elissa nodded furiously. She'd figure out how to convince Levi to give her a whole bag of free cakes later.

"Take care, and see you soon," Adam greeted. Elissa hung up, snapped a quick photo of the wrecked tyre which she sent to Adam, and then went to the boot of the car. Opening it, she lifted the base to unearth the spare tyre.

"Oh, boy," she muttered to herself. "Do I even remember how to do this?" Her father had taught her how to do it - but she'd never actually had to, before. Elissa then looked down at her clothes apprehensively. "What if I get my outfit dirty? Oh my God. We have a meeting with a really important magazine editor today - I forgot!" she slapped a hand to her forehead.

Why was she so scatter-brained this morning? If she went to work with her clothes all smeared with car grease when they had such important company visiting, her manager would definitely penalise her!

"How curious. Are you _talking_ to yourself?" A sauve voice suddenly asked behind her. Elissa near-jumped, and whirled around - to find Cain. She hadn't even heard his car pull up, and yet there it was, pulled up behind hers.

It was a sport's car, she noted. A very _flashy_ white sports car, with red leather seats. It put her smaller, silver vehicle to shame.

"C-Cain?" she spluttered in surprise. What were the chances of _him_ being the one to find her in a fix? Elissa discreetly pinched herself, just to make sure she wasn't dreaming. The entire morning felt too surreal and outrageous.

He offered her an easy smile. He looked as handsome as ever, dressed in a smart, pale blue shirt, grey tie and formal grey trousers. "I know you said you did not wish to see me again," he began, his voice a smooth, deep baritone. "But I didn't realise this was your car. I was just on my way to work, too, when I saw a lady standing by the side of the road. There was no way I could ignore a damsel in distress."

Elissa flushed. "I'm _not_ a damsel in distress," she answered indignantly, placing her hands on her hips. "I _do_ know how to change a car tyre, you know."

 _I just…_ she added mentally to herself, _haven't done it myself before..._

"I'm sure," Cain regarded her with intense eyes. She shifted beneath the weight of that probing stare. "But may I assist?" he offered. "The tyre is heavy; at least let me carry it over for you."

Elissa hesitated. She could either call her breakdown company to help - which would mean she would rock up to work even later than she was already running - or accept Cain's assistance.

Imagining her boss's displeasure fuelled her to make an impulsive decision.

"Well… I guess… I don't want you to be late for work, though."

"Oh, it's fine," Cain dismissed casually. "A smile should smooth any complaints over."

Elissa stared at him. "Is that how you get by?" she frowned lightly, as she stepped aside to let him have access to the car's boot. "Just… _flirting_ your way through everything?"

"If a smile is flirting," Cain answered smoothly, as he stepped toward her car boot and reached down to pick up the spare tyre, "then we must be flirting now." He flashed her a somewhat disarming grin.

"No," Elissa folded her arms. "We're definitely _not_ flirting. I told you last night. That makes me uncomfortable."

"Then maybe reconsider your words?" he teased, lifting the tyre out. "Which wheel is it?"

"This one," Elissa gestured to the culprit. Cain set the spare tyre down, and crouched to inspect the damage.

"Ah. You must have been speeding," he remarked.

Elissa released a slightly nervous little laugh. "My boss doesn't tolerate tardiness," she disclosed.

"Hmm," Cain rolled up the sleeves of his sky-blue shirt and set about changing the tyre for her, despite her earlier insistence that she could do it herself. "I cannot imagine anyone being angry at _you_ , Elissa."

Elissa stared down at his silky blond head, and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. He was such a smooth talker. She usually hated those types. What _was_ it about him that made her keep listening?

"I make plenty of people angry," she continued the small-talk out of politeness. Checking her phone, she gulped. It was already 9:30AM. The important meeting was in an hour's time.

"A woman as beautiful and elegant as you are?" Cain commented, as he removed the punctured tyre. "Impossible."

"You barely know me," Elissa reminded him. "You shouldn't judge a woman based on how she looks."

He glanced up at her, his eyes travelling from her slender legs, up to her face. "How right you are, darling," he answered. "But you can't tell me we don't notice looks _first._ "

"That's- that's totally besides the point," Elissa looked away from him, watching as the cars streamed down the road. "You can't just _say_ things like that to people!" she censured disapprovingly.

Cain looked back to the car, a smirk fixed in place on his face. Elissa pushed a wayward lock of hair behind her ear, as she tried to wait patiently for him to finish.

"Do you have something I could wipe my hands with?" Cain enquired. "I'd hate to get to work all dirty."

"Oh. Of course," Elissa went to the boot, and fetched a worn-old cloth. She handed it down to him, ignoring the tingles that assaulted her fingertips when his warm ones brushed against hers.

"I wanted to apologise," Cain said suddenly.

"What for…?" Elissa questioned. She couldn't read him, she realised. And maybe _that_ was what alarmed her the most about him. She knew what he _appeared_ to be like - easy going, flirtatious, somewhat intimidating and far too forward - but his words - and gestures - were often unexpected and clashed with what he seemed to be.

"I was perhaps too forward in my advances last night," he explained. "I meant no disrespect to you, truly. I'm not used to a girl… catching my attention so immediately as you did. I suppose I didn't know how to handle it, and clearly did so all wrong."

Elissa considered this. He sounded genuinely apologetic. And she supposed she'd formed a bad first impression of him. Was that fair on her end, though, to consign him to it, and assume there was little else to him than being a shameless flirt? She always hated people who prematurely judged others - and yet wasn't she doing the same thing with Cain?

Guilt whispered through her. Her discomfort hadn't been unfounded, she knew - but Cain was now saying sorry, and she would just be an absolute jerk if she dismissed his apology.

"It's… okay," she lifted one shoulder in a vague shrug. "Really."

"Maybe we could just get to know each other as friends?" Cain suggested amiably. "I don't have all that many in this town."

"Really?" Elissa laughed despite herself. "I find that hard to believe."

"What makes you say so?" Cain raised an eyebrow up at her, as he wiped grease from his hands again.

"You don't exactly lack confidence," she noted wryly.

He smiled. "I'm actually pretty new to this area," Cain admitted. "It… hasn't been that easy to settle."

"Oh," Elissa said, feeling even guiltier. Which was stupid, she told herself. He _had_ acted creepy the previous night. But now - now he was just charming and conversational. She wasn't sure what to think. "Well, I'm sure you'll make lots of friends, soon."

He fixed the new tyre in place, and then wiped his hands once more as he rose to his feet. Depositing the flat tyre in the boot, he nodded in satisfaction. "All done," he informed her, turning to angle a brilliant smile her way. "Thanks for the cloth. We both managed to get out of this ordeal without a dirt mark on us."

"Sure," Elissa replied, taking it off him. "Thanks so much for changing the tyre for me, Cain. I really appreciate it."

"My pleasure, Elissa," he purred sauvely, his blue eyes lingering on hers. "And my apologies again. What I said last night - about not trusting me. I only meant it's wise not to be too trusting of strangers generally. I hope I didn't scare you too much with those words."

Elissa looked at him. He was really good looking, she silently admitted. And at that moment, he appeared genuinely friendly and regretful. He'd just done her a huge favour. She wracked her brain for a way to repay him - but Cain was already offering one.

"Maybe we could go out for a drink after work?" he asked. "You could help me get more acquainted with this town."

"Uh…" Elissa hesitated. Then she told herself, it was the _least_ she could do. Cain had just stopped on his way to work and inconvenienced himself for her sake. She could agree to one friendly little drink, surely? Besides, it would still be light after work. "Okay," she agreed. "Sure. I know where the vet is; I'll meet you there? There's a cute cafe nearby we can go to."

"I won't push for your number," Cain held up his hands. "If you say you will be there, I will wait for you. I finish at five thirty."

"That works," Elissa nodded. "I finish at five, so that gives me enough time to make my way over."

"I look forward to it," Cain smiled. "Have a good day, Elissa."

With that, he took his leave, drove off, and Elissa returned to her car to do the same.

* * *

It was six o'clock when they finally sat down at _Tammy's Tea Delights,_ the cute little cafeteria Elissa loved to frequent when she wanted to work on her writing alone. Cain looked around appreciatively as they finished ordering. Elissa had requested a cream-cheese and salmon sandwich with a cool iced fruit tea. Cain had opted for a croissant and coffee.

"This is a nice place," he complimented.

"Oh, yeah," Elissa enthused. The cafe was full of regulars, which made her slightly less nervous to be seated with him. "This is a great place. It's my favourite, after Levi's."

"Levi?" Cain rested languidly back in his seat, his gaze fixed intently onto her. "A friend?"

"Oh…" Elissa realised she had already spoken too freely, and inwardly cursed herself for it. "Yeah. A friend. So anyway," she quickly steered the conversation elsewhere, "where did you move here from?"

"The capital," Cain waved.

"Really?" Elissa rested her elbows on the table. "How come? Everyone wants to move there. Especially people our age."

She then realised she didn't actually know Cain's age. Had just assumed that he was around her own. He certainly didn't _look_ much older.

"I wanted a change in scenery," he answered vaguely.

"And? Do you prefer it here, to London?" she asked.

"I prefer it much more," he smirked, gaze trailing unhurriedly over her face in a way that made her feel like she was being scrutinised under a microscope.

Elissa felt heat creep into her cheeks. It was just a friendly drink, she reminded herself. She owed him one, and there was no reason to be uncomfortable or embarrassed. Despite knowing that, her stomach was still doing flip-flops every time he gave her _that_ smug look. She couldn't shake the feeling off, no matter how hard she tried.

"How old are you?" she blurted the thought that was on her mind.

His eyes twinkled. "How old do you think?"

She gave him a measuring look. "I'd guess... 23?"

"You hit the mark," he winked. "I suppose it'd be rude of me to enquire the same of you?"

"Never ask a woman her age," Elissa pointed. "I'm 22," she disclosed. "This is actually a placement year for me. Next year, I plan to go back to studying."

"I see," Cain's eyes roamed lazily over her face. "And what do you study, Elissa?"

They continued to make polite small talk. Elissa found out about how he'd gotten his job, what his favourite drink was. They discussed musical tastes and favourite types of literature. In conversation, she found that he was actually pleasantly interesting. There were no awkward silences, and their speech flowed. Soon she began to relax, realising that he really was just an ordinary person trying to find his way through the messy compass of life. She recommended some local sites to visit, museums and other places of interest, making a list on a piece of paper from her notebook, which she then passed across to him.

A red-haired waitress then approached to set their order down, and Elissa was glad for the brief break in conversation. She noted how the waitress caught Cain's eye and smiled. Cain grinned easily back at her. Then he noticed Elissa watching, and as the waitress left, he chuckled, "You really think I am terrible, don't you?"

"N-no," Elissa shook her head, horrified that her face had likely given away her inner thoughts. Sometimes she wished she wasn't so expressive - especially when she didn't agree with something. "I just- I get it, you like women."

He rolled his eyes skyward. "Well, _that_ is a given. But mostly, I like to admire them. I evidently don't do so well speaking to them. They seem to want to run away from me. Or perhaps, that is just you?"

"Okay, okay," Elissa sighed, sipping on her drink. "But it was _only_ because you were creeping me out with your whole 1800s behaviour."

"And I apologised," he reminded her, taking a bite out of his croissant.

"I'm sorry," Elissa winced. "I'm just not used to guys being so… _forward_ with me, either."

His eyes held hers. "May I ask? And I don't intend to pry… so feel free to dismiss the question… but are you engaged?"

"What?" Elissa froze in surprise as she lifted the sandwich to her lips. The question was so unexpected, she wasn't sure she had heard it right.

"Engaged," Cain repeated. "Are you seeing anyone at present? Or is there someone who holds your interest?"

Elissa stared at him. "Oh!" she laughed. "You're asking me if I'm _single_. We don't usually word it like that… engaged is a, uh, whole other level of commitment… hahaha…"

 _How weird_ , she thought to herself.

Cain tilted his head. "Well then. _Are_ you _single?_ Or captivated by any handsome fellow?"

Long dark hair and an intriguing mask flashed across Elissa's mind. It was stupid, she knew, to think of Itachi at all. She knew next to nothing about him, other than he was investigating… something… in their town. She didn't know how old he was, where he was from. For all she knew, he was already married with a model wife far more stunning than she was, and three adorable, gorgeous children waiting for him back at home.

She grew solemn at the mere thought, and took a bite out of her sandwich.

Swallowing the mouthful down, she replied. "I, umm… no, not really. I mean, _yes_ , I'm single."

"I see," Cain had leaned forward, and was eyeing her closely. "But you hesitated. I know enough about that look, to suppose there _is_ someone…"

Elissa blushed. He was being too forward again. _"NO."_ She frowned. "It's silly, and now you're prying."

He held up his hands. "Apologies," he grinned. "I just find it extremely hard to believe that you would be unengaged." He paused, before amending, " _Single_ , that is."

"It's not on my list of priorities," Elissa waved the topic away.

"But it could be," Cain's lips curved teasingly. "With the right person."

"You really need to stop," Elissa folded her arms, unimpressed.

"I do. I should. But your beauty has me blinded."

"Oh my God," Elissa shook her head at him, appalled by his shamelessness - even as a part of her was foolishly flattered by what she knew to be empty words.

"Ah. Which _one?_ "

"What?" she gaped at him, unable to keep up with the mercurial changes in topic.

"Nothing," he chuckled. "You are quite amusing when you're flustered, my dear."

"I'm _not_ flustered. You're making me regret this."

"I apologise, again," he offered sincerely, the mirth draining from his eyes. "The last thing I wish for when we part today, is for you to think badly of me."

"You're so…" Elissa shook her head at him, at a loss for words. " _Weird,_ " she finished.

"I will take that as a compliment," he shrugged. Then, downing the rest of his tea, he went on, "Speaking of strange. I saw something odd at work just yesterday. I wondered if it's a normal occurrence for this town."

"What?" Elissa asked, as she finished off her sandwich.

"Well, while I was looking out the window during a break, I happened to see a very _strangely_ dressed character."

Elissa's chewing slowed. Strangely dressed? Her thoughts immediately turned to Shisui and Itachi.

"What do you mean, strangely dressed?" she forgot her manners, speaking before she had swallowed the mouthful down.

"A cloak, and a mask. Long hair as black as a raven's wing. He seemed to be in a hurry as he walked down the street. He looked very out of place." Cain shrugged. "Perhaps a passing performer of sorts…? Are there theatres nearby, perhaps? You did not list any for me."

Elissa gulped down her drink. There was no mistaking who he meant. Her heart skipped a beat. "Was this person alone?" she asked eagerly. "Or with a friend?"

"Let me think," Cain frowned in concentration. "Hmm. Come to think of it, yes. I believe another was with him. He wore similar attire. A cloak and mask."

"No way," Elissa leaned forward, all discomfort forgotten. There was no mistaking it! Cain had _seen_ them, too? "Did they talk to you?"

"No," Cain eyed her intently. "I saw them while I was inside, as I said. But… you do not seem surprised. Have you seen people of this description around, also?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "It's been driving me mad, trying to figure out _who_ they really are. They say they're private investigators. But what kind of private investigators go around dressed like _that_? Right?"

"Private investigators?" Cain echoed, and one corner of his lips curved into a smirk at that. "Interesting."

Elissa felt relieved. It was good to confide in someone else impartial. Slayte's reaction, after all, hadn't exactly been favourable.

"I wonder what they're looking for?" she finished off her drink. "They kind of stand out a lot..." Her gaze drifted away from Cain as she thought of the enigmatic pair.

Cain silently noted the far-away look in her eyes. As if she had suddenly lost herself in the maze of her own thoughts. Then he questioned casually, silkily, "Have they spoken to you, Elissa?"

"Hmm?" Elissa blinked. "What?"

"The men with the masks," Cain prompted, slinging an arm casually over the back of the chair. "Have they spoken with you?" Elissa met his gaze. It was piercing. Unnerving. She was pleasantly surprised that she had enjoyed their conversation on the whole - but when he looked at her like _that_ , she couldn't help the whispers of alarm that fluttered through her veins.

"Just a few times," Elissa shrugged. "I don't really know anything about them, other than their names and that they're looking into things."

"Their names," Cain's voice was soft. "And what are they?"

Elissa pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. A quick glance down at her phone revealed that it was 7:35PM. She had several missed calls and messages. She blinked in shock. Had they really been speaking for almost _two hours?_ She looked behind her, out the window of the cafeteria. The late spring's sunlight was rapidly waning. It was definitely time to go home.

"Uh… they're Shisui and Itachi," she replied distractedly. "I'm really sorry. I didn't realise how late it is; I should get going. I left my cat alone all day again."

"Of course," Cain nodded, as Elissa lifted an arm, trying to catch one of the waiting staff's attention. She blinked when she felt a large palm brush over the hand that still rested on the table. Her eyes turned questioningly to Cain.

"Please. Allow me to get this. In celebration of our new… friendship." He smiled.

Elissa felt a blush stain her cheeks. "Oh, no, I couldn't possibly- you've already changed my tyre today and gone out your way to…" her words trailed off. His eyes had suddenly ensnared her, and she couldn't look away. Under the lights above them, they seemed not blue, but almost amethyst… almost tinged with flecks of crimson. How had she never noticed the colours in them before, she thought dazedly to herself, her mind oddly clouded over all at once.

"I insist," Cain purred, squeezing her hand.

"Alright," Elissa nodded slowly in agreement. She couldn't remember why she had protested to begin with. "Thank you, Cain."

As Cain settled the bill, and Elissa pulled her light summer coat on, she answered an incoming call from Slayte.

"Elissa! You've had me worried sick! Why haven't you been answering my calls? I was ready to drag Levi down there! He said I was acting like a woman possessed."

"I'm fine," she answered, as Cain grabbed his navy blue coat and together they left. Cain held the door open for her, and Elissa nodded her thanks as they stepped outside into the pleasant evening air. "Stop worrying about me so much. I just lost track of time."

"Who are you _with_ , anyway?" Slayte asked suspiciously. "You said you're meeting a friend, but didn't say who."

"Oh, right," Elissa shrugged, as Cain walked her back to where she had parked her car. "Just Cain."

There was a pause. "Just Cain?" Slayte repeated on the other side of the line. "Wait-"

"The guy from the vet's," Elissa unlocked her door. Turning back to Cain, she lowered the phone slightly from her ear, and said, "Thanks so much for all your help today."

He bowed his head, and gave her a smile that caused her stomach to flutter despite herself. "It's been a pleasure, Elissa. I am sure we will see each other again soon."

With that, he turned and sauntered off.

Elissa watched him a moment, then lifted the phone back to her ear. Slayte was yelling at her. She winced.

"That creep from the vet's?! Seriously?"

"He's alright," Elissa rolled her eyes as she got into her car. "He's the one who helped me fix my broken tyre this morning. Did I not write that in my message?"

"NO!" Slayte answered accusingly.

"Sorry," Elissa switched on the ignition. "I've been so scatter-brained today. It's fine. We just got a drink. He's new to town and I told him about some cool places to visit."

"He was totally hitting on you when we met him, it was creepy," Elissa could practically see Slayte scowling into her phone.

"Yeah. He can be kind of weird. But he apologised. Apparently he has some social issues making friends. He's nothing to worry about."

"Social issues," Slayte sounded exasperated. "Elissa…"

"Hey. I'm living my own life, remember?" Elissa reminded her. "I can take care of myself. Now I hope you're ready for movie night, because I'm stopping by at home to grab some stuff, and then I'm heading your way!"

"Okay," Slayte relented. "But don't be late."

"Yes, _mother,_ " Elissa grinned affectionately into the phone, before hanging up and beginning her drive home.

* * *

"We have enough popcorn, right?" Slayte questioned. "This'll be enough for Elissa, won't it?"

Levi turned his eyes to the heavens, and released an exasperated sigh at her endless fussing. He thought that if Slayte poured as much attentiveness into every tiny aspect of their relationship as she did with hers and Elissa's, he wouldn't be spending so many hours disgruntled, with his girlfriend's attention so diverted.

He patiently bore it, knowing just how much Elissa meant to Slayte. After all, she was Slayte's _only_ friend.

"Stop fussing," he admonished irately. "It's movie night with your _friend_ , not a date for two. You look stupid, panicking over popcorn. Elissa's a tiny human, not a goddamn Titan. She isn't going to eat all that."

"It just has to be _perfect_ for Elissa!" Slayte insisted.

"Oi. I'm going to be there, too. Or would you two like a room alone?" he grumbled.

Slayte, missing the entire point of his words, blinked obliviously at him. "This is _important_. I've been trying to arrange this for ages! She's finally going to make it!"

"I know," her boyfriend quipped, as Slayte passed him hurriedly.

"I forgot the drinks-!"

His hands caught her around the waist, drawing her to an abrupt stop. Slayte's heart quickened as Levi drew her into him, lowering his forehead to press against hers.

"Slow down," he scowled. "And shut up. You're making a racket."

"But Elissa will be here any minute, Levi-!"

Warm lips brushed against hers, causing Slayte to inhale sharply, her thoughts suddenly scattering to the wind.

"I said," Levi muttered. "Shut _up._ "

She tilted her head back, eyes fluttering shut, as she gave herself up to his kiss. It bloomed like a flower between them. His lips moved against hers, and the hands at her waist locked together as Levi deepened the kiss. It became harder, faster, more passionate, and Slayte could feel her heart race, as warmth pooled through her body. She lifted her arms, encircling them around his neck, pressing herself up more tightly against him, as they lost themselves to each other for a few, _blessed_ moments-

The front door bell rang, signalling the arrival of their guest. Levi cursed under his breath, and reluctantly released his flustered girlfriend, who gave him an apologetic look, smoothed her hair back, and then rushed out of the kitchen area to eagerly greet her best friend.

"Elissa!" Slayte hugged her happily. "You're here!" She paused, catching sight of the bundle of fur Elissa held in her arms. "Oh. And Vetty's here, too," she eyed the cat cautiously.

"Hope you don't mind," Elissa bit her lower lip. "I've been leaving Vetty alone a lot lately, and figured she'd enjoy some company with us."

At Levi's peeved expression, she added hurriedly, "She'll be good. I promise! I even brought her some cat food, so she doesn't eat any of yours. She won't make any mess."

"If she does," Levi answered bluntly, "you'll be cleaning her shit up."

"Right," Elissa smothered a laugh, shooting Slayte an amused look. "You got it."

Vetty meowed as Elissa set her down. She padded softly over to Levi, and looked up at him, yawning lazily as her tail swished about behind her. Levi regarded her down the barrel of his nose, eyes narrowing distrustfully at the animal. Vetty would get no affection from _him._

But the feline was adamant. She meowed again, and stepped forward. Levi read her intention - and shooed her away with a foot.

"Scram," he informed the cat coldly. "I don't want your filthy hair all over me."

"Vetty!" Elissa called her pet. "Leave Levi alone. He's miserable and doesn't like cats."

"Tch," Levi scoffed at her comment, and turned back to the kitchen to get the plates and napkins.

Vetty blinked, then turned nonchalantly away, following after her owner.

Slayte ushered her best friend excitedly over to the table with the snacks. "I've got popcorn, crisps, pizza slices with extra cheese, cookies, your favourite cakes, some fruit salad and drinks…"

Elissa's eyes widened at the impressive selection. "W-wow," she exhaled, "you really went all out, huh?"

"Is it enough?" Slayte regarded her anxiously. "Did I miss something?"

"Oi. Put her out of her misery," Levi called. "She's been panicking like a stupid headless chicken for hours."

"It's perfect, Slayte," Elissa reached out and gave her best friend's arm a reassuring squeeze. "Not so perfect on my waistline, but I'm sure one cheat-night won't hurt too much, right?"

Slayte beamed. "I'll take this to the movie room!" she exclaimed. "I'm so excited!"

Vetty followed her. A smiling Elissa rolled her eyes affectionately. She'd grown to love Slayte's quirks. She turned back toward Levi, just as he disappeared into the kitchen again.

"Hey," she called, following him. "Can I help carry anything?"

"Take the plates," he nodded to the cutlery he'd set on the kitchen counter.

Elissa obligingly picked it up - and then began hesitantly, "So… is everything okay with you guys?"

Levi turned a blank stare at her. "Yeah," he answered flatly. "Why?"

"I was just thinking about what you told me last time," Elissa shrugged, as she waited for him to retrieve some plastic cups from the cupboard. "At that store. You said Slayte loves me more than you. That's just ridiculous, Levi."

"No," he answered. "It's not. You think she spends hours on food when it's just _us?_ "

"You're her boyfriend," Elissa's eyebrows drew together in confusion. "She adores you, you know that, right?"

Levi gave her a look, then called out, "Oi. Slayte."

His girlfriend popped her head into the kitchen. "Hey, what's the delay? It's movie time!"

"Slayte," Levi deadpanned. "If we both needed a kidney, who would you give your kidney to?"

Elissa gaped at him. What kind of question was that?!

Slayte answered, without missing a beat, "Elissa. Obviously."

Levi gave Elissa a pointed look - before breezing by her, out of the kitchen. Elissa glanced questioningly at her best friend.

"You'd really choose _me_ , over him?" she shook her head in disbelief. She was genuinely touched and flattered - if only also slightly concerned.

"Sure," Slayte grinned at her in mischief. "I have two kidneys. Joke's on him, huh?"

Levi, whom Elissa was convinced had some level of super hearing, called back, "Why would I take yours? There are enough kidneys out there if you know where to look."

"Gross," Elissa remarked. "He sounds like some organ hunter."

"A really _cute_ one," Slayte giggled to her.

Elissa shook her head. "You guys are just crazy, you know that?"

"Maybe." Levi's voice reached them, at the same time Slayte grinned, "Probably."

Elissa sighed and followed them to the movie room. It was set up invitingly, with cosy, worn pillows scattered on the floor set before a widescreen television. Vetty was already curled up on one. Setting down the plates beside the food and drinks, she then excused herself to change into her comfortable, cotton pyjamas. When she returned to the room, she found Slayte poring over a selection of DVDs from the menu.

"What'll it be?" she asked, as Elissa settled down beside her. She reached out to pet Vetty, who purred contentedly. "Action? Fantasy? Romance? I can't decide."

"Comedy?" Elissa suggested.

"I don't think Levi would enjoy that," Slayte cast a look at her boyfriend, who rolled his eyes.

The girls continued to debate for a few more minutes, when Levi's patience wore thin.

"Just choose any stupid movie," he snapped.

"Do you like romcoms?" Elissa asked him hopefully.

He stared back at her, as if to say: _Did your brain shrink?_

Elissa held up her hands defensively. "Alright, okay! Let's go for action. You like guns and all that, right? I mean, most guys like violent stuff, don't they? I'm stereotyping. I'm sorry."

Even as she said it, she found herself thinking momentarily of Itachi, who seemed far too careful and gentle to resort to violence of any sort. At least, if she based her impression on his interactions with animals, and how gently he'd placed her bag on her shoulder when she'd almost forgotten it…

She shook the thought off, as Vetty curled up into her lap. She reached out, and passed a plate back to Levi, who grunted in thanks.

"This one!" Slayte finally decided, flipping the light switch off, and they all settled down comfortably as the movie began.

* * *

Two and a half hours later, Slayte and Elissa sat on a pile of cushions on the teashop's rooftop, gazing up at a cloudless, flawless starry night sky. Vetty purred in Elissa's lap, as her owner stroked her soft fur absently.

"That was a great movie," Slayte sighed happily.

" _We_ enjoyed it," Elissa smiled back. "Even if Levi spent most of it questioning how the hero was still alive. I guess he hasn't heard of plot-shield armour?" She giggled to herself.

" _That's physically impossible and defies the laws of gravity_ ," Slayte mimicked her boyfriend's words. Both girls dissolved into a fresh round of laughter at that.

" _He should use his tiny brain to get out of there, instead of wasting his time staring_ ," Elissa added, lifting an index finger to repeat Levi's words.

Slayte laughed harder. " _Does he even have a brain? Or is his head just empty?_ "

" _He deserves to die. He's too stupid to live_ ," Elissa gasped. Vetty wriggled in her lap, responding to her amusement.

"Do you want any more cookies?" Slayte offered the plate they'd brought up with them, when their giggles had finally died down.

"I'm stuffed," Elissa rubbed her stomach. "I couldn't eat another mouthful without putting myself into a food coma."

"This was really fun," Slayte smiled. "We should do this more often."

"Yeah," Elissa rubbed at her eyes. "I had a great time. I know I've been so busy lately with so many things… my mind's just been all over the place."

Slayte drew her knees up to her chest. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"It's just work, mostly," Elissa shrugged. "You know when I got in today, it was twenty minutes before a really important meeting, and my boss was so _rude_. Like why do people feel the need to be that way? Just because they hold power over everyone else? It makes me so mad."

"Hu- people have always been that way," Slayte commented.

"I know. It just sucks…" Elissa turned her face up to the sky. "I had a really stressful morning. He didn't even ask me about my car, or if I was okay. It was just like, ' _Get to work Miss Caelum!_ '." She shuddered in distaste. "He's a nightmare. I can't imagine what he would've done if I'd missed the meeting completely. I really owed Cain one, today."

"You're sure he was fine?" Slayte asked her skeptically. "He didn't try anything… creepy?"

"He was alright," Elissa angled a wry smile at her over-protective best friend. "He's new in town, like I told you, and is just trying to make friends."

"He'd make them better not being too forward," Slayte frowned.

Elissa opened her mouth to respond - when her eyes suddenly lit up, and she pointed to the sky. "Look!" she gasped in delight. "A shooting star!"

Slayte's eyes turned skyward. Sure enough, a beautiful blaze of light illuminated the midnight heavens.

"Hey… there's another one!" she exclaimed. "Look, Elissa! Behind it!"

Elissa clapped her hands. "I can't believe this. I didn't hear anything about a meteor shower-" she gasped again. "Three! Three in a row? No way!" She fumbled for her phone, tried to take a video. But the lighting wasn't great. She lowered the cell in disappointment.

"Another one!" Slayte said excitedly. "Four."

"Five! To the right!"

On and on the girls went, counting falling star after falling star.

"I've never seen anything like this," Slayte shook her head in awe.

"Really?" Elissa gave her a look. "I've seen a lot of comets."

In her lap, Vetty stirred, and lifted dark, inquisitive eyes up to her owner.

"That's because you're _always_ stargazing," Slayte nudged her affectionately. "That's one of the first things you told me you loved to do, remember? That's why I got you that star pendant you always wear."

Elissa smiled at her in recollection - then caught sight of another cosmic blaze shooting prettily across the sky.

"Six!"

"A seventh one, Slayte! Right there!"

"This is so beautiful, Elissa…"

Vetty's feline eyes flicked from one girl to the other with keen interest, watching in silence as the girls continued to count stars.

They woke up the next morning, to find that Levi was already preparing breakfast. A newspaper rested on the counter beside him.

"Morning," Slayte kissed his cheek, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. He grunted in response as she hugged him affectionately from behind, not turning his attention away from the pancakes he was meticulously preparing.

"Pancakes!" Elissa exclaimed happily, as she walked into the teashop. "That smells delicious, Levi!" She leaned her elbows against the counter, watching as he expertly tossed up a storm.

 _I'd like to date a guy who can cook_ , she thought dreamily to herself. She felt warmth rub against her lower right leg, and looked down to see Vetty purring.

"Morning, Petty," she greeted. Then her eyes caught the front page of the newspaper resting on the counter beside her. "Hey," she informed her friends. "Have you seen the breaking news today?"

"Looks like there was a meteor shower last night," Levi remarked absently.

Slayte and Elissa exchanged smiling looks. "We saw it together on the rooftop."

"It was magical," Slayte sighed wistfully.

"Apparently none of the scientists saw it coming," Levi added, as Slayte gave him a hand with preparing the pancake toppings. "And they're supposed to have big brains."

Vetty listened to this exchange with interest, and quietly mewled.

* * *

Cherry blossoms, in nature's rarest hue, transient, fleeting – but beautiful. Spellbinding - if you blink you might miss them. They return, year for year, each time just as enchanting. Itachi always felt the pastel pink was an odd color, one you would be hard put to find in the underworld.

He remembered that color in his young brother's hands, reclining on the fields of the surface, in the company of Apollo, and a fair, young goddess. Zeus' son had fallen asleep in the afternoon light, and the goddess was preoccupied in perusing an ancient scroll, ignorant of how her long hair had found its way between Sasuke's fingers. His own, precious, brother, reclining next to Apollo, held the pale strands up to his face as if trying to discern a riddle it posed. His scrutinizing gaze and resigned expression displayed a rare, unguarded moment where Sasuke was certain no one was observing him. He could not have known Itachi had seen them from the forest shadows.

His younger brother was many things. Fiercely loyal, decidedly proud, and exceptionally gifted. That his appearance left nothing to be desired was made apparent by the swarm of young nymphs and lesser goddesses that seemed to trail after his every step. Itachi had always observed their admiration of his brother with subdued amusement.

This brief, unguarded moment however, gave him pause. That seemed to be more than simple affection between friends.

The Uchiha loved deeply, with a consuming passion that overrode common sense. Itachi felt that intensity take root in him when his little brother had first been placed into his arms. The maddening instinct to set the world on fire, if it meant protecting the bundle in his arms. Perceptive as he was, he recognized the emotion. Love. Not the kind that his parents shared, nor the kind that might be budding between his younger brother and the rose-haired goddess. But love, nonetheless.

As a due consequence of his role, Itachi had lived a life of solitude, grateful for the reprieve he found in Shisui's company and the joy he found in observing his little brother. These were all he needed. He had never considered that the scrutinizing, contemplating expression on his brother's face might one day grace his own. He did not want to consider the impossible consequences of entertaining the thought of allowing someone to shoulder his unfathomably heavy burden. Whoever dared would most certainly be crushed. To allow someone into his life… these were thoughts that had never so much as crossed his mind in his existence. He wondered now, however, if there was someone with whom he might ever allow an unguarded moment, as Sasuke had.

Approaching footsteps summoned his attention and he looked up from the cherry blossoms floating away, discarded, on the river's surface to see Elissa approaching. Her hands were held in front of her, a sign of her nervousness and her long, chestnut hair framed her figure in loose waves around her. She met his eyes, hesitantly, regret written in those hazel irises.

She was a vision of the colors of life, brown as the earth, green as growth, and bright as the light of the sun itself. She was a most unusual mortal. Drawn to him, somehow, where instinct should have long since sent her away.

"Hi," she began awkwardly, "I hoped I would find you here."

Itachi looked up at her from beneath his long lashes, wondering what had brought her back after she had all but fled from their last meeting.

"Um, I wanted to apologize," she glanced up at him, before averting her gaze to the riverside, "I was pretty unreasonable last time."

"I don't know why I got so spooked and reacted the way I did, you've never done anything to justify that response." She met his eyes sincerely, as she delivered a genuine apology. Elissa was not one to shy away from expressing regret when she felt she had wronged someone.

"The sentiment is appreciated, but there is no need for apologies." Itachi said, his smooth tones easing away any apprehension Elissa had felt. "Would you like to sit?" he offered graciously, remembering how she had asked him the same question not too long ago.

"Oh, thank you." She responded, settling at his side on the riverbank, trying to keep the same respectful difference he had adopted when sitting beside her. "I just…" she continued, still feeling guilty, "My friend was so concerned, and it seems to be rubbing off on me. She's a little overprotective and it made me a bit paranoid to be honest. I mean, she's great, but just… a worrywart, sometimes." She laughed awkwardly, hoping to cast Slayte in a more positive light.

"Trust your instinct." Itachi said simply, "It is a useful tool, meant for your protection. There is no need to apologize."

"Right," Elissa agreed, somewhat put off by the fact that he refused to accept her sincere regret, "But it isn't my instinct telling me to avoid you, and I want to make my own decisions. If I were going by _my_ instinct, I would probably be here every day." She bit her lip, realizing belatedly, that she had said too much and cursed her tongue for getting ahead of her.

"So…" she continued hastily, hoping to distract him from her slip of the tongue, "Where's Shisui?"

"Here," called a voice behind them and, turning to the source of the sound, Elissa saw the second half of this mysterious duo perched on an extended branch of the tree above them. He leaned lazily against the trunk of the tree, and seemed for all appearances, to be merely napping.

He turned to Elissa with a shrewd smile, "Didn't want to interrupt the two of you."

For some inexplicable reason, a blush bloomed on Elissa's face, "What? There's nothing to interrupt." She laughed weakly as Shisui gave her a knowing smile. His smile felt out of place, because there _wasn't_ anything to know, like she was the other half of an inside joke, only she didn't understand the joke.

"You mentioned last time," Shisui descended in one leap from the tree, landing smoothly on his feet, "That your friend was concerned because strange occurrences have been taking place. Care to expand on that? Perhaps these "happenings" are not unrelated to our investigation."

"Oh, that…" She waved it off, "It isn't much, just little things." Shisui was still listening intently, while Itachi's gaze had wandered back to the water's surface. A silence hung in the air as they waited for her to expand. "I mean, ever since taking Vetty in, you know… the incident in the river," she was embarrassed to remind them of the state she had been in that day. "And she doesn't trust the two of you… at all."

She paused, reflecting, was that really all that had happened? Slayte really was paranoid. "I guess when I think about it, it's really not that much."

"I'm sure your friend has her reasons for being so concerned." Shisui answered easily. Elissa had nothing to say to this, feeling self-conscious to realize how uneasy she had been over next to nothing.

"It would help if I got to know you both better, I'm sure," Elissa answered finally, "You're both so secretive. I understand you can't say much about your investigation but you can tell me _something_ about yourselves."

Her suggestion drew Itachi's eyes back to her at the same time that Shisui smiled wryly, "What would you like to know?"

She had not expected them to give in so easily and wracked her mind for a good question.

"Why do you wear those masks?"

She looked from one to the other, waiting expectantly. At length, Itachi was the one to answer.

"Revealing our identities… could prove fatal."

Elissa considered this. Were they wanted? They wouldn't be walking around in the open if that were the case, would they?

"Okay, let's try something simple," Elissa ventured instead. "How old are you?"

Her query was met with yet another lengthy silence.

"Well, of the two of us…" Shisui began, "I'm the older one."

Elissa waited, but it seemed that was all he was willing to say.

"Yeah, but…" she felt frustration cresting within her, "That's not an age! You can _at least_ tell me how old you both are, I'm sure?"

She saw Itachi's gaze flick towards Shisui as if expecting him to defuse the situation. Shisui chuckled before meeting her eyes. "Rest assured, Elissa," he teased, "He's of the age of consent."

Elissa was flabbergasted at his response, she felt her face burning up, "That isn't what I was asking!" She protested.

Shisui turned to his companion, pressing a thoughtful hand to his chin, "Well, to be honest, I don't believe I know precisely how old he is…" There was a mischievous spark in his eye as he turned back to Elissa, "But older than you, surely? Nothing to worry about."

"I -" Elissa could not believe the direction her harmless questions were taking and could scarcely find the words to respond, "You - stop teasing me!" She countered finally.

Shisui laughed at that, a genuine, jovial sound that cleared the tension in the air. "We mean well, Elissa. You'll just have to trust that. Feel free to ask whatever you like and we'll answer as much as we can."

She turned her mind for questions and received in response half-truths, clever wordplay, and, as was to be expected from Shisui, more teasing. But by the end of the afternoon, she felt considerably more at ease with the two friends who were so respectable and gentle in nature.

As she made her way back home that day, she determined to keep these meetings to herself. There was no need to further frighten Slayte, who, Elissa had decided, was simply unnecessarily paranoid and was infecting herself as well.

* * *

Nyx reclined on a marble lounge, basking in the beauty of the underworld's gardens. Fireflies flitted irreverently close to her prone form, but she tolerated them. The decanter of ambrosia threatening to fall from her fingers had been refilled a few times too many.

Her son, Thanatos, was on her trail. It was only a matter of time before he discovered who it was that had been interfering with mortal lives on the surface, and all this because Vetty, her loyal familiar had unexpectedly sealed a blood contract with the girl. Nyx narrowed her eyes at the purple wisteria hanging wistfully over her. All of this had even led to the death of a god who had idled too close to the truth, she recalled bitterly. Every hiccup like the one with Kokytos was a further lead for him to pick up on. Even if the crisis had been averted for now, she knew her son, and knowing him, knew that there was precious little that escaped his perceptive eyes, his encompassing wisdom. Despite being his mother, she could not begin to fathom what thoughts he truly harbored behind those knowing, sable eyes. And yet, if Cronus hadn't taken action when he did, it would all have been for naught.

Was it the ambrosia making her so weary? How long had this search gone on? How long had she borne these secrets from her loved ones? Offering her own self, her very flesh, to the predator who would otherwise feast on them all?

Contain his chaos, she had said to herself, protect her family. How many centuries, millenia even, had she been doing just that and to what avail? She had never truly been able to wean more than small influence in his decisions over her family. Itachi's overburdened current state was proof enough of that.

Thanatos should be the one to lead the underworld. The day her heart had whispered this to her mind, it had become an unshakable belief. Tall as the shadow of the sun, enduring as the firmaments themselves. Rather than the fear inspired by Chaos, the wisdom and gentle nature of her son would lead them all to prosperity. Only then, would they truly be free, would her family be safe. To that end, she needed the child of prophecy. Any sacrifice she would be forced to make to find her, weighed but little in the face of her greater goal.

What need did the world have for chaos? Surely, she was the only one, who sometimes craved it? She squeezed her eyes shut at her wayward thoughts. A breeze rustled the flowers overhead, casting a shower of violet petals over her. Where did she stand in the constellation of familial loyalty and betrayal by seduction? Had she allowed him dominion over her body and soul or had he taken it without asking? Was she innocent somehow, somewhere, in the midst of all of this? She scoffed bitterly, the very notion was laughable. With a weary sigh, she raised her arm to rest a cool wrist over her eyes.

She was more terrified at the idea of what she might have answered, if he had ever thought to ask.

"Nyx…"

The dark, commanding voice that took absolute hold of her senses muttered her name from the shadows. She wondered if she was inebriated enough to be excused for disobedience, and if not, if she could feign it. She slowly withdrew her wrist and looked at the face of the god standing over her. His eyes glowed with a demanding hunger, even as his lips were contorted in an amused sneer.

"My Lord…" she murmured, too drunk to force a tone of humble submission to her voice, but not drunk enough to slur the bitterness in her words.

"Sweet Nyx," Cronus whispered, his harsh tone belying the gentle nature of those words.

His eyes ran down the length of her figure, taking in the disheveled midnight hair, the robes falling open teasingly, invitingly, at her breast, the pallor of the ivory skin of her exposed leg on the marble chaise.

She had never looked so effortlessly seductive in his eyes. Even the sheen of rebellion in her inebriated eyes was oddly desirable.

Reaching down over her, he gently removed the goblet from her hands, "You have not finished your drink, my dear." He murmured, his voice deceptively gentle, his expression mocking. A shiver crept over her. She watched him through hooded ebony eyes, stunned somewhere in her subconsciousness, that he was tolerating her disrespect of reclining before him. His own eyes never left hers as he raised her goblet to his mouth, draining the contents.

She wondered, if just this once, she could escape from him. If she could be the good wife, the good mother, who would push him away insisting he could burn the world down, but he could never have her. When he leaned slowly over her, taking hold of her pale, slim shoulder, his aura smothered her before his lips even touched hers. The rest of that sweet ambrosia passed their lips as she parted her own eagerly for him. She reached up for the man who had tormented her this way for eons, feeling his thick, black hair between her fingers as she pulled him closer. This had gone on for so long. The ambrosia was sweet and his kiss was bitter, and she had long since forgotten what the saltiness of her own tears tasted like.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she gave in to the kiss completely, and to what she knew would follow. After all, it had been hopeless from the very beginning.

* * *

_Several surface days later_

"Cousin," Shisui spoke, as they took a brief pause from their taxing duties, beneath the shade afforded by the swaying boughs of leafy oak trees. Itachi turned his head, in the quiet way he always did when signalling that he was listening. A faint smile danced upon Shisui's lips. As both his first cousin and closest friend and confidante, he knew Itachi better than anyone; knew how to read every barely perceptible sign and shift in his demeanor that others could not. He knew what Itachi's characteristic behaviours were - and what was exceptional and _out_ of character.

The exceptional rarely ever occurred. Shisui could count, on the fingers of one hand, the instances when he had witnessed it happen. His cousin had always been of mild temperament, gentle in nature despite the destructive powers he commanded at his fingertips. He had always been remarkably good at remaining calm and in control of his emotions. But Shisui recognised when Itachi's thoughts were diverted. He grew even quieter than usual.

Today was one of such instances in which he knew Itachi's keen, sharp mind was preoccupied. Shisui had waited patiently since dawn, in the hopes that his cousin would share what was troubling him. But it was fast approaching evening, and still Itachi had not spoken his burdens.

"Mortals say that the opposite of death is life, is that not right?" he mused.

Itachi waited to see where his charismatic kin would go with his peculiar choice of conversational opener. Just as Shisui knew how to read him, Itachi, likewise, could read Shisui. They co-existed, two parts of two separate functions, Sleep and Death, that were closely intertwined, like their blood relation and unbreakable bond.

"But how can that be so," Shisui went on, as he stared up at the late afternoon sky through the gaps in the leafy canopy high above them. "When death is eternal and inescapable, and life is fleeting, transient?"

There was a pause, before his cousin wisely responded, "Souls live on after they die."

"Yes, that may be, but is that truly _life?_ Or do mortal souls experience a dream-like state following death?"

That Itachi did not know the answer to, for he was an immortal, compelled to live on eternally to continue on in his role. He had never experienced death. He simply brought it about to others.

"I suppose we will never know. They say the Pure Realm is like a dream for deities who pass on." Shisui's masked face lowered, to look at his cousin. Then his eyes slipped behind him, lighting up with sudden interest. "Or… maybe we ought to ask a human what she thinks…?"

"..." Itachi blinked at him, then turned to angle a glance back over his left shoulder.

"It's our little mortal friend," Shisui said smilingly.

Sure enough, Elissa was heading in their direction. She wore a pretty pink summer dress, matching pink sandals, and her long hair was drawn in a waterfall braid, tumbling freely down her shoulders. She was holding a book to her chest. Her brown leather satchel bag swung back and forth as she walked.

Itachi looked away, turning his attention back to his cousin.

"I wonder what keeps drawing her back here," Shisui pondered, feigning ignorance. "Humans are such peculiar creatures, wouldn't you agree? They seem inherently drawn to dangerous things."

"...Quite," Itachi murmured.

"Hello," Elissa's voice reached them at length.

"Elissa," Shisui smiled. He stepped forward and placed a hand on Itachi's shoulder, smoothly turning his cousin around so that he faced the girl, too. "We bid you good afternoon."

"Good afternoon," she greeted politely, eyes flitting between the two, once again noting how strangely and formally they seemed to speak.

"I am afraid you have caught me at a bad time," Shisui went on apologetically. "I am just about to depart on urgent business, but I am sure Itachi here is able to stay a short while to converse with you."

"Oh, no," Elissa shook her head, hazel eyes widening. "Don't worry about it. I was just passing through."

"No, I insist," Shisui intoned smoothly. "You've come all this way and chanced upon us. Itachi shan't mind. Right, cousin?"

"..." Itachi's face shifted marginally to the right in silent question. He did not understand his cousin's odd statement. They worked together. Their duties were performed in each other's company. It had been so, since the days of their late childhood, when they had ascended their roles. Shisui had nowhere he needed to be, that he had informed Itachi of beforehand.

When Shisui squeezed his shoulder slightly, Itachi telepathically communicated, _'Shisui. What is the meaning of this?'_

' _You said we need to earn her trust, correct?'_ Shisui's voice responded in his mind. _'We'd be better fitted to do so without her attention so divided.'_

' _...Then you ought to remain. You are the talker amongst us.'_ Itachi replied.

There was a chuckle in his mind. _'No, no. I insist. You might be surprised to find how much you can talk, without me doing it all for you. Besides, you've been unbearably quiet today, Itachi. Indulge her a little. Maybe you might find out something else useful relating to what we're investigating.'_

Silence met him. Satisfied that this meant his cousin agreed, Shisui nodded politely to the young woman lingering awkwardly before them.

"I am sure I will see you again soon," he smiled. "I'll catch up to you later, cousin," he added to Itachi - before turning and strolling leisurely away.

Elissa watched him go, and when he completely vanished, was overcome with a wave of nervousness at being alone in Itachi's presence. His onyx eyes were watching her quietly, expectantly.

"Uh…" she began, feeling embarrassed. "You really don't have to stay on my count. I was just…" she looked down at the book she carried. "Looking for a quiet spot to read."

Behind the mask, Itachi's heavy-lashed eyes blinked. "You enjoy reading," he noted.

"Oh, yeah," Elissa brushed a stray strand of hair out her eyes absently. "I'm doing some research for my story right now, but I'm a huge book-worm, really." She paused, shifting gingerly on her feet. Her stomach was doing weird somersaults. She tried to ignore it, to pay no heed to how much his mere presence and proximity affected her. With Shisui, she could easily not focus on it. But when they were alone, she felt a strange, charged tension, crackling like static, hanging heavily in the air between them.

She wondered if he felt it too, or whether she was just out of her mind, acting like a stupid little high schooler inexplicably drawn to someone she barely even _knew_. Itachi seemed far too sophisticated for such childish emotions.

He seemed far too sophisticated and ethereal to indulge her in _any_ form of conversation, really, she thought, feeling a hated blush creep into her cheeks when he continued to watch her quietly. She wondered what he thought of her. Maybe he thought nothing at all. She thought that surely, looking the way he did, even with half his face concealed, he was accustomed to stares all the time. And not only because of how he chose to dress.

"What about you?" she blurted out, feeling flustered. "Do you… enjoy reading?"

 _Oh, nice_ , she inwardly cringed. _And the Oscar prize for the world's most original conversational opener goes to...me!_

"If time allows it," he replied simply.

Elissa stared at him, once more finding herself helplessly awed by the effortless air of grace and near-regal, perfectly poised authority he exuded. He just seemed so collected, so composed; like he had his entire life all figured out already. The precise opposite to herself, who bumbled along day by day, wondering what she was even doing with her life, questioning all the paths she took.

As always, she wanted to hear him speak more. His voice was wonderful, settled around her like a dark, soothing, rich caress.

 _Get a grip_ , she censured herself, giving herself a mental shake. _Anyone would think you'd never spoken to a cute guy before. You were fine with Cain! Itachi's just a guy. A really mysterious guy… but a guy all the same. Slayte thinks he's bad news. This is your chance to try and find out more about him, and to prove that it's not the same guy she thinks he is. Don't screw this up!_

"Well," she held out her book, hoping that what she offered next would be of some interest to him, given he had spoken of life and death in their past meetings. "Right now I'm doing some research about the Ancient Greek Underworld. I'd ask my friend about it, but I'm pretty sure she's sick of me pestering her."

"Your friend," Itachi repeated, quietly prompting her to expand her words.

"Yeah. Slayte. She knows _loads_ about the Greek Underworld. She even helped me map it out all accurately and stuff. At least," she paused, "I _hope_ it's accurate enough."

"I see," Itachi murmured.

Conscious of the fact she was now rambling, Elissa finished hesitantly, "Would you... like to have a look?"

"..." Itachi's fathomless eyes searched hers for a moment, before lowering to the book in her hands. This _Slayte_ , he thought to himself, was someone that he needed to meet. His suspicions were already raised with regards to her potential involvement in the danger that Elissa was in. A map of the Underworld? If he looked at it, and found it to be accurate, then surely that would confirm that this girl's friend was anything _but_ ordinary? For even the most learned of mortal scholars did not know the full layout of his home.

The _Underworld._ Of all the subjects this young woman had chosen to discuss with him today… He almost felt a twinge of sorrow at the irony of it. Shisui had been right, as usual. Humans _were_ peculiar creatures, indeed. This girl was as clueless - as she was curious.

Wordlessly, he reached out and accepted the book from her hands.

* * *

Their meetings continued, and Elissa noticed that Shisui was often absent. Slowly she grew more accustomed to speaking with Itachi alone, and found him to be pleasant company.

"So," she began one day conversationally, as they sat again together by the rippling river on another sunny late afternoon. "What did you have to study at university anyway, to become a private investigator?"

She threw a pebble into the water, and frowned. She could never get the stones to skip, no matter how hard she tried. Crossing her legs beneath her, she smoothed down her red and white striped summer skirt, and proceeded to pick absently at a blade of grass.

Itachi sat a respectable distance away beside her. His long legs were drawn up, elbows resting casually on his knees. The sleeves of his black shirt were rolled at the elbows, giving a glimpse of smoothly-muscled, toned forearms that gleamed beneath the filtering sunlight's rays. His skin had tanned attractively. Realising that she was staring at his _arms_ out the corner of her eye, Elissa dragged her gaze back to the water, as she waited for him to respond.

"You must've done, what, Espionage Studies?" she grinned in amusement. "Security Studies? I'm really curious. Did you always want to be a detective?" she shielded her eyes from a beam of sunlight that escaped through the canopy above them, and turned her face toward him. "What made you even decide on that? You must like crime books and dramas, right? Decoding things?"

Itachi continued to gaze ahead. Her eyes admired his handsome side profile; the multitude of gold earrings adorning his left ear, including a dagger, she noted with interest; the angled plane of his chiselled jawline, the unyielding line of his full, inviting lips… the teasing peek of the tip of what appeared to be a perfectly straight, aristocratic nose.

 _Stop staring_ , she admonished herself. But how she longed to see him without the mask. Just once. And yet she knew he would not budge on the matter. She had already tried asking, to which he had essentially shot her down, leaving no room for argument on the matter. They wore masks for protection. Elissa had dropped the subject out of politeness. It had not stopped an end to her deep yearning to see his face in its entirety, unconcealed, however.

"You… ask many questions," he answered at length. "Do you always make the point to pry in this way?"

Elissa laughed in surprise, somewhat embarrassed by his evaluation of her character. "I'm not prying, Itachi. Asking questions is how people make friends, isn't it? I just want to get to know you better."

 _Friends?_ Beneath the mask, Itachi raised an eyebrow. Would she be so eager to secure his friendship, he wondered, if she knew that it was Death himself who sat a short distance away from her? The very Death he had come to know she feared and hated, above all things.

"Why…?" he questioned gently, trying to connect the pieces of the curious puzzle that was Elissa Caelum.

Elissa blinked, caught off guard by the candid nature of the question. Looking down at the grass, she offered sincerely, feeling heat flood into her cheeks, "I've just- never met anyone who speaks like you do. Says the things you do. I guess I'm just curious. You seem so wise, and…" her voice trailed off. She took a deep breath, before venturing on, "And like, you've got everything figured out, even though I'm sure you can't be _that_ much older than me…"

There was a pause. Then came the quiet reply, "I see."

She peeked at him from beneath the curtain barrier afforded by her hair. "If I ask so many questions, it's because you don't always answer them. I don't mean to be nosy. I didn't think that asking about what you've studied was too personal…" Her eyes then lit up. "I know. How about this? If I tell you an embarrassing fact about me, will you tell me a fact about you, too?"

Now Itachi turned his face to the left, in the manner she had come to learn he did when his full attention was captured. At least, she hoped that was what it meant.

"Say on," he said.

 _Say on?_ Did he mean _go on?_ Coming from anyone else, the formal, almost archaic words would have seemed odd. But falling from his lips, they sounded otherworldly and noble and like something out of a mythical novel.

"Well, okay," Elissa straightened, pushing her hair back behind her right ear. "There're lots of things I wish I could change about myself."

Itachi listened intently. He wondered what she meant. Was it a human trait, to wish such senseless things? When one was not exactly wanting, or lacking, in any way?

She went on, pulling a disapproving face, "Starting with _Angelissa_ . I _hate_ it, but my grandmother picked it, and I loved her so much before she passed on, I could never bring myself to formally change it."

Itachi regarded her with mild curiosity, silently waiting for her to expand on her statement.

"Oh. That's my name," she explained. "I mean...my _full_ name is Angelissa Caelum. But I hate how old fashioned it sounds, so everyone just calls me Elissa."

Itachi's level gaze was unwavering. After a pause, he repeated softly, "Angelissa."

Something about the way it fell from his lips, about how his quiet, soothing, richly seductive voice uttered the name, made Elissa blink in surprise. Unexpectedly, she felt her stomach flutter, and glanced across at him.

Their gazes locked.

For the first time in her life, she was stunned to find... it sounded almost pretty. Uncommon. Rare. On his lips, her name sounded almost _beautiful_.

Heat bloomed into her cheeks. She ducked her head, flushed. "Uh, yeah. Angelissa." She released an embarrassed little laugh. "That's me."

Itachi noted the colour in her cheeks with mild detachment. He thought it an unusual, almost pretty sort of name. He did not think he had come across it before. And he had come across many souls in his time.

"May I," he then surprised her by asking, "use it?"

Elissa's heart leapt. Her tongue automatically deployed _no_ , ready to answer out of habit. But the way he had articulated it had been so wonderful, so special, she instead found herself blurting out, "Sure. If you want? I guess."

He looked back toward the river.

A short silence followed, in which Elissa scoured her mind for a question to ask him in return. Finally, she settled on, "So, a fact about you? You can tell me how old you are exactly? Where you're from? What you studied. Anything you like?"

Itachi's face lifted to regard the trees. He seemed to consider his words for a long minute. Finally, he supplied, "I was born in Hellas."

 _Hellas?_ Elissa stared at him. "Where's that?" she asked curiously. "I've never heard of it."

"Between the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas," Itachi replied.

An idea struck her. Pulling out her phone, Elissa searched for and loaded a world map. "Can you show me?" she asked, and, scooting a little closer, so that they were only a mere arm's length apart, held out the phone to him, with the image rotated horizontally at full-screen.

"..." Itachi glanced down at the contraption in her hand. Expression neutral, his eyes roamed across the different lands, before finally stopping on the correct spot. He lifted a finger and hovered it over the location. Elissa tilted her head to get a better view, her eyes stopping on the country he'd indicated.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "You mean _Greece?_ " She gasped in delight. "Wait, you're _Greek?_ " A delighted thrill of excitement rushed through her. "That's amazing. Then that must be how you know so much about Greek mythology! Why didn't you say so before?!"

Itachi observed the enthusiasm that lit up her hazel eyes, bringing out the gold specks in them. He could not fathom why she was so exhilarated by this fact, when all he had done was reveal the land of his origin.

"That is so awesome," she beamed. "But wait; why do you call it _Hellas_?"

"It is its name, in the native tongue."

"Oh, I see. You don't have an accent though," Elissa drew her hand back, as she looked down at the map. "You always speak very properly - I honestly thought that maybe you were from the capital."

Itachi searched his mind for a careful explanation, before supplying, "We... relocated. I adopted the local tongue."

"You must have moved when you were very young then."

He didn't offer an answer to that.

She picked up another stone. Tried to make it skip over the water. Frowned when she failed miserably.

"Do you know how to make stones skip?"

"..." He regarded her a moment - before picking one up beside him. Drawing his right arm back, he aimed it at the river.

Elissa's lips parted as she watched it glide flawlessly over the water's surface, skipping so many times she soon lost sight of it.

"Wow!" she exclaimed, impressed. "Why can't I do that?" She tried again. He watched her toss it right into the water.

"The angle of your throw is incorrect," he stated.

"I don't get it," Elissa tried to adjust her wrist. "What way should I be angling it?" She glanced at him. "Can you teach me how to do that?"

Itachi blinked, then wordlessly picked up another stone.

* * *

"So, you speak Greek, right?" Elissa asked one late afternoon, as she had once again come across Itachi by the riverbank, and he had once more accepted her invitation to sit. "You'd be a _huge_ help with my story."

"...You are a scribe?" he questioned.

She smothered a giggle at his formal choice of language. He had to be very educated, she thought to herself, and of extremely high upbringing, to speak in the proper way he did. His clothes certainly seemed to be exceptionally well cut.

"Well, I'm not a writer _yet_ , but I hope to be, someday. I'd love to tell tales to people. The one I'm working on right now is all about Greek mythology. I've just always had a great interest in it, and after I lost so many people close to me, I guess I wanted to find out more about afterlives. I think the Ancient Greek take on it is the most interesting."

Itachi once again turned his face toward her. After a pause, he murmured, "Tell me."

"Huh?" Elissa blinked and looked at him.

"The story," he prodded.

"What?" Elissa's eyes lit up. " _Really?_ You want to hear it?"

One corner of Itachi's lips curved upward in a barely susceptible little smile. Her excitement was almost child-like in its intensity. He could see, quite clearly, that this was a subject she was deeply passionate about. His lips relaxed back into their usual, unyielding line before she could glimpse the brief amusement that had settled on his features. He nodded in silent invitation for her to continue.

"It's a tale inspired by Hades and Persephone," Elissa began enthusiastically.

"...Hades," Itachi's eyebrows rose behind the mask, intrigued. Of all the gods she could have chosen…

The coincidence was near outrageous. He was thoroughly perplexed.

"Yes," Elissa nodded. "Persephone lives in the modern-day, goes about her life, having no clue that she's really an ancient goddess, because she's been reborn so many times due to an ancient curse that was placed upon her, back at the time of a great war between Surface and Underworld gods."

Itachi listened, finding himself riveted in a way that was wholly alien and unfamiliar to him. Her words. They rung surprisingly close to many things. Truths he knew to be accurate. But how could a common mortal girl know of such things? How could her imagination envisage what was so relevant to the world _he_ knew?

"So she goes about her everyday life, not knowing that she's caught the eye of Hades, King of the Underworld. But he can't just rock up to her house and ask her out, because her mother hates him, and he hates her mother. The Surface gods and Underworlders are enemies, you see," she gestured animatedly. "And so any kind of union between them wouldn't be accepted. So Hades decides to steal Persephone away to his world, and…"

Itachi watched her intently as she spun her story, adding sprinkles of mystery, dashes of tragedy, action and romance, all woven together to form an epic tale of redemption, rebirth and eternal soulmates. He observed the way her features illuminated as she expressively brought her story to life using only the power of words, how the gold flecks in her eyes seemed to gleam brightly. It was only when she finally called his name, that he realised he had been openly staring at her, near-transfixed, for the full duration of her account.

He blinked, and hastily dragged his eyes away, thinking that it had been quite improper of him to gaze so obviously at her.

"So... what do you think?" she asked, biting her lower lip, anxious to hear his opinion. Desperate for him to like it, for any manner of his approval.

In truth, he had lost some of the details in focusing on her expressions during the tale. But he'd heard enough to know that it was quite the story, indeed.

"An interesting tale," he responded.

"Really? Do you think people would like it?" she asked hopefully.

"..." Itachi felt another smile - rare for him with those outside his immediate family - tug at his lips, as he considered what his _little brother_ would make of such a story. Smothering it before it could fully surface, he answered quietly, "No doubt."

* * *

As Itachi made his way back toward the Underworld later that evening, he told himself that he had tarried for far too long at the riverbank. This would not do, his disciplined mind admonished severely, to repeat so often. And yet, he had grown peculiarly accustomed to his meetings with Angelissa. So much so, that they had almost started to become a routine habit. The only time, in his long, arduous, taxing days, where he could take temporary, refreshing pause from the ruthless brutality of his duties, and divert his mind by listening to matters that were wholly unrelated to death.

He was seeing a glimpse of how mortals viewed the world through her words. How differently they saw things to the gods. With more wonder. With more hope. With more dreams - as foolish as those were, given that they all met the same ends. It made humans burn all the more brightly for it, he thought, being so overtly aware of their own mortality.

It was a welcome respite, even as he internally questioned whether it was a _justified_ or correct one. Was it causing any harm? Was he not learning more about her, as Shisui had suggested was imperative to do, in order to gain her trust?

He neared the Underworld, passing through a verdant green, flourishing forest along his way. Telepathically, he sought out his cousin, pinpointing Shisui's location to be at Nyx's side in her gardens.

Something suddenly caught the corner of his eye as he walked, and he slowed, his gaze coming to rest on a familiar figure. Dressed in a dark tunic, with a sword gripped in his left hand, his little brother Sasuke was standing with his back turned toward Itachi, in a clearing to his far right. And beside him, leaning into him, was the same pale-blossom haired young maiden he had spotted in his brother and Apollo's company before. Sasuke's head was bowed, and he seemed to be listening to the goddess intently. Her hands were looped together around his right arm, and Itachi caught sight of the side profile of her face, smiling, as she whispered something sweetly into Sasuke's ear.

He detected the slight curve of his brother's cheek as he smirked back down at her. They were standing closer than mere friends would, Itachi's perceptive eyes deduced. Angelissa's account of Hades' and Persephone's epic tale of romance suddenly ran through his mind. He blinked, his suspicions of the nature of his brother's interest in the young goddess were all but confirmed. It seemed that Angelissa had guessed something _else_ correctly, too.

A strange coincidence, and a strange mortal she was indeed, he thought to himself, as he continued along his way.

* * *

Vetty's small paws silently brushed against the hardwood floor. Her tail curled and swayed from right to left, as she paced around the living room, visibly unperturbed. The darkness within her was tempestuous, ancient and wise, but afforded Vetty a calm, undisturbed look on reality.

Small clear droplets sprung from the faucet in the kitchen and fell down in the sink with a soft thud, so silent that only Vetty's feline ears could perceive. Vetty neared her food bowl, that Elissa had previously filled with milk lovingly. She was eyeing it pensively, the memories of the night she forged a blood contact with the mortal girl, whirling around in her thoughts.

"Oi, bratty cat!" the voice boomed suddenly, making her dark ears ring and twitch in mild annoyance. An invisible frown stretched her feline features, but the communication was to be expected, perhaps even welcomed in a way. She reclined on the floor leisurely.

"Time is ticking. Are you _sure_ she's the one?"

Vetty's clear and perceptive eyes blinked pointedly, but she offered no other reply to that. She was bound to Elissa and Elissa was bound to her. And now even _he_ was made aware of Vetty's spontaneous, but nonetheless cunning, actions. Surely, this served as an adequate answer. She took a few sips of the high quality milk Elissa had left for her, appreciatively.

"Do you really think that _he_ can get the hots for a mortal girl?" the voice asked, incredulously. "The guy seems to have a rod so far up his ass, it's a wonder he's walking so damn straight," a scoff echoed around the room. " _All_ of his kin are emotionally constipated. _No way_ this could work!" a stroke of panic was visible in the tone of the voice, that Vetty could easily pinpoint.

A small, high-pitched meow left the immortal feline, a very clear response, stressing her intentions.

"You better know what you're doing!" The voice seemed to heave a disgruntled sigh. But Vetty only offered back a stolid yawn and rolled on her back playfully.

"Look, brat, I'm checking on you, because we share _a long history_ together." Vetty's tail curled and she responded with a much shorter, but animated mew back. "Get this over with," the voice seemed to fill the room with a fog of restlessness, but Vetty did not show any signs of vexation. "Before _my_ turf is compromised and this pathetic plan comes to bite you in your hairy little ass."

Vetty padded unhurriedly towards the couch, as the voice disappeared into the void, and, with an agile leap, she situated herself on the corner, yawning once more in a display of absolute placidity


	13. Part XII: Shadow Bound

* * *

**Part XII: Shadow Bound**

* * *

"It has been a long time, since we last sat at this table as a family."

Erebus' booming voice rang out over the dining hall where his betrothed as well as their two sons sat on either side of him. The stunning chandelier overhead was well lit, and the underworld chef, Rain, had prepared several sumptuous courses for the family dinner.

Itachi observed his father wordlessly. It was, indeed, a rare occurrence for the four of them to come together this way. A fact made more apparent by how awkward they were at the table together. Sasuke's eyes flitted incessantly towards the double doors as if he had another engagement. Their mother, Nyx, observed the gold inlay in the marble table as if it were substandard, as if someone had replaced it with one of inferior quality when her back was turned. His father's thoughts seemed to be turned inward, begging the question, why he had gathered them at all?

"I am aware that Kokytos' death must have come as a great shock to you all. He has been a loyal subject of the Underworld since before my time, not to mention, a personal friend."

Nyx reached for her goblet of ambrosia and sipped at it demurely.

"That is, however, no need for undue concern. I assure you, Lord Cronus is taking every measure possible to ensure the safety of the underworld dwellers." He reached out and patted his wife's hand comfortingly. Nyx regarded her husband with a strained smile, trying to veil the tension in the hand he clasped. When he pulled his hand away, she slipped hers surreptitiously off of the table and out of his reach.

Eager to change the subject, Nyx sipped at her ambrosia again, "What of Kokytos' successor? Have they decided on one, yet?"

"Yes," Erebus agreed, carving into his meal, "It has been decided that the young goddess, Navi, will oversee his role."

Nyx returned her goblet to the table, "A goddess?" she queried incredulously.

It was a cruel fate to condemn a young goddess to. Overseeing the river of grief and wailing, to be haunted by the woes and lamentations of the mortals for all hours of the day for all of eternity. Rarely, if ever, receiving visitors… for who would want to hear so woeful a sound? It had been a suitable task for old Kokytos, who preferred to keep to himself and could ignore the mortal wailing as good as any wizened, ancient god. But to consign a young, innocent goddess to that role?

"Surely, there must have been someone more suitable from among the many gods of the underworld," she murmured, displeasure apparent in her expression as she regarded her husband coolly.

He gave her a warning look. "Lord Cronus has decided thus," he reminded her sternly.

Nyx swallowed thickly as she held her husband's gaze. "And we are all most fortunate, that we have such a capable and wise leader to make such difficult decisions for us," she agreed in slow, measured tones that did not seem to reflect her words.

"Lord Cronus is insightful and judicious. He has only the best intentions for our clan in mind. We must trust him – wholeheartedly." Erebus responded tersely, meeting his wife's gaze through narrowed eyes, hoping to compel her to understand that Cronus was the best chance the Uchiha had for a bright future. "Your tone implies defiance, wife," he added gruffly, as if giving her a chance to deny it.

Nyx held her husband's gaze, downing the contents of her decanter as she did so.

"Far be it from me," she answered sweetly, "To question the many gifts of our wise leader."

Itachi watched the exchange between his parents distantly. Neither Erebus nor Nyx seemed to know more about Kokytos' death than the general populace of the underworld did. Sasuke was all but straining at his seat, eager to be done with this farce of familial bonds.

Itachi reached for a loaf of bread - the basket was placed just beyond Sasuke's reach - and handed it to him, bringing his brother back to the present. Sasuke blinked at the offering, before taking it with a nod.

"Thank you, Nii-san," he said in a low voice, so as not to disturb their parents. Itachi only smiled gently at his brother. He could understand his eagerness to escape their parents' stifling company but knew that such meetings were rare and should be respected.

The rest of the meal passed in stilted silence interrupted only by the curt question or two their father directed at each of his sons. How was Sasuke's training? Fruitful. What news of the surface? None. By the end of the meal, Erebus seemed as relieved as the others to be done with their meeting. He nodded at his sons, "I must return to our Lord's side. Itachi, I will be expecting you tonight, we have much to discuss in regards to our response to the surface gods."

"Yes, father." Itachi agreed without hesitation. He watched Erebus' tense nod, followed by his retreating back as he headed deeper into the underworld palace, doubtless to inform Cronus of the apparent "success" of the family meeting. Sasuke, who watched their father's retreating back by Itachi's side, only frowned.

"I'm of age, as well," he noted, irritated and disillusioned. "But he wouldn't consider speaking to me about such matters, would he?"

Itachi angled his head to regard his younger brother. Sasuke could not possibly begin to fathom how relieved Itachi was, that Sasuke played no role in the conversations that took place behind closed doors.

"Maybe next time, Sasuke," he reassured him. Sasuke only scoffed, certain that nothing would change the next time, either.

Itachi felt a wry smile cross his countenance at Sasuke's petulance. "I was under the impression you were eager to depart, brother. Did you not have some other engagement?"

Sasuke's eyes shot up to Itachi's, as if trying to decipher just how much his older brother knew. Itachi guarded his expression carefully, feigning ignorance. There was no need for Sasuke to feel that his covert liaison with the rose-haired goddess had caught anyone's notice. There was no harm in such a dalliance, and no harm in having Sasuke believe he knew nothing of it.

"Indeed," Sasuke agreed slowly, hesitantly leaving his brother's side. "I shall see you tonight, brother."

Itachi nodded in parting and watched Sasuke escape through the double doors with a sense of satisfaction. Glad that he was there to shield Sasuke in this way.

Feeling a hand slide through the crook of his elbow, Itachi turned to see his mother smiling up at him. This smile, unlike the one she had shown throughout dinner, was sincere.

"My son," she addressed him with pride, "walk with me through the gardens?" The plea was uncharacteristically wistful. Although Itachi would not have denied his mother such a request in the first place, he answered more swiftly than he might have otherwise.

"Of course, mother."

The two wandered among the rose arches, enjoying the fragrant smells and beautiful imagery of Nyx's prized gardens when she finally broke the silence. "My love, your function is a lonely one… but you need not be alone."

Itachi regarded his mother coolly. Certainly she knew that he was disinclined to pursue the direction she was taking this conversation?

Nyx carried on, unperturbed by his silence. "The young goddess Lethe, I hear, is most beautiful." She gave her son a pointed look, "And unattached. I have it from reliable sources that she fancies you, my love."

"Mother," Itachi's gentle voice held an undertone of warning. "I do believe we have held this discussion prior. Surely, you recall my earlier answers."

"Itachi," Nyx complained, "how long will you keep your poor mother waiting? Do you not consider that I, too, wish to hold my grandchildren?"

Itachi was unmoved, "There's always Sasuke, mother."

"It isn't the same," she dismissed, venturing further into the gardens. "I wish for you _both_ to have children, clearly."

"I thank you for your understanding and patience, mother," Itachi responded gently, "And for respecting my wishes."

She paused in her movements, turning away from her perfectly flourishing garden, to her lonely, enigmatic son. She could never clip the thorns from him, couldn't tear out the weeds stealing his sustenance. She was powerless to build him a beautiful paradise to live in, secure and perfect, like her roses. He would not take a goddess. He had said as much many times before. And she could not bear his solitude. She had no other choice but to seek out the child of prophecy, hoping, praying, that this mortal woman would put an end to her son's lonesome journey as well as prove her costly search to be well worth the sacrifices made.

"As you wish, my love," she whispered, turning away from him to observe the yellow roses blooming over the arch. "Everything I do, I do for you, my sweet."

Itachi had heard such affectionate expressions from his mother, many times before. For some inexplicable reason, however, this time, the statement gave him pause. What, exactly, was his mother doing? Did she not spend her days tending to her gardens and her servants? What was she referring to? And why was it for him?

"Mother?" he asked, the first inklings of suspicion written into his onyx eyes.

"Forgive me, my child," she answered with a disarming smile, "I do believe I've had a goblet too many at dinner. Would you escort me back?"

He hesitated only a moment, before answering, "Certainly, mother."

* * *

Upon his return to the Underworld, long after the sun had set on the surface, Shisui found his cousin in the training arena, watching Sasuke sparring with Kagura. Coming to a stop by his side, they stood in silence for a minute, observing the practice session taking place below them.

"How was the dinner?" he questioned. "As lively an affair as ever, I take it?"

There was a pointed pause, before Itachi responded, "Quite."

They watched as Sasuke circled his training partner for an opening.

"He's gotten a lot quicker on his feet," Shisui remarked. "And his reflexes have improved."

"Indeed," Itachi agreed solemnly, as his younger brother ducked nimbly, before gracefully side-stepping to avoid a jab from Kagura's sword.

Folding his arms, Shisui then stated casually, "Elissa sends her regards."

Itachi gave no response. He continued to study Sasuke's movements closely, looking for points of weakness in his swordplay that he could later advise his brother to work on in order to eradicate and improve.

"I happened upon her by the river while you were engaged with my Uncle and Aunt. We had a very pleasant conversation," Shisui went on.

"..." Itachi blinked as Sasuke narrowly managed to parry Kagura's blow - but he had somehow failed to see the precise moment his little brother had misstepped his feet. _Odd_. It was not like his eyes to miss anything. He wondered where Shisui was going with his recount, and why he would need to know of it at all.

"Cousin. I commend you. You are doing a _very_ good job of earning her trust," he disclosed. "Keep on at it."

It seemed a somewhat abrupt statement to make. Itachi finally turned his face marginally to the left, directing a questioning glance at the God of Sleep. And what, exactly, did Shisui mean by _that_ , he wondered?

But his cousin simply lifted a hand to his shoulder, squeezed it in affection, and chuckled, before walking forward, leaving a perplexed Itachi looking after him.

"Sasuke," he called to his kin, as he took the training blade out of a bowing Kagura's grasp. "What say you we go for a round? I will go easy on you, little cousin. For your brother's sake."

Sasuke turned to face Shisui, and smirked as he adopted a fighting stance.

* * *

"Do you have any siblings?"

Itachi hesitated. It was rare for Elissa to ask him a question he could easily answer. They sat side by side at the bank of the river, like so many times before, watching the late afternoon sun glistening on the water's surface. A small spread of fruits and muffins Elissa had prepared lay between them.

"A brother," Itachi answered, his mind wandering to a stubborn, raven-haired youth who never failed to meet his eyes with ill-concealed admiration.

Elissa looked up from the strawberry she had plucked from the basket, surprised to have received a straightforward answer for once. "Are you close?" she asked, hoping for him to keep talking.

"Very." Itachi agreed, his expression forlorn.

Elissa noted the small, affectionate smile tugging at his lips, "Can you tell me about him?"

Itachi glanced down at her, hesitant. There was no harm in telling her about Sasuke. That wasn't at all relevant. There was nothing she could deduce from that information that would endanger her mortal soul, was there?

"He is… special." Itachi had never sought to describe Sasuke before. Sasuke simply was. Precious, proud, regal… in every word he spoke, in every gesture, admirable. Sasuke, in the core of his being, was pure. Itachi hoped to protect that purity for as long as possible. To provide his brother with a life free from the kind of difficult decisions that he, himself, was forced to face regularly. Were there words for what Sasuke was?

Elissa waited patiently for him to expand and Itachi, catching sight of the sun's reflection on the river's surface, gestured towards it.

"The light of the sun," he glanced at Elissa, seeing her eyes follow his gesture towards the illuminated river's surface, "That is my brother."

Elissa smiled, the example was very Itachi. "You must love him a lot," she said softly.

Itachi only nodded in response.

"I have two brothers. They can be a pain, sometimes, but I love them, too. I haven't seen them in a while, now. I left home to try and be a little more independent."

"Independent?" The one word query encouraged Elissa to clarify.

"Yeah, my parents have always been a little overprotective," _Not unlike a certain friend of mine,_ she thought wryly. "Always hovering over me, trying to show me the risks of everything I do. Making my decisions for me. It was all too much. I need to live, seeing with my own eyes and deciding for myself, what I want to do." She drew her knees up to her chest and watched the river flow idly by.

"Hasn't been working out too well for me, so far, though," she sighed. How many more years was she going to be working as a proofreader? Not until retirement, surely? When would she accomplish something worth calling home about?

A comfortable silence passed between them as the birds in the surrounding forest trilled to one another and the clouds meandered lazily overhead.

"I used to have a sister, too." Elissa whispered, at length. "Her name was Evangeline. She passed away when I was ten."

Itachi said nothing to this. Another soul he had collected, over ten years ago. He tried to remember - and it did not take him long to do so. He recalled a deathly pale girl with glazed green eyes, ailed with a sickness that had ravaged her body beyond recovery, relinquishing her soul without fight. A tragic funeral. A hazel-eyed child, standing some distance from her weeping, preoccupied family, glaring hatefully at the grave, her eyes burning with anger and pain.

The very same girl, now grown into a young woman, who sat beside him.

"How old was she?" he asked gently.

"She was fourteen. She had leukemia. It was tough on her. Tough to watch, too. Just to see her wasting away while she wanted to live. She wanted to live every day. People would always tell her to keep fighting, and she did. She fought hard up until the day she passed, but it was all for nothing, in the end."

Elissa bit her lip, thinking of her older sister. She had cherished Elissa wholeheartedly, not unlike the way Itachi so clearly cherished his younger brother. "She always spoiled me. Always gave me the bigger piece of cake, the first turn on the swings, let me win the games I was still too dumb to figure out. She knew just how disappointed to act, so that I wouldn't realize she was losing on purpose."

Elissa felt tears sting her eyes. "She would always talk about what we were going to do when she got better. We were going to go see Japan, Greece, Germany… she always wanted to travel the world, when she got older, when she got better…" Elissa knew she should stop talking, knew that if she continued, she would end up crying, but she couldn't stop herself.

"But she never did." Her voice wavered, "I got older without her. I don't want to see Japan. I don't want to win any games. I just want her back. I just want her to know how much I love her. I want her to hug me again. I want her to laugh. I want to remember what she looked like when she was healthy, not hooked up to a hundred machines in the hospital, wasting away."

Elissa's tears streamed over her face, despite herself, and she wiped them away bitterly. "She was only fourteen." She turned to Itachi, the torment of her loss written in her eyes. "Why did she have to die?"

"Who could be so cruel as to take her away from us like that? She fought so hard to live! She never gave up! _We_ never gave up, we went on believing, and praying, and hoping… all the way up to her funeral."

She tore her gaze away from him, taking deep breaths, trying to will the tears away. "I'm sorry," she whispered and the words tore through him like a knife. "I'm sorry to bombard you with this. You were just talking about your brother and it reminded me…"

Itachi watched the young mortal, awash with a grief ten years old and as fresh as the day it broke her heart. Who could be so cruel? Who, indeed.

He watched her wipe her tears away quietly. Waited for her sobs to subside, before speaking. "She wished for you to go to those places." His quiet, gentle voice, like a rising wind, broke the mournful silence. „She desired your happiness. More than anything else, she wished to embrace you one more time."

He paused, remembering. "But she was at ease, when she went. Relieved, to lay down her burdens. That fight had not been easy on her. She stayed strong for your sake, the sake of your family. She hoped only, that you would be able to overcome the grief of losing her."

Elissa listened to him, spellbound, mouth agape. It was presumptuous of him, she knew, to assume what her sister had felt and wished. And yet, every word hit home like a simple, clean truth. Tears still clung to her lashes when she finally found her voice.

"How… do you know?"

He met her hazel eyes with a world-weary, knowing expression. "I know," he answered, without explanation.

She sighed, collecting herself. "I've lost a lot of people, these last couple of years. I feel like death is haunting me at every turn. I just can't seem to escape. I'm always afraid, wondering who will die next?" She hesitated, summoning her courage to say, "It could be me. It could be anybody. Death doesn't care. It just takes away. Leaves you behind broken. Heartless, cruel. I know I'm not being reasonable, but I just hate it."

If Elissa had lifted her eyes to regard the stoic, solemn individual she would have seen a flicker of emotion in his eyes, that she had never seen before. She was spent from her tears, however, and watched the water's surface drift by, as if wishing it would take her with it.

"All that lives must die." Itachi said finally. "It isn't just, or kind, or good… it simply is."

Elissa remembered the first time he had said those words to her. "Only gods are doomed to suffer for time eternal," she added bitterly, echoing his statement from weeks ago.

"What does that even mean?" she asked, looking up at him, hoping he would answer this time.

Itachi watched her through sage, ebony eyes, his gaze distant in its wisdom. Uncharacteristically, he felt he owed her an answer. "There is no greater suffering, than immortality."

"Given even the most fulfilling life, sooner or later, every being will crave its end. Death is the natural consequence of life."

Elissa didn't follow. She enjoyed deeper conversations, like the ones she had with Itachi but she just couldn't agree with this philosophy.

"If we're just going to die, wouldn't it have been better never to have been born to begin with?" She murmured bitterly.

A contemplative hush fell over the pair, as they watched the sun slowly begin its decline.

"Are you going to stop writing your story?" he asked quietly, his soothing voice breaking her trance.

"What does my story have to do with anything? Why would I stop writing it?" she asked, perplexed.

His gaze fell on her, and she was caught in those mesmerizing onyx eyes. "But it has an end," he reasoned. "Why write it at all?"

She could only stare at him wordlessly, unable to counter that sound example.

"It is a fascinating tale. There are notes of mystery, tragedy, romance… it is worth the telling, even if it ends. Is it not?"

She understood the deeper meaning behind the simple question, and nodded quietly.

He rose to his feet, extending a hand towards her, to help her up as well. When she stood, he did not immediately release her hand.

"Don't abandon your story. I should like to read it, when it is complete."

Her cheeks flushed, and she nodded once more, "I won't."

His grip loosened, but she held tightly to his hand a moment longer, "Thank you, Itachi." She murmured gratefully.

There was a tinge of sadness in his dark eyes as he returned her gaze.

"You have nothing to thank me for."

* * *

Elissa pushed a loose lock of chestnut hair behind her ear, as she finally rose from the grass, brushing her skinny blue jeans down. Night had long since fallen, and she was glad she'd brought a jacket with her. The late spring days were warm - but the evenings were still unpredictable and prone to drops in temperature.

Beside her, Itachi had also risen. She had arrived at the river bank at just past seven thirty in the evening. A glance down at her phone revealed the time was now approaching nine forty-five. How had two hours flown by between them? They'd discussed all manner of subjects - the need for wars, mythology, morality, natural disasters, amongst other things. Elissa had discovered that they seemed to agree on quite a few things, especially on the matter of prejudice and advocating that violence was never a viable solution to solving conflict.

The more time she spent in Itachi's company, the more fascinated she knew she was becoming. He now infringed on her thoughts often. She found herself wondering what he was doing while she was stuck at work. She would often lay on her bed in the evenings, thinking of the wise words he had spoken to her last. He was quiet in nature - but given the correct choice of topic, was delightful company and made for enjoyable conversation, his contributions insightful, meaningful and deeply thought-provoking.

She enjoyed their interactions very much. They were the highlight of her days, and she was always disappointed when he skipped a meeting - or several, as he had over the course of the last month and a half. Had it really been six weeks since they'd started to meet regularly? Almost two months to the day since she had first spied him, by the river's edge, on the day Vetty had almost gotten them drowned?

Time had flown by. Did she know him any better, really? Some things she had discovered, such as his favourite animals, foods, that he had one sibling and was born in Greece. His opinions on many topics. A better feel for his personality; so patient, polite, intelligent and level-headed. But there were still so many mysteries about him. Elissa didn't wish to stop their meetings until she had unravelled them all.

She had gotten so used to seeing him often, she thought that she didn't want to stop their meetings ever.

Her phone screen lit up. She glanced down at it. _Slayte_. Biting her lower lip, she angled an apologetic glance at Itachi, who waited courteously as she took the call.

"Hey, Slayte," she greeted.

"Where are you?" Slayte's voice questioned on the other side of the line.

"Oh, just out for a walk," Elissa replied vaguely, feeling a little guilty for not being entirely open. She could feel Itachi's gaze lingering on her, and turned her back, embarrassed to be caught telling a white-lie. The last thing she wanted to do, however, was tell Slayte over the phone that she was with the same _masked guy_ Slayte had freaked out over weeks before.

Elissa was pretty confident at this point, that there was no way Itachi was the same man her friend had told her about, the one who had supposedly broken her heart. She couldn't envisage him being cruel in any way. He had only shown attentiveness and politeness during their conversations. He was never forward or brash, always respectful and kind. She hadn't intended to keep her meetings with him hidden from Slayte for so long - but she hadn't wanted to worry her friend, knowing that Slayte had a tendency to overreact.

Besides, she'd made clear to Slayte that she was in charge of making her _own_ life choices. And she'd wanted to make up her own mind about Itachi. She would tell Slayte about him, and introduce them - when she felt ready to do so.

"Well, I'm standing outside your apartment, and I forgot the keys. Are you far? You left your notebook behind at our shop. I came to drop it over."

"Oh! I'm sorry. Thanks. I'll be there, give me ten minutes," she answered. Then she added, "Were the streets okay when you walked over?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Oh, nevermind. I've just seen a group of shifty looking yobs in the area lately."

"Oh my God. Did they bother you?"

"No, not me. They gave another girl some trouble, though. Just cat-calls, typical behaviour of guys who have nothing better to do, and have no respect for women."

"Want me to meet you somewhere?" Slayte asked, voice laced with concern.

"It's alright," Elissa assured her. "I'll be fine. If you didn't see anything, I doubt they'll be around. I'll see you in a few." With that, she hung up the call before Slayte could protest any further.

Turning back to Itachi, she met his silent gaze, and said, "Sorry about that. I can't believe how late it is. I've kept you out late, too."

When he simply stared at her, she added, "Thanks for today. I really enjoyed our conversations."

He inclined his head in a slight nod.

"Well," she lifted a hand, feeling somewhat awkward, and strangely shy, as she began to back away from him, in the direction that would lead her to her apartment. His eyes tracked her movements. "Good night..."

As she turned away, she once again rued the fact that she didn't have his cell phone number. They had made it a point to meet in the same spot - but how was it that they consistently managed it, with no prior communication beforehand? Perhaps they were running on habit, she told herself - even if it seemed odd to her, she enjoyed it too much to really question it.

She wrapped her arms around herself, turning her face up to the dark sky as she began to walk away. Telling herself not to look back, she had managed all but five steps when his smooth voice called out after her.

"Angelissa."

She barely managed to suppress the shudder that shot through her spine. From the coolness of the breeze, she told herself - even though she knew it was futile to deny the truth. The way he spoke her name was like a magical, gentle caress falling from his lips. It just sounded _right_ , and she had grown so used to it, she couldn't imagine him ever calling her anything else _but_ by the full name she had so previously hated.

"The hour is late," he said. "Allow me to accompany you."

Her heart fluttered within her chest, touched by his thoughtfulness. A blush bloomed into her cheeks, as her pulse quickened, and she was glad that the night hid it. There was just no _way_ , she told herself fiercely again, that he could possibly be the same man who had tormented her best friend so. Not when he was _this_ considerate.

If she accepted his offer to walk her home, then Slayte _would_ see him.

 _It isn't him_ , she thought. _So I have nothing to worry about. I've met him enough times now to be sure - he's a good person._

Any extra minute in his company, she knew she could not possibly pass up. Unlike with Cain, Elissa felt - inexplicably - that she could trust Itachi's intentions to be honest. He wasn't the sort to be pushy, take advantage, or act inappropriately in any way. In her eyes, he was the pinnacle of good upbringing, manners and propriety - a perfect gentleman - something so rare in young men her age. These were the exact traits she had grown to admire so much about him - as well as countless others, she was pleasantly discovering.

She began to turn to face him, and automatically said, out of politeness, "Please don't worry about it, Itachi. It's fine. My house is just a short walk away from here, and I've already kept you long enough."

But he had already stepped around her, wordlessly indicating that he would not accept no for an answer.

"Well," she smiled gratefully up at him, as she broke into stride by his side, relieved that she didn't have to worry about encountering any danger along her way, after all. "Alright, then. I appreciate it."

The ten minutes passed in a blur. Elissa spent most of it telling him stories about her childhood, to which he listened as intently as ever. She was laughing at a particular memory of locking her furious parents out of their house, when they finally rounded the corner that brought her apartment block into view. As expected, Slayte was waiting outside, her phone screen lifted to her face.

"Here it is," Elissa gestured self-consciously, as they neared the building. Her heart began to quicken in anticipation. This was it. The moment her best friend met the guy she had struck up a tentative friendship with.

She hoped that Slayte would approve. That she would come to like and respect Itachi, as much as Elissa had, once she got to know him better. She just needed to give him a chance.

"Hey Slayte," she called, as Itachi fell back two paces behind her, allowing her space to greet Slayte - and affording him a clear view in which to observe this friend from a distance, as the dark haired, willowy young woman he'd heard so much about, turned to face Elissa.

"Elissa! _Finally!_ What took you so lo…" her words trailed off, and caught sharply in her throat, as her gaze came to rest on Itachi, shadowing her friend's steps. The blood drained from her cheeks as she visibly blanched. Her eyes widened, and her lips parted in shock.

Elissa saw her friend step backward as her body betrayed her abject terror in its instinctive fight-or-flight response. Seeing Slayte's trembling shoulders, the way she stumbled further away, Elissa realized she had made a mistake.

"So, this is your friend…" Itachi's low voice was dark with an undertone she had never heard before, or was she imagining it? " _Slayte_ , was it?"

Slayte's fear was contagious and Elissa hesitated as she looked up at Itachi over her shoulder. His eyes were fixed on Slayte, his expression unreadable in the dark, and the intent in those eyes hidden away by his mask. It wasn't possible, was it, for Itachi to have been the masked man that terrified Slayte so?

Looking back at her friend, who had clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle a cry as she heard Itachi's voice, Elissa's throat went dry. She was torn between her desire to comfort her friend, to somehow place herself between the two of them and offer Slayte some security and just sending Itachi away, by any means, as soon as possible. Somehow undoing this terrible confrontation that she should never have allowed to take place.

Before she could will her feet to move, however, Slayte spun on her heel and tore down the road. Still covering her mouth, as if she were terrified of making a sound. The sound of her footsteps thudding against the pavement echoed dully in Elissa's ears. Her heart seemed to be thumping to the same rhythm.

The pair watched her go in silence. Elissa felt Itachi's eyes on her but she couldn't bring herself to turn and meet them. _He… broke me…_ The words rang in Elissa's mind like the haunting of a ghost. _Itachi_ had been the one to do that to her? How could someone so gentle, so kind… or had it all been nothing more than a clever manipulation? Had he deceived her so completely?

Her unease consumed her as she suddenly realized how _odd_ it was, for Itachi to see her best friend run away from him in terror and say absolutely nothing, as if he _knew_ just what she was so afraid of. As if it were to be expected.

Elissa was nearly paralyzed by the fear that Slayte had left hanging in the air as Itachi stepped smoothly past her. He bent to retrieve a notebook lying on the floor and lifting it, saw it fall open to a sketch of a demonic, horned creature, flying through the skies on black-leather wings. He narrowed his eyes at the title, " _The Erinyes"._

He turned to hand Elissa the pages, commenting, "You're quite the artist."

"Thanks." Elissa responded numbly, "Slayte drew that for me, though."

She missed the look of understanding that crossed Itachi's eyes, like puzzle pieces falling into place. She bit her lip, almost regretting saying her friend's name in his presence at all. She looked down at the detailed drawing with mixed feelings. Slayte had come over in the middle of the night, to return Elissa's notebook, knowing she would need it for her story. She couldn't shake the feeling that she was responsible for Slayte's current state.

She chanced a glance up at Itachi. Seeing how unmoved he was by Slayte's reaction unnerved her even more than Slayte's terror had.

"I -" she began, her eyes shifting uneasily, "I need to head inside. Thank you for walking me home." She formed the words with difficulty, her tongue weighed down by the conflicting emotions within her and above all, by the imperative need to get away from him, as quickly as possible. Without waiting for a response, she turned to the door and unlocked it, fumbling with the keys.

Before it fell shut behind her, his voice reached her ears, "It was my pleasure, Angelissa." She couldn't decide if his voice was warm or cold, but it sent a shudder down her spine.

* * *

With trembling hands, Elissa locked her front door shut and hastily kicked off her shoes, discarding her keys onto the side-stand by the door. Hurrying into the living room, she grabbed her cell phone from her bag and deposited the satchel onto the floor. She then peered through her balcony windows, checking to see if Itachi was still outside. Thankfully, the road was empty. There was no sign of him. She immediately speed-dialled Slayte's number, and raised the phone to her ear.

"Come on, come on, pick _up_ ," she urged worriedly. Vetty mewled at her feet, sensing her owner's panic and alarm. Rubbing against Elissa's leg, she tried to provide comfort. But Elissa scarcely registered her presence, her mind overrun and frantic with confusion and apprehension.

Slayte didn't answer. Elissa cursed, and tried again. She kept trying, until, on the fifth attempt, Slayte finally picked up.

"Oh, Elissa," she spoke in a trembling voice. "I told you to stay away from him. I _warned_ you, Elissa!"

Elissa's heart pounded in her chest. For a moment, she was rendered speechless, horrified by the pain and terror she detected in her best friend's voice. Then she managed to get out, "Slayte… I don't understand-"

"I can't- I can't-!" she choked out. "By the Gods! He knows! He's _found me!_ " She babbled nonsensically, the panic evident in her words. "It's over! We're done for!"

"No- wait!" Elissa gripped her phone tightly with two hands. "Don't hang up. Please! Just talk to me-"

"Talk to you? _Now_ you want to talk? How long have you continued seeing him for?" Slayte's voice wobbled. "When I told you he was _dangerous_?!"

"What's so dangerous about him?" Elissa demanded, her own voice cresting in frustration. Tears prickled at her eyes. "You keep telling me he is, but you won't tell me _why!_ How am I meant to _understand?_ "

"You _won't_ understand!" Slayte's voice rose, edging on hysteria. "It's already too late! I _saw_ your face with him. How happy you looked. You haven't looked that happy since… since _ever!_ " A broken sob escaped her lips. "Oh, Elissa… oh, _no, no, no_ …"

Elissa sucked in a breath. She stared down at Vetty, frozen by dismay, rattled by the realisation that Itachi apparently held such sway over her emotions that even a witness could discern how much his company warmed her. Was it _that_ obvious? She hadn't even _known_.

"You're _already_ under his spell!" Her best friend then shouted angrily, accusingly. "You're such a fool, Elissa! Just like every other girl who's ever loved him-!"

Elissa's heart leapt into her throat, lodging itself there. Indignance flared through her as her cheeks burned with anger. Was Slayte presuming to tell her that she was somehow _in love_ with Itachi? She hadn't acknowledged or even thought such a thing to her own self at any point! She was just getting to know him. It was all _innocent._

"We're just _friends_ ," she shot back, affronted. "Stop telling me what I'm feeling, Slayte!"

"He isn't someone you want to be _friends_ with! Damn it!" Slayte cursed shakily. "Damn it, Elissa, for once in your life, stop being stubborn and _listen to me!_ "

Elissa's mouth fell open at the desperation and despair she heard in her friend's stricken voice. "Slayte- you need to calm down-"

"No. NO! _YOU_ need to listen, Elissa!" Slayte shrieked hysterically back. "He'll be the end of you! Cut him off! You have to, you _need to_ cut him out! He's nothing but bad news. His spending time with you - it means something terrible is about to happen! I just know it!"

"What are you talking about?!" Elissa lost her patience and yelled back at her. "Are you even _hearing_ yourself?! You didn't even recognise Itachi's name when I first told you about him. How can he _be_ the same guy? It was dark. Are you even sure? Maybe you saw the mask and just freaked ou-"

"Shut up!" Slayte interrupted her tearfully. "Don't patronise me! It's him! There's nobody else in the world who _looks_ like him! Please, Elissa! Please _listen_ to me! He's bad news!"

"But _why?_ Why is he _bad?_ What's so terrible about him, Slayte?! What else happened between you?" Elissa was desperate for answers. Her entire body was shaking. Her voice dropped to an almost choked whisper, as she went on in confusion, "He's only ever been _kind_ to me-"

"No. NO. _Nothing_ about him is _kind_ , Elissa! He is cruel. He's heartless. You need to stay away! Don't let him reel you in. It's what he _does_ \- until he breaks you. If he doesn't _kill_ you first!"

 _Kill?_ Elissa froze. She felt as though the floor had given way beneath her feet. Her entire body turned to ice. But Itachi was so gentle in manner. So averse to violence. She couldn't imagine him hurting, or _killing_ , anything...

" _'m trying to protect you!"_ Slayte's voice cried wildly into her ear. She sounded distraught. Afraid. " _Stay away from him!_ "

"Wha-?!" Elissa was stunned speechless. For an awful moment, she could form no words. Before she could regain her composure enough to say anything else, Slayte abruptly disconnected the call. Elissa tried to call back, but it went straight to voicemail. Frustrated, she threw her phone onto the couch, and sank to her knees in the living room, trembling violently.

Slayte's words replayed deafeningly in her mind.

" _No. NO. Nothing about him is kind, Elissa! He is cruel. He's heartless. You need to stay away! Don't let him reel you in. It's what he does - until he breaks you. If he doesn't kill you first!"_

What had Slayte _meant?_ Her thoughts were scattered by the rising panic that crested within her chest, by the thundering of her own agitated heartbeat. Just _who_ was Itachi, truly? Who did he work for? He hadn't told her the name of his company. _What_ , exactly, were he and Shisui looking into? And why did he make the time to stop and speak with her?

Doubts began to creep into her mind. What if there really _was_ more to everything than what she had let herself come to believe? It suddenly struck Elissa that there was still so much she didn't know about Itachi - but was it truly conceivable that he was, in some way, _deadly?_ Dangerous? Hadn't she initially felt that something was off about him? Or had the magnetic attraction she'd felt for him from the very outset, somehow succeeded in clouding her better sense of judgement along the course of their acquaintance?

 _No._ She _couldn't_ believe it. She didn't _want_ to. Not when she remembered nothing but gentle onyx eyes when she closed her own.

Vetty meowed in concern, hopping onto her lap as she turned mournful dark irises onto her owner. But a tearful, sickened Elissa gave no response, her mind lost to and spinning with the chaotic turmoil of her thoughts.

* * *

Levi closed the door to the storeroom behind him, having finished with the inventory. He stepped into the darkened tea shop casting an inquisitive glance around the empty space. Odd. Hadn't he heard the bell tinkling as Slayte had returned? That had to have been fifteen minutes ago already.

He narrowed his eyes as he switched on the lights, illuminating the surroundings, but found neither an intruder, nor his girlfriend. Walking past the empty tables towards the kitchen, he spied her phone thrown haphazardly on the counter.

"Slayte?" he called, wondering where she could have gotten to.

A movement at the edge of his vision gave him pause and he turned back to the service counter, seeing the corner of a black sneaker peeking out from under it. Holding onto the counter with one hand, he dropped to his haunches to find Slayte huddled underneath it. The words to berate her for her ridiculous behavior all but died on his tongue when he saw the way her knees were drawn up to her chest, her arms wrapped around them, and her face buried in her arms like a child hiding in a closet.

"Oi," he placed a hand on her shoulder, only to realize that she was shaking. Was she _crying?_ She had only gone out for a bit to return Elissa's dumb notebook. What could possibly have happened in that time?

"What are you doing there? Are you stupid?" The concern laced in his irritated voice went unnoticed and when she didn't immediately respond he took a hold of her elbow, leading her out. "Come out of there."

Looking up at him through tear-filled eyes she threw herself forward, wrapping her arms around him, hanging on for dear life as she buried her face in his chest. Taken aback, he lost his balance and sat there on the floor of their tea shop, holding her shaking form and rubbing her back in a gesture he hoped was comforting.

"Save me, Levi," she whimpered against his chest, but her words were muffled, lost against the fabric of his shirt and indecipherable to his ears.

"What?"

He felt inherently, that she had said something important, for once, and cursed himself for missing it. "What happened to you?"

She only clung to him silently, seeking in vain the security and protection she had always found in his arms. But it was hopeless. The warmth was nothing but an illusion. He couldn't save her. No one could. She was doomed. And now that Death's eyes were fixed on Elissa, she was doomed as well.

There would be no escape. There had never been any reasonable chance for escape to begin with. Had she really thought she could run away and the Underworld would never catch up with her? Had _she_ somehow, inadvertently, brought about this terrible string of events that led to Thanatos haunting Elissa in this way? Was she responsible for her dear friend's imminent death? Why had she thought she could build her own life? Make her own decisions? Why had she entertained the notion that making her own friends, finding someone she loved, meant that her life was her own?

She was nothing but a slave. Born at the whims of her masters. They would drag her back down to the depths of the underworld and destroy everything precious to her in the process. Elissa, Levi… no one was safe. Was it Itachi's eyes that Vetty had shown her watching Elissa? Was there no hope for safety or happiness for the two of them anywhere in the world? Was there no way at all to bring Elissa back to the days of freedom from the Underworld? Was there absolutely no salvation for herself?

A tremor went through her shoulders. Thanatos had recognized her. Of course he would have. She was a creature of the Underworld. Had been crafted from the shadows for the sole purpose of serving him. In the recognition of his eyes, he had undone five years of growth until she was nothing and no one but a Lampad standing at the banks of the Styx, torch held high to cast light on everyone but herself, servile and negligible. Insignificant. Not only in the eyes of Thanatos, but in her own, as well.

She had committed treason in her mad escape. Had only dared to do so because of the certainty with which she recognized that she was invisible to her master. What cruel fate awaited her now? Would he set the ruthless _Erinyes_ on her? Throw her to the depths of Tartarus? Was this the last time she would ever feel Levi's comforting arms around her? And what would become of Elissa without Slayte there to protect her from the long tendrils of the Underworld's influence?

"Hey," Levi's familiar voice, always a contradiction between its naturally gentle and soothing sound and the harsh, irritated tone he had adopted as a part of his personality, called her back to the present. "Pull yourself together."

She nodded. An ingrained response to him, she realized. Unthinkingly following whatever he said. Was it because she loved him? Or because servitude was in her nature? Devoted was a word they often used to describe her. A helpless worshipper. Did it make a difference if she was worshipping Thanatos or Elissa and Levi?

He helped her to her feet and led her to the cushioned, swivel chair at the counter, where she allowed herself to be seated, numbly staring off into the distance. She heard the sounds of Levi fixing a cup of tea distantly, as if in a dream. Feeling lost and untethered to reality, with the crushing sense of impending doom weighing on her shoulders.

Her phone lit up and vibrated. Slayte's head swiveled slowly towards it, not connecting what she was seeing to what it meant. She watched the calls come in succession, without moving to pick up. The click of porcelain startled her out of her daze, as Levi placed a cup of calming lavender tea in front of her, raising an eyebrow at the missed calls. "Aren't you going to get that?" he asked.

She should. Because it was Elissa who was calling, and Elissa was everything to her, wasn't she? She reached for the phone numbly, feeling the first emotions trickling through the minute she heard Elissa on the other side.

"Oh, Elissa…"

Levi straightened from his place in the kitchen, casting a glance in Slayte's direction as he heard her voice breaking.

Slayte scarcely knew what she was saying as the dam broke and she finally gave voice to her fears and her anger. Hadn't she warned Elissa off? Hadn't she told her _clearly_ how dangerous Thanatos was? Hadn't she done everything short of physically restraining her to keep her away from death's door? And yet, Elissa remained infuriatingly persistent in the pursuit of her own death, flirting with disaster at every turn. Why couldn't she just _listen to her,_ just once?

"I'm trying to protect you!" Slayte couldn't contain the note of hysteria in her voice, the helpless anguish in her plea, "Stay away from him!"

Unwilling and unable to listen to her friend any longer, she ended the call and threw the phone away from her where it landed some distance further on the counter. She buried her face in her hands and sighed deeply, fighting back tears, trying not to hate herself for yelling at Elissa. She looked up, feeling someone watching her, and saw Levi leaning in the doorway, arms crossed.

"Something you want to tell me about?" he asked, raising a brow at her.

There was no way. To tell them the truth about Death was to cast them into certain death herself. Why were they always treating her like she had lost her mind? Why couldn't they trust her for once? Was she supposed to indulge their ignorance to the very death, always humbling herself and pretending to know less than she did? Would it make them feel better if she pretended to be normal when standing at their graves? Would that ease her conscience at all, thinking at least they were pleased with her, when they died?

"No," she huffed, rising from her seat and pushing past him. "Clearly, I misplaced my brain somewhere on the way here and I'm overreacting for no reason, right?" Her scathing tone was unprecedented and for once, Levi did not have an immediate answer for her. "There's nothing to talk about." She dismissed, rolling up her sleeves before burying herself in scrubbing down the kitchen, busying her hands to distract her mind.

Levi glanced at the untouched cup of tea and wondered if he had ever made her a tea she didn't drink before. Wondered if she had just set up another wall of things he wasn't allowed to ask her about.

He joined her wordlessly, cleaning out the refrigerator while she scrubbed the oven. Finding new things to clean when any sane person would have long since considered the kitchen spotless. They did not speak to one another, ignoring the ticking of the clock when it clearly signaled it was past one in the morning. He couldn't bring himself to leave her alone in this state, and she was terrified of what would happen if she allowed her mind to whisper to her again.

Collecting the black trash bags, she headed towards the side door leading out into the connected alleyway. Levi watched her go with glum resignation, accepting that perhaps she needed a moment to herself.

She pushed open the creaking metal door and stepped onto the cobblestone, wet with rain and the muck of the streets. She pushed the lid of the dumpster open and heaved the black bag over her shoulder, feeling some satisfaction at the resounding thud with which it fell into the container.

She rested both hands on the commercial-sized bin and lowered her head with a sigh. She didn't want to go back in and face Levi, unable to explain anything. She didn't want to see Elissa, haunted by death and oblivious. She wanted time to stand still for just a moment. Just one moment of safety and security.

She froze as the nape of her neck prickled with alarm. She felt the intensity of a wrathful gaze upon her and turned slowly, fear pulsing through her veins like solid ice. She knew him almost before her gaze fell on the burning crimson irises of the god shadowed in darkness, towering over her. Death himself.

She fell backwards, her legs refusing to carry her in the presence of that ominous deity. The sting of the hard, wet stone against her body barely registered in her mind as she gaped up at him helplessly, the breath arresting in her lungs in his presence. His overwhelming dark aura all but choking her.

"Th- Thanatos…" she gasped.

His features were as divinely regal as she had always known them to be. His skin shone in the moonlight, more beautiful than any god or goddess of Olympus. His raven hair spilled over his shoulders like strands of midnight, and for the first time in eight hundred years he was looking straight at her.

His scarlet irises fixed on her with a muted fury. His threat required no words, it was a verdict in and of itself. She swallowed, fighting for air, grasping for words that might stall her execution but produced nothing but a choked, shaky inhale.

"State your purpose in the realm of mortals." His voice was dark and deadly as the element he commanded and she fought to control the shudder that overcame her. Her mind blanked, she couldn't even think to answer, so overcome was she in his presence.

_Am I going to die like this? On my knees? After spending all my life pining after this god, invisible? Will I always allow him to reduce me to nothing this way?_

She tore her eyes away from him. Squeezing her eyes shut to banish the image of those terrible scarlet eyes, she focused on something else entirely. Breathing. Slow, controlled. If she was going to die, she wanted to die on her feet.

Shaking, she rose unsteadily, with Thanatos' eyes an ever looming guillotine before her. Biting her lip, she reminded herself that there were things far more important than her life.

Meeting his eyes with the determination of the foolhardy and the suicidal, she ground out, "What do you want with my friend?"

Thanatos did not immediately answer. He regarded her quietly, judgment not yet passed.

Feeling anxious at the prolonged silence, Slayte pushed further. "Her time has not come. You have no business by her side!" Her hushed indignance, as she strained against a millenium's upbringing to defy him, set her clenched fists trembling.

Thanatos' all-seeing eyes took in her form, both the fear and the desperation. "How did you come to be in the mortal realm? I will not ask again." The threat in those words was palpable.

Slayte swallowed, knowing she was treading thin ice. She struggled to find the words to explain, even as she recognized she was testing his patience. Not knowing where to begin, her eyes fell helplessly on him when realization dawned on her.

"You…" she began, stunned, "You don't know who I am, do you?"

There was a flicker of indecision in his eyes. As if he didn't understand the meaning of her question and that was all she required for her indignance to take over. For her to have spent eight hundred years serving and pining over this negligent god who took her life and her service for granted hurt as much as it did five years ago. The disillusionment that drove her from the Underworld in the first place came roaring back to life.

"My face… you must be under the impression you're seeing it for the first time." Now that she had started speaking, she couldn't make herself stop. "I doubt you were even aware of my name before hearing Elissa speak it."

His silence, although weighty and oppressive, encouraged her to continue. Confirmed that she was right. "Indeed, that is your very nature. You consume and consume blindly, giving nothing in return. The fool that offers themselves to you will be destroyed utterly by your greed. What folly I labored under, you are Death after all." She said bitterly, determined to leave this world with no regrets, with nothing left unsaid.

Still, Thanatos did not speak, his eyes narrowed at her, as if struggling to place her.

"Enough is enough! How long will you haunt an innocent mortal? Elissa fears death like no other. She has suffered so much, lost so much at your hands… Do you believe, truly, that she would suffer your presence at her side if she knew what you were? Tear my tongue out for speaking the truth if you will, but stay _away_ from her!"

Finally, he broke his silence with words that cracked like thunder, "Forget not to whom you speak."

She bit her tongue, shaking with both the fear she suppressed as well as with the force of her outburst. When he stepped forward out of the shadows, she paled, her strength and anger dissipating.

"I have but to dispel the shadows that bind your form…" He raised a hand towards her as he spoke, in silent command. Her mouth fell open in a soundless scream as every cell in her body strained against itself. It felt as though every muscle, every inch of skin was tearing itself apart, eager to leave her. She could not summon the air to scream or will her mind to even produce the thought to move her tongue and beg him to stop.

He lowered his hand and she stumbled backwards, falling against the stone wall, clutching at her chest as she wheezed for breath. Her initial terror back in full force.

He stopped mere inches before her, towering over her hunched form, and she lowered her head, shuddering helplessly, unable to meet his eyes once more. She shrunk back further into the wall under his scrutiny, but could not escape him.

"Who do you serve?"

The unexpected question confused her to the point that she looked up, unthinkingly, allowing Thanatos to see the bewilderment in her eyes. She had never served anyone but him. Did he not know that? Or was there some underlying meaning to the question? Surely he had recognized the nature of her shadows? Recognized her as one of his own?

She had delayed too long in her answer, saw the note of displeasure in his blood-red eyes, and winced in anticipation of the pain to come when, without warning, the metal door leading into the tea shop creaked open and Levi stepped out.

She panicked. She needed to get him out of Thanatos' sight immediately. She straightened and dropped the hand clutching at her heart, knowing the only way to make him retreat to safety is to have him believe she was all right.

"Oi." He shot her an annoyed glance, "Do you like hanging out with trash or something? What are you doing out here?"

Slayte watched in helpless horror as Thanatos turned, invisible to Levi's mortal gaze, and his knowing vermillion eyes fell on Levi.

"I'm fine!" she burst out, startling Levi and drawing Thanatos' terrible eyes back to herself.

"I'm alright. I just need a breather. I'll be right in," she continued, hoping he would take the hint and leave.

She watched her beloved hesitate, trying to ascertain the truth with his piercing grey eyes and she stood straighter, steadied her breathing, met his eyes evenly, desperate to portray an illusion of normalcy. _Go away, go away, go away…_ she prayed.

"Hurry it up. It's late." Levi said finally, turning back inside and closing the door behind him. Thanatos' eyes followed the mortal with understanding when he felt a hand at his sleeve.

Slayte's eyes were glued to the floor and she quivered from head to toe. "Don't look at him," she whispered breathlessly. "Please."

She could not bring herself to meet his eyes. "He's mine. Elissa, too."

She dropped her hand as if burned and delivered her explanations to his feet. "I found them myself. They're my friends."

Thanatos noted with interest how this underworld nymph switched back-and-forth from underworld etiquette to mortal speak.

"I'm your servant. I served you for eight hundred years…" she began, finally answering the questions he had posed, "but in all that time, you didn't see me once, did you?" She flinched, as if fearing she was bordering on disrespect and punishment.

"But he… How long did I stand outside this tea shop? Was it even an hour? He saw me, he took me in." She felt tears pool in her eyes, "He wanted to know my name."

"You will live for time eternal, and I, for millennia. In that time, what will give meaning to our lives? I don't know. I'm often told my eight hundred years are nothing. I'm still a child." Her words echoed on the stone walls of the alleyways and Thanatos listened to her patiently.

"But look at these mortals. Look at what they have accomplished in these eight hundred years where I did nothing but... menial tasks in the underworld. They build houses they will never live in. Plant trees whose fruits they may never eat. They live desperately, giving everything for just one more day. What is one day to you? To me? Each day was as meaningless as the last. Not being able to die isn't the same as living, is it?"

"Their lives are so short," her tears streamed over her face, "but they go on fighting." She paused, drawing a heavy breath. "Please, her time hasn't come. She's my most precious friend. She wants so desperately to live. Just leave her be, I beg of you."

The tense silence hanging in the air between them was broken only by the sound of her uneven, shaky breaths.

"I know, I am meant to serve you. You must want to punish me, or send me back to the underworld, but I implore you."

She tried to lift her eyes to meet his, but gave up and her eyes caught on his ringed fingers instead. "You are an immortal. What is one mortal lifespan to you? Please, that's all I ask. Allow me this reprieve of one mortal lifespan with those I love more dearly than this world and all within it. I assure you, there can be no greater punishment for me than the millennia I must endure after they die."

She was spent, weary, and exhausted. She had said everything there was to say and could do nothing but await his judgment now.

"They will all be mine, in the end." His deep, calm voice spoke the bitter truth.

"That one," he added, as if in warning, "he will never know Elysium."

She closed her eyes in resignation, prompting him to say, "You know this."

She sighed, and nodded miserably. "He is still alive," she whispered, "there must be something he can do."

"A thief, and a murderer…" Itachi trailed off, allowing the information to dawn on her but she did not seem surprised. "It isn't feasible."

"Please, there must be something. Anything."

The god of death's eyes fell on the forlorn nymph with newfound understanding. She was a fugitive. She had sought shelter on the surface and foolishly chosen to give her heart to a mortal. She wasn't a pawn in the scheme playing out on the surface… yet. Which meant she was invisible to the enemy. And she _was_ his servant.

"Forgiveness," he answered simply. "He requires the forgiveness of all those he has wronged." After a brief pause, he added, "There are many."

Slayte nodded, grateful beyond words that he had mercifully chosen to divulge that information.

She felt the shadow looming over her retreating as Thanatos stepped backwards.

"If you wish to protect Angelissa, then stand before any opponent, the way you stood before me today."

Her head shot up and she met his eyes despite herself. Itachi regarded the look of determination in her dark irises with satisfaction. It seemed, the very mention of her friend was enough to spark a furious fire within her.

"I leave you in the mortal realm under that condition. Stay by her side."

Slayte searched his eyes, confused. Did he seek to protect Elissa?

His voice echoed in the dark alleyway, reverberating off the stone walls as his being seemed to fade to shadow, only those scarlet eyes still burned into her mind's eye. She sunk to the ground, feeling the muddy rainwater seep into her clothes but she couldn't bring herself to care.

Elissa desperately needed an ally. Had they found an ally in the most unlikely of places?


	14. Part XIII: Fate's Summons

* * *

**Part XIII: Fate's Summons**

* * *

Elissa's heart pounded as she made her way to the riverbank, marching with all the purpose of a soldier on a fatalistic mission. She had tried, unsuccessfully, for the whole duration of two days, to find Slayte and speak to her. But her visits to the Tea Shop had proven unsuccessful. A near-exasperated Levi had informed her that Slayte wasn't available to talk. She hadn't returned any of Elissa's calls, and only replied to one message with the words: _'I need space.'_

Frustrated beyond measure, and nearly out of her wits with worry, Elissa had finally taken the decision to seek Itachi out again for the answers her best friend was so stubbornly refusing to give to her. If Slayte wouldn't tell her what was going on, then she had no choice but to confront Itachi about it.

She recalled his lack of reaction to witnessing Slayte running from him. His remarkable absence of surprise. A chill ran down her spine, as she remembered the warnings a panicked Slayte had given to her over the phone.

" _No. NO. Nothing about him is kind, Elissa! He is cruel. He's heartless. You need to stay away! Don't let him reel you in. It's what he does - until he breaks you. If he doesn't kill you first!"_

She bit her lower lip anxiously. Every word filled her with increased trepidation.

" _He'll be the end of you! Cut him off! You have to, you need to cut him out! He's nothing but bad news. His spending time with you - it means something terrible is about to happen! I just know it!"_

" _He isn't someone you want to be friends with!"_

Her pulse hurtled faster still, as she drew closer to the familiar cluster of oak trees by the river's edge where she usually encountered him, where they had spent so many prior weeks meeting and conversing. He was there, as she had both hoped and dreaded, arms folded, leaning elegantly and effortlessly back against the trunk of the tree. The late afternoon sunshine filtered through the leafy canopy above him, highlighting his long, bound silky hair in places, making the strands appear almost a dark hue of brown as opposed to their usual black. He was masked and mysterious, beautiful and otherworldly. And he was standing as though he was waiting for her. Almost as though he had anticipated and expected her coming.

Elissa's throat grew dry as she once again questioned how it was that they were able to meet each other so often, with no verbal pre-agreements. How he seemed to know exactly when to show up. Had he come the previous two days, too, she wondered? Had he noticed her absence? These were questions she wanted to know the answers to, but knew not how to ask him. She didn't want him thinking that she was strange - or worse - thinking often of him when they were apart.

She'd had in mind to charge right up to him and demand answers. But Slayte's warnings about him being dangerous caused her to draw to a stop much further away than she normally would. The distance between them meant that she would have to raise her voice to speak to him.

He turned his head, and straightened formally upon catching sight of her. Somehow, without making his own tone any louder, he addressed her, voice all calm politeness and rich, dark seduction.

"Angelissa."

Elissa felt her entire body tense as fathomless onyx eyes locked onto her, signalling that she had his full and undivided attention. She stared hard at him. Shisui was nowhere to be found, she noted. They were alone.

Gripping tightly onto the strap of her bag, she began directly, "Why did Slayte run away from you?"

She wanted to hear his side of the account first, before jumping into accusations. She didn't even know what terrible things he had done because Slayte refused to tell her. It was wiser to be cautious.

"Do you know her?" Elissa pressed. "I mean, before you met her yesterday. Was she familiar to you?"

There was a pause. Finally, Itachi answered. "No."

Elissa's confusion only grew. One of them had to be lying. And given that she had known her best friend for years, and Itachi for mere months, her instinct told her to be wary, and to believe Slayte.

"Are you telling me the truth?" Her voice wavered. "You're saying you _don't_ know her? Because she definitely knows you from the past. She recognised you. She wouldn't have reacted the way she did, unless she was sure!"

Itachi was silent. Then he supplied, "I believe that your... friend ...was a servant to our household. I did not know her by name, or in any other capacity than this."

Elissa's eyes widened. Slayte had served in his household? She'd failed to mention that! A nameless servant girl to Itachi and his presumably wealthy family? Her mind sprinted.

"So it's true!" she exclaimed, unable to keep the accusatory tone out of her voice. "She really _was_ in love with you, but you never even bothered to know her name, and that broke her heart!"

"..." Itachi merely listened to this admission in silence, offering no comment or visible reaction.

"What else happened between you?" Elissa gestured. "If you didn't know her, why would she run away like that? Why is she so afraid of you, Itachi?"

Itachi seemed to consider this, and tilted his head slightly. "I know not why she fled, Angelissa," he offered, his words ringing sincerely in the space between them.

Elissa struggled to believe that. "Slayte was so spooked, she's refused to speak to me the last two days!" Wringing her hands together, she went on anxiously, "She was saying something about you finding her, about you being dangerous - she's telling me to stay away from you. She says that - that you're bad news, you do bad things, that you're cruel and heartless, and that if I keep meeting with you, something awful will happen."

Itachi listened intently to her words. He could see the fear and uncertainty gripping the young woman, in the way her petite shoulders were hunched up, almost protectively, almost as if she were trying to shield herself from hearing something she did not wish to know.

"Is she right?" she near-whispered, not knowing whether he could hear her or not - but somehow he did. "Are you dangerous, Itachi? Do you-" she could scarcely form the words, so terrible and wrong they sounded to her own ears. "Have you been talking to me because you want to _hurt_ me?"

Itachi blinked. He was silent for another long moment, his eyes fixed unwaveringly onto her. At length, he said, "I once told you to trust your instincts."

She remembered the advice he had given to her. "Yes," she managed to nod. "You did..."

"And," he went on gently, making a point once again to her, in the wise, patient way she had grown so accustomed to, "what do they tell you now?"

Elissa could feel her body trembling. She hugged herself tightly, trying to keep her emotions in check - even when she could feel them slipping rapidly out of her control. As she gazed upon him, she realised, once more, that for all their deep, meaningful conversations, she still knew so _little_ about him. She didn't even know what he truly looked like. His last name. Where he lived, exactly. Frustration and desperation welled up within her.

"You told me you're against violence in any form," she answered shakily. "I just can't believe that you'd want to hurt me - that you could hurt anyone - but Slayte says-"

"You wish to make your own decisions," Itachi reminded her, taking a careful, measured step forward. When she did not instantly retreat, he took another, stopping after the third. Elissa tensed. There was still enough of a distance between them that she could turn and bolt away if required - but he was now close enough for her to catch the sunlight illuminating his eyes beneath the mask, making them appear more stormy grey than impossible onyx. She quietly caught her breath. From what she could glimpse beneath the openings of the mask, his long-lashed eyes were truly beautiful.

"Is that not so…?" he added silkily, his words hanging heavily in the air between them.

She recalled confiding that to him, too. He knew so much about her. But what did she know about him? She shook her head. The words were meant to be reassuring - but she felt anything _but_ assured. "Then why is she telling me those things?" she whispered. "Why would she say you're dangerous, and warn me to stay away from you? She'd never say that, unless she had a good reason."

"People live their lives bound by what they accept as correct and true," Itachi stated cryptically, his words wrapping around her like a dark caress. "Your friend has formed her own reality, based on her own perceptions. But one person's reality may be a mirage; they may be living in their own world, shaped by their own beliefs - failing to recognise that of others."

Elissa blinked, bewildered. His words, as always, seemed to weave a strange spell upon her senses, making it difficult to counter or argue against him. For a few seconds, she struggled to think at all. Then anger flared to life within her, stemmed from her deep-rooted loyalty to her best friend.

"Are you calling Slayte a _liar?_ " she demanded, affronted by such an insinuation. "She loved you. And you broke her heart, by not even knowing she existed-!"

"How can one love," Itachi interrupted gently, "what one does not know?"

Elissa stared at him, unable to find a suitable counter response to a very valid, rational point.

"Who," he added, taking another deliberate step forward, "is the one at fault, Angelissa?"

His words gently steered her toward thinking more deeply over the matter. To consider all angles, rather than one. To recognise that things were not only black and white - but that greys existed in perception, too.

"I-" she began, feeling muddled, once again vulnerable before the weight of his stare. It was as though his piercing eyes were seeing right through her - and as though his words were removing a shroud away from the obscurity of her thoughts. She found herself suddenly questioning Slayte's account of him. If Itachi hadn't known her personally, how could he have broken her heart? How could she have been so in love with someone she barely knew, as Itachi had claimed? Was it Itachi's fault she had fallen for him? How could it have been, when he hadn't even known Slayte's name?

"I don't understand," Elissa's voice dropped. "It doesn't make any sense. She must have been terrified because of _something_." Her eyes took in his regal form. He was near enough to close the gap between them in three swift strides if he so chose - but Itachi didn't take another step. He stood, tall and magnificent, against a backdrop of waning sunlight, the pleasant breeze stirring his long hair and the ends of his cloak around him.

"Who are you, really…?" she whispered, staring hard at him, as if hoping that the harder she looked, the more she could unravel. "Who do you work for? Why are we even meeting like this, if you're really a private investigator?" The more questions she asked, the faster her heart began to pound, sending quakes radiating from the core of her body. "How do you know exactly _when_ to meet me?"

"..." Itachi was once again silent. His eyes held hers, his expression indecipherable.

"Why are there things you won't tell me?" Elissa dared to step forward, her frustration overriding her sense of fear. "The most basic things… like how old you are. Your masks… what did you mean that it would be fatal to remove them?" She stepped forward again, until they were only an arm's reach apart. "I just don't understand. There's something about you. Something I feel you're not telling me. And Slayte is convinced something bad is going to happen if I do keep meeting you. Why is she telling me that? Why is she afraid of you, Itachi?"

"You ask me many questions, when you have already chosen the answers for yourself," he responded levelly. "What if mine don't match the ones you've decided upon?"

Her lips parted. She stared up at him, eyebrows knotting together, at a loss for words as she tried to figure out the meaning behind his.

"Itachi," she began, puzzled. "I really don't-"

As if he clearly read the bewilderment on her face, Itachi supplied patiently, "One can only pour into an empty cup. Yours… is overflowing."

Elissa stored the words in her mind, telling herself she would have to try to decipher them later. It was almost impossible to focus fully on decoding anything, when he stood right before her, speaking in riddles that challenged her so.

He stepped back, and as he did so, a crow cawed above them. Elissa watched, in amazement, as the black bird swooped gracefully down and settled right upon Itachi's left shoulder.

That… she thought to herself, that was no ordinary behaviour. Birds didn't just land on people's arms like that, with such faith and trust, surely. She watched Itachi tilt his head slightly, as if listening to the creature. Gently, he ran a finger along its feathered wing. The care in his actions once again made her question how one so kind to animals could possibly be dangerous or bad in any way, shape or form.

"I bid you good eve, Angelissa," he said softly, turning away to depart.

"Wait!" She darted forward unthinkingly, and before she realised what she had done, found her right hand clutching onto the fabric of his cloak to halt him. It felt luxurious beneath her fingertips - another sure indication of what she was certain was his high status.

He paused and angled a glance down at her over a broad shoulder, his long hair cascading down his back like a dark river of silk. Waiting for her to speak further.

"You won't tell me why she's so afraid of you?" she shook her head. "Are you just going to leave, answering nothing that I asked?"

"..." He was silent for another long moment, his eyes searching hers. Elissa's heart drummed within her chest. She had never held anyone's gaze for as long as Itachi's held hers. Then he murmured quietly, "Fear is no more than a state of mind. Return home, Angelissa. Before night falls."

With that, the cloak somehow slipped right out of her grasp without Elissa even consciously letting go, passing through her fingers like shadows. She looked down in alarm, wondering how that had happened - and then glanced back up, watching, troubled, unhappy and uncertain, as he walked away. The setting sun then hit her eyes, making her briefly squint and shield her vision - and when she looked back, he had already vanished out of her sight, strangely nowhere to be found around her.

* * *

Levi glanced up as the bell above the door rang loudly, signalling that someone had pushed the front door open with more force than was necessary. He blinked, finding a familiar brunette trooping toward him. Her long hair was drawn back in a lively ponytail, and she wore a lilac bardot top, light blue skinny jeans and flat lilac sandals. The star pendant necklace Slayte had given to her for her last birthday hung around her neck, and hooped silver earrings adorned her ears.

Elissa grabbed a bar stool, dragged it beside the cashier counter he was stationed behind, and sat on it with purpose, crossing her legs and leaning her elbows onto the countertop pointedly.

"Oi," Levi regarded her, eyes narrowing in disapproval. "Aren't you meant to be at work?"

"I called in sick," she deadpanned.

"You're fine," he responded suspiciously. Elissa's cheeks were glowing with the vitality of youth. She didn't even appear remotely unwell.

"Yeah, I am. But I know Slayte's out shopping for supplies this morning, and since she's been avoiding me for _three days_ now, I had to take matters into my own hands." She paused, before adding, "If I get fired, you can give me a job."

"Tch," Levi dismissed, not a yes, and not a no.

"Can I have an iced-latte?" Elissa added hopefully.

"Make one yourself. Kitchen's in the back," Levi nodded curtly.

"But you make it so much better-" Elissa started to protest. At Levi's immovable expression, she sighed. "Fine…" she reluctantly conceded, and slipped off the stool, heading into the kitchen. "So much for great service…"

"I heard that," he quipped behind her. "You get enough on the house already."

"Best friend perks," Elissa sang back, as she stepped into the small kitchen area and grabbed a glass from a rack. "Slayte can be so frustrating, can't she?" she complained to her best friend's boyfriend. "She just overreacts so much, and then she won't even explain why. She just… runs away."

Silence met her. She wondered if Levi even understood what she was saying, whether he noticed those traits too.

"I've been out of my mind with worry," she continued, knowing he was listening. "Has she been alright?"

"She's being stupidly quiet," Levi's voice answered. "You had another fight, what do you expect?"

Elissa frowned down at the glass as she prepared the ice and milk for her cold coffee. Once the drink was complete, she grabbed a straw, dunking it into the glass.

"Do you want a latte?" she offered.

"No. Make sure you clean up your mess," Levi instructed.

"Yeah, yeah," Elissa muttered to herself, washing up the cutlery and ensuring the sink and worktops were wiped over and free of any specks of water, the precise way Levi liked them to be. She then rejoined him in the front, sitting back down onto her stool as she sipped on her drink.

She watched Levi carefully prepare a fresh set of muffins in their plate behind the glass display area in the front counter. Her stomach growled. Blueberry was her favourite, and those happened to be the exact ones he was taking out.

"How much are those muffins again?" she began.

Levi paused. With a deep sigh, he then lifted one out, and turned, depositing it in front of her. She grinned widely.

"You're just the _best_ , Levi," she complimented. He grunted in response. Elissa munched on the delicious muffin, keeping an eye on the front door, as she confided, "It was such a stupid argument. She was so worked up, and I was trying to calm her down. All over this guy she doesn't think I should be hanging out with."

Levi blinked. Elissa was seeing someone? This was news to him.

"Since when?" he asked nonchalantly, keeping his eyes fixed on the treats he was impeccably arranging.

"I've known him for about two months," Elissa shrugged. "We're just friends. And I think Slayte knows him from the past, or so she says. He told me she used to work for him."

Levi paused at this. Slayte had worked with another employer? This struck him as odd, given the state he had found her in, but he said nothing.

Elissa left out the part about her best friend being madly in love with and having her heart broken by Itachi. Somehow, she didn't think that would be very appropriate to tell her present boyfriend - even if Itachi had made it clear he hadn't realised Slayte had really existed, and had clearly been ignorant of her feelings for him. "Anyway, she went all hysterical on me after he walked me home the other night, and she saw him. Said something about him being dangerous, and how I need to stay away from him."

"She'd have reasons," Levi supplied.

"That's fine, but she doesn't _say_ what those are," Elissa gestured in frustration. "Just leaves you guessing. Like, imagine me telling you, something bad's going to happen to your Tea Shop, but I don't say what. Wouldn't that just drive you completely insane? Isn't that just so unfair?"

"Slayte is...Slayte," he stated simply.

At that, the front bell chimed, and they both looked up to find the woman in question bustling in, carrying paper bags full of fresh produce. She wore black skinny jeans and a plain black T-shirt; her regular work attire. Her long, silky dark hair had been twisted back into a messy bun.

"I'm back," she said. "I brought the extra mint, just like you…" her voice trailed off, as her eyes caught sight of Elissa, sitting behind the counter. She blanched. "A-Elissa," she stammered in surprise. "What are you doing here? You have work."

"I skipped it," Elissa's eyes narrowed. "Are you going to run off and ignore me again, or are we going to talk?"

"Oi. Give me the bags." Levi ordered, stepping around the counter to take them off his girlfriend. "Go upstairs and sort your shit out."

"But my shift…" Slayte began to argue weakly, desperate for Levi to bail her out of the encounter she had dreaded having.

She had no such luck.

"I've got it. Beat it," he quipped.

Slayte hesitated, her eyes flicking nervously onto an expectant, resolute Elissa. Finding no way out, she finally relented and made her way upstairs, followed by her best friend. They headed up to the rooftop. It was a gloriously sunny day, with no clouds in sight in the perfectly blue morning sky.

Elissa shook her head as she turned to face her friend. "Three days of ignoring me? Really, Slayte? Do you have any idea how _worried_ I've been about you?"

Slayte's head bowed, as guilt flooded through her.

"After everything you said, you totally freaked me out," Elissa continued, visibly upset. "I can't believe you avoided me like that. That wasn't fair. I didn't mean to upset you on purpose. I've been hanging out with him for weeks, and he seemed totally fine. I really didn't think that Itachi was the same guy."

"It's fine," Slayte said uncomfortably. "Don't worry about it, Elissa."

"Are you serious?" Elissa scowled at her. "After everything you said, after avoiding me for three days straight, you want to just brush this aside like it's nothing?"

"I-" Slayte hesitated. "Maybe I overreacted a little."

Elissa gaped at her in disbelief. "A little? You made it sound like he's going to kill me. Like he's some dangerous psychopath who hurts people, or something-!"

"He _is_ dangerous," Slayte insisted, meeting her eyes with conviction. "People have died at his hands. You need to know that. You _deserve_ to know that."

Elissa's heart leapt to her throat. She looked equal parts horrified and bewildered. "So he's some kind of-" she struggled to get the word out, "murderer? Is that what you're saying? He _kills_ people?"

She just couldn't imagine how someone so gentle could be so callous and deadly. He'd told her about his brother. He'd comforted her about her sister. He'd written the names of Ancient Greek deities in the ancient alphabet in her notebook for her. Sat by her side for hours at a time and patiently listened to all her stories and conversations. How was it possible that he could be so ruthless? Even as Slayte was saying the words to her, she was remembering Itachi's.

" _One can only pour into an empty cup. Yours… is overflowing."_

She'd spent days at work and restless nights tossing and turning, deliberating over the meaning behind his cryptic words. Had he meant her mind was already filled with preconceived concepts about him? Because of Slayte's influence? But why would her best friend, who clearly knew him from the past, seek to mislead her? Calling someone a killer was a huge accusation. There was no way Slayte would say it, if it wasn't true. Her heart skipped unpleasantly. She couldn't compromise the image of the kind, patient Itachi she knew with what Slayte was telling her.

"It…" Slayte licked her lips, and selected her words carefully. "It sort of comes with his job."

"As a private investigator?" Elissa pressed. "You mean he's killed criminals?"

Desperate to throw her best friend off, and terrified that she might blurt out too much - and the repercussions this would have on her best friend - Slayte answered evasively, "Something like that."

Elissa didn't know what to think. A nagging whisper of fear had settled in her mind. Itachi always avoided answering too much about himself. Was that to protect him - or her? And if he sought to protect her from knowing too much, then how was it that he was dangerous to her? They'd sat together, immersed in deep, stimulating conversations, for weeks. She'd shared muffins and fruits and sweet-treats with him. He had not once, in the course of their acquaintance together, raised his voice, or shown even a sliver of any anger toward her. Nothing but perfect manners, politeness and kindness had followed their interactions.

She just couldn't _understand_ it.

"What's he done to you, apart from not knowing you existed?" Elissa demanded.

Slayte flinched outwardly at that, reminded of the pain of being invisible, the failure of her past.

"I asked him about it. He said he didn't even know your name," she continued. "Slayte, he didn't _know_ you were in love with him."

Slayte's eyes widened with horror. "You _told_ him?" she squeaked, feeling sudden heat blaze into her cheeks.

"I told him he broke your heart, but he had no idea about it," Elissa exclaimed.

"I can't believe you _told_ him, Elissa!" Slayte cried, deeply embarrassed, covering her burning face with her hands in despair. Now Thanatos knew of her previous affections for him. She was utterly mortified. What he had to think of her, now!

"What was I meant to do?" Elissa retorted. "You were ignoring me! I had no choice but to confront him about it, and he had no idea why you ran off the way you did."

"Oh, didn't he?" Slayte mumbled, thinking of the way he had followed and threatened her afterwards. She couldn't tell her best friend about that, or risk Thanatos's further displeasure. After all, he had spared her any punishment on the condition she remained by Elissa's side and protected her. Turning Elissa against him, or scaring her off any further, Slayte knew, was probably not part of their agreement.

Her eyes turned to her dear friend, examining her pretty features as she wondered, once more, what the stoic, aloof Thanatos could possibly want with a mortal, if not to kill or otherwise harm her. He had refused to answer Slayte when she'd confronted him about it. As expected, of a deity as lofty as he was in position; the gods did not answer or speak their intentions to lowly lampads. But even despite Itachi's apparent wish to ensure Elissa was protected, Slayte couldn't help but continue to feel apprehensive. Why Elissa, specifically? What did he want from her, that would warrant him taking the time to walk with her, talk with her?

She could only find out from the God of Death himself. Slayte inwardly groaned. How was she ever to face Thanatos again, now? She had moved on, found true love with Levi - but that made her past no less shameful, no less humiliating. She had hoped he would never know of her foolish, hopeless pining for him.

"He said he only knew you worked for his family. You never told me you did!" Elissa's voice drew her out of her internal, troubled musings.

Slayte sucked in a sharp breath. "He _told_ you that?" she questioned, her dark eyes wide with alarm.

Elissa folded her arms. "So it's true," she frowned.

"I-," Slayte floundered, wanting to be done with the conversation as quickly as possible - while also wanting to be as open as she could, because Elissa deserved to know the truth, or as close to it as she was able to disclose. "Yes. I used to work for him. Elissa, the truth is, his entire family is involved in… shady… underground... dealings. That's as much of the truth I can say. I ran away because I didn't want to be in that kind of environment anymore."

"Shady underground dealings?" Elissa echoed. "Are they like… mafia, or something? Hired assassins?"

Slayte let out a nervous laugh. She didn't know what the _mafia_ was. The term was unfamiliar to her. So she chanced, "I suppose so, Elissa. I can't really talk about them, or say anything else. For both our safety."

"No way…" Elissa exhaled, stunned. Itachi… was some kind of hit-man? He and Shisui _had_ told her they were private investigators looking into things in her town, and couldn't release much more details about themselves. Probably because they didn't wish to be caught. That also explained the masks. The pieces clicked into place in her head, and she realised that everything strange and evasive about them suddenly made sense. It seemed an odd choice of profession for someone who claimed to be so against violence of any sort. But regardless - it meant that Slayte was right. It meant that Itachi _was_ perilous - perhaps not in intentions to her directly - but certainly toward others.

She felt discomfort crawl over her. Suddenly, the idea of meeting him alone again struck her with uncertainty. It seemed even more strange that someone in such a deadly business would choose to stop and converse with her and would tell her his name. Her head spun. She wasn't sure what to make of him, anymore.

"Just…" Slayte went on reluctantly. "I kind of overreacted a bit, as I said. I don't think he's going to hurt _you_ , Elissa, and whether you keep seeing him or not is up to you but… you should at least know all the facts about him first. And the fact is, he is involved in dangerous things. And that made me freak out, and panic. I assumed the worst, because people he's usually around... bad things do end up happening to them. But," she regarded Elissa, "you're still alive after meeting him for weeks, so I guess… if he wanted to hurt you, he would have by now.

And," she added sincerely, "I was afraid, because I ran away from him and his family and thought, given everything, he'd be angry that I did… but he didn't even notice, or know me, so…" her voice trailed off, ending with a miserable mumble.

"I guess that's why he has a different name now…" Elissa deduced. Though Itachi had told her that she knew their real names - perhaps those were only the real names they adopted at present? "What did you know him as?" she asked Slayte curiously.

"Ah," Slayte tensed. She hadn't prepared herself to answer such a question. Thanatos. She couldn't give his deity name. Elissa would immediately grow suspicious given her knowledge of Greek Mythology and the Underworld. "He was…" she fumbled. "Thane!" she blurted out.

"Thane?" Elissa repeated, frowning. "Is _that_ his real name?" She thought Itachi suited him a lot better.

"No. I don't know," Slayte waved off the question. "I was just a servant. Maybe he had another name, but that's what we addressed him as."

Elissa gave her a long, searching look. "Well," she finally conceded. "Okay." She then shook her head. "You could have just told me all this from the start. God, Slayte," she sighed wearily to the heavens. "You're such a dramatic mess."

"I'm sorry," Slayte said sincerely. "I'm so sorry that I screamed at you like that. You're just so important to me, I panic if I think you're in danger, and I know I get a bit much, and-"

She broke off. Elissa had stepped forward, and wrapped her into a hug. Slayte bit back the choked sound that threatened to escape her throat, as she gripped onto her best friend tightly. Praying to whatever deity that cared to listen, that her friend would be safe, that Thanatos would really leave her unharmed.

"You get way too much," Elissa muttered affectionately. "Just don't ignore me like that again… okay? You need to not run away from your problems. We're best friends. Just talk to me."

"Okay," Slayte agreed against her shoulder. When Elissa finally pulled back, her dark-haired friend began hesitantly, dread written in her eyes, "So… are you going to keep meeting with him?"

Elissa's gaze lowered, as she tried to process her thoughts. She had even more questions for Itachi than ever before - even if Slayte's answers had cleared up much of the mystery around him and Shisui. But the thought of seeing him again filled her with apprehension. She had just learned that he - and his entire family, for that matter - were involved in questionable, dark dealings. Was she afraid? She knew she ought to be. Even if he had never done anything to warrant _her_ fearing him directly - people had still died at his hands, by Slayte's account. That made him inherently dangerous. Unpredictable.

What secrets lay beneath that kind, gentle exterior? Why had he told her, then, that he was so opposed to violence, if his very profession dictated it?

Of course he hadn't chosen to tell her any of those things about himself. He hadn't wanted to frighten her, most likely. And yet, Elissa knew that a part of her _was_ afraid. How many people had died at his hands? How had they died? Every life was precious. How did he justify his line of work? She couldn't possibly accept it. The thought of him ending a life caused her heart to pound, made her feel sick to the stomach with dread and horror.

Did she want to find out? Could she even face him again, knowing what she now did about him? Surely someone like that was lethal to be around? Surely the right thing to do was to stay away for good? To stop filling her head with fanciful notions that they had established a connection, a friendship of sorts, to stop believing that he enjoyed her company as much as she had come to look forward to his.

She knew what her common sense was telling her. But her thought-provoking interactions with him had been so at odds with the picture painted to her by Slayte. She felt conflicted - but disturbed enough to decide that she wouldn't be returning to the river's edge to speak with him again anytime soon. She needed to come to terms with Slayte's shocking revelations. She needed space. They had been meeting so often, it had become a habit. She needed to put distance between them - and she didn't think it would be a good idea to meet him by herself, anymore.

" _Fear is no more than a state of mind."_

Pushing his words out of her head, she replied to Slayte, "No. Even if he hasn't hurt me, he's still hurt others, right? I just- I'm not okay with that. I get why you said he's dangerous, now. But it really just doesn't make any sense." She looked at Slayte, her expression troubled. "He doesn't seem to be anything like that when I speak to him. He's gentle and polite and he doesn't even hurt animals…" she broke off, shaking her head again. "There's too much I don't know about him, and now I know why. I don't think I'm comfortable with seeing him alone, anymore, knowing what he's involved in. I just don't understand why someone like that would waste any time talking to me, though, if he wasn't getting something out of it. That scares me, Slayte. I don't want to think about it anymore now… my head hurts."

"Let's go down. I'll make you another drink," Slayte offered.

As the girls went back inside, Slayte felt a quiver of fear run through her, as she internally questioned, once more, the nature of Thanatos's interactions with her best friend.

* * *

In the two weeks that passed since Elissa and Slayte's reconciliation, life resumed a sense of normality. Elissa gave her best at a job she was consistently underappreciated at, while working hard on her story in her free time. Slayte was as devoted as ever in caring for her friends, and Vetty further established her place as a lovable menace in the lives of the three.

Little changes, such as the way Elissa went straight home after work and no longer lingered by the riverside, or the way Slayte woke long before the crack of dawn to prepare the shop for the day's customers and then headed out of doors before Levi even so much as woke for the day, went largely unnoticed. Sure, the irritable owner of the tea shop frowned when he opened his eyes to find the other side of the bed empty. It irked him to make one cup of tea in the mornings, instead of two, just as it bothered him that she had thoroughly prepped the store for opening, and there was nothing he could make snide remarks on, upon her return. He accepted it, however, knowing that Slayte was someone who needed her freedom, someone who, he assumed, had been deprived of it for much of her life.

It was on just one such day that Slayte made her way up the winding walkway leading towards Canterbury's most prestigious nursing home. She watched the dark sky lighten slowly, the light of the rising sun doggedly chasing away the sleeping shadows of the night before.

She pushed open the heavy mahogany double doors and, gathering courage, approached the reception.

"Oh, Miss Rivaille, you're so early." The friendly blonde receptionist at the counter smiled at the raven-haired woman shifting awkwardly in front of the counter.

"Good morning. Is Mrs. Maygold available?" Slayte questioned politely. "She's an early riser," she added, hoping it wouldn't seem odd for her to seek out the older woman at seven in the morning.

"I'm here, my dear," a warm voice, stiff with age but honeyed with a lifetime of kindness, spoke from behind her.

Slayte turned to the older woman, relieved to see her merry blue eyes twinkling up at her with an amused smile. Her white hair was curled with care, falling into neat ringlets at her shoulders.

"I've been waiting for you." There was a scolding note in her voice that Slayte had learned was only in jest. "Shall we go for our walk?"

Slayte nodded, approaching the older woman with considerably more confidence than she had two weeks ago.

"Mrs. Maygold!" The receptionist cut in with dismay, "You haven't even had breakfast yet!"

"Oh, put a sock in it," the older woman chided sharply, "How long do you think I've been awake already? I'm like a plant these days. The sunlight is my food." Apparently, the older woman found her own comment particularly humorous, because she chuckled to herself.

"I've been waiting all morning for this young lady, so be off with you, young 'un. Miss Rivaille is a working woman; she doesn't have all day for me." With a tut, the elderly woman turned her face from the receptionist in disapproval.

"Come, Miss Rivaille," she commanded, rolling her wheelchair towards the front doors. Slayte nodded awkwardly at the disgruntled receptionist in parting and rushed after the older woman.

The brisk, morning air filled their lungs as they stepped out into the gardens. Slayte took hold of the woman's wheelchair comfortably, a habit they had developed over the course of their brief acquaintanceship as they meandered pleasantly through the winding paths among the trees.

"I hope you weren't waiting long, Mrs. Maygold," Slayte offered sincerely.

"Oh, fiddlesticks. I'm always awake these days. It feels a waste to sleep."

Slayte hummed in agreement and rolled the chair smoothly around an overlooking tree root. The sunlight filtered through the leaves overhead and nearby swallows indulged them with pleasant birdsong.

"I greatly enjoy your company, my dear. Thank you for coming to see me." The sincere gratitude in Mrs. Maygold's voice gave Slayte a sinking sensation of guilt.

"You are such a charmer, Mrs. Maygold," she deflected teasingly, "I look forward to seeing you all day."

The elderly woman laughed, as Slayte had hoped she would, and Slayte smiled to herself as they turned the bend.

"If my grandson were still alive, I'm sure he would be visiting me," she sighed wistfully. Unease crept up Slayte's spine as she silently regarded the frail senior.

"You must have loved him very much," Slayte provided quietly.

"He was a gem. So precious, my little Hayes." Slayte watched the woman's posture straighten as she began speaking animatedly about her grandson. "He had this shock of bright red hair, almost unnatural. As a little boy, he could talk for hours on end about pirates. He knew everything there was to know about them. Absolutely fascinated. I planned his seventh birthday party for him, made him a fabulous cake shaped like a pirate ship. He loved it! I will never forget the look on his face. Ecstatic, he was."

The faroff smile that graced the aging woman's features sent trepidation through Slayte's heart. What was she hoping for? A callous, selfish mission to hurt this kind woman's heart and heal her own.

Not for the first time, Slayte bit her tongue, reigning in what she wished to say, listening instead to the delight in the woman's voice as she reminisced about her adorable grandson. Her tones rose and fell as the woman retold, enraptured, the tales of his birth, his childhood, how much he had loved her, his grandmother- carefully omitting how much she, in turn, loved him, for fear the joyous tale would drown in tears.

They walked slowly down the sunlit path, the elderly woman consumed by radiant recollections of the past, and Slayte haunted by terrifying visions of the future. As they neared the halfway point of their morning stroll, passing by a glimmering pond where quacking ducks disturbed the morning calm as they floated lazily by, the two women fell silent.

"Miss Rivaille," the sudden address brought Slayte back to the present.

"Yes, Mrs. Maygold?"

"I am sure you came here for a reason. It's been two weeks and you haven't said a word about it. Always listening to me rambling so patiently." There was a note of determination in the elder's voice, as if she knew that Slayte's request was going to be unpleasant.

Slayte hesitated, slowing to a stop by the water's surface.

"I do have a request, Mrs. Maygold, albeit an unkind one. I come here every day to beg a favor, but I lose heart to ask it when listening to you." Slayte admitted honestly, taking in the picturesque glittering of the water's surface in the early sunlight, more resplendent and more beautifully crafted than any jeweller's finest diamond.

Mrs. Maygold reached up to pat Slayte's hand reassuringly, "Go on and ask, my dear, the worst I can say is no."

Slayte frowned, the worst could indeed be far worse than a simple no, but she gathered her courage anyway, stepping around the kind, old woman to face her and knelt, in acknowledgment of her advanced age and her heartbreak. Slayte spied a passing shadow, a wisp of blackness, brush past the old woman's hands and she took them into her own, hoping to dispel death's summons.

Not looking up at those patient azure eyes, Slayte held onto her hands firmly, passing her own warmth into the woman's cool ones.

"Can you forgive him, Mrs. Maygold?"

The words escaped her in a pleading whisper, her determination shaken by the grief the grandmother had shared with her over the last two weeks.

"Please, I beg of you."

Heather Maygold narrowed her eyes at the lowered head. Slayte's expression was veiled by a curtain of her black hair but the desperate way she clung to her hands was proof enough of her sincerity, her distress.

"That young man?" she answered finally.

Her advanced age had been lonely for the most part. Her husband had died early, her children lived far away on the other side of England. Her grandchild had been killed nearly eighteen years ago. She had spent her life in devotion to her family and of the few friends she had made, many had passed on before her and those that remained she did not wish to see in her condition.

Slayte's unexpected appearance as a volunteer, awkward and antisocial at first, in stark contrast to her role, had been a pleasant distraction from what she felt was the culmination of her life, fast approaching. She had suspected, of course, that Slayte had her own intentions for volunteering at the nursery home. A suspicion confirmed, when the young woman seemed to take no interest in anyone but herself.

She sighed. She had thought all the weighty and painful decisions in life had been made and she could go on in peace, now. Apparently, she stood corrected.

"I know my grandson would not be visiting me, even if he were alive," she confessed at last, wearily.

Slayte looked up in surprise, for the past two weeks, the elderly woman had unfailingly claimed otherwise.

"He got in with the wrong crowd and faster than we could have thought, he became unrecognizable to us. We always hoped he'd find the bend, realize the error of his ways, and come back to us, but he only ever visited home to ask for money... and then steal the difference from his parent's pocketbooks. Still… we never gave up hope."

The disillusioned admittance was met with silence from Slayte's part, listening patiently.

"If he were alive, I doubt he would know where I am, that he would even think to look for me. I'm old enough to accept now, that that is the truth. He had chosen his path."

Not sure how else to comfort her, Slayte patted the wrinkled hands in what she hoped was an empathetic gesture. She felt guilty to be reopening her wounds this way.

"What is he to you?" the elderly woman asked finally, and the question struck a chord, bringing Slayte to lift her eyes, meeting the elderly woman's anguished blue eyes with her own determined onyx.

"Everything."

The one word answer hung in the air between them.

Their brief acquaintance, the budding friendship of two women who clung to two men - the murderer and the murdered - stood on a precipice. The freesia of understanding and friendship wilting between them.

The elderly woman sighed. "I am too old to go to my grave with hate in my heart, but to forgive him…" She frowned, anger marring her features. She found it difficult to deny the request of the kindhearted, stoic young woman but the memory of her grandson shattered her heart.

"Tell me about him. I've told you about my grandson. Why should I forgive him? Give me a reason." Her voice shook with the strain of attempting empathy with the one against whom she carried a justified grudge.

Slayte swallowed with difficulty, as she struggled to formulate the words to express what Levi was. How to convey that he was so much more than the sum of his actions? How could she show this woman the Levi that lived in her heart, without further hurting her?

"He's… kind and warm. Protective. Determined. Wise." Slayte wracked her mind for the eloquence she had grown up with, but all that came to the surface was one-word descriptions. "Broken. He can't turn his back on the helpless, the hopeless. I'm sorry." She glanced hesitantly at the elderly woman.

"I'm sorry to speak of him this way, to you, but… please know, he has been suffering, every day. His grief hidden away, he carries his regret alone. I can't watch him shouldering this burden. He would never come to ask your forgiveness. Your grudge is a deserved consequence of his actions, in his eyes. And yet..." she swallowed, her mouth had gone dry.

"I beg of you, Mrs. Maygold, please forgive him, if you can find forgiveness in your heart."

Another sigh escaped the senior's thin lips. "He told you all this?" she asked.

Slayte bit her lip, fighting back the tears she knew were coming, and shook her head. "I just know."

"What was his name…" the elderly woman mused, "Aberdeen?"

"Ackerman," Slayte corrected automatically, "Levi Ackerman."

"Yes, that was it," she agreed, "I remember your Levi Ackerman."

Mrs. Maygold's eyes were drawn back to the pond where two ducks quacked loudly, splashing water as they fought each other with blows of their wings over an offense beyond the understanding of their human gaze. In the silence that grew between them, the conflict was resolved and the waters were still once more.

"I wanted, very much, to hate him. He killed my Hayes. Because of him, Hayes was trapped in time. He would never go back to being my adorable grandson. Now, he is forever a criminal who died in a gang fight. Your Levi stole his chance at redemption."

She felt the raven-haired woman's hands turn to stone over hers.

"And yet, try as I might, I couldn't bring myself to hate him," she continued, "He was younger than Hayes. Smaller, too. I had expected a hardened criminal, but the one they dragged into the courtroom was no more than a child. Fifteen years of age. He looked around the room as if he wanted to take us all down, too. I don't think he realized who we were. His eyes were barren, cold and bitter. What does it take to make a child that way?"

Sparrows flitted by, and the shadow of a passing cloud passed over the two.

"By all logic, he should have been the one to die, as scrawny as he was. Hayes was nearly five years older than him. We never learned what the fight was about. Conflicting gang groups, conflicting interests, disrespect. It was one-on-one… and one of them was going to die. I imagined it was Hayes taking the stand. On trial for murder. Just thinking about it broke my heart. I wanted to see in that young man, a murderer, so I could hate him the way my children did, but all I saw was a broken child, failed by the system."

"They put him away, when he nearly attacked his counsel. Three years, he got." She retold the scenario with a far-removed gaze, as if the scene had played hundreds of times, in her mind. "Do you know why he attacked his lawyer in the proceedings?"

Slayte met Mrs. Maygold's tired blue eyes, tears stinging in her own, and shook her head.

"Because that poor old man did his job. He tried to get him off of the charges by telling the court about his upbringing. Born to a prostitute in a brothel. She died when he was four, and he spent three days locked in with his poor mother's decaying corpse. He was taken in by a relative, a prominent member of the gang he was affiliated with, and raised for a life on the wrong side of the law. He had never gone to school, had never received any formal education."

"He was so angry that his lawyer had revealed that sensitive information, he sprung on him in the middle of the proceedings and had to be dragged off by the security. Any hope for a lenient sentence was lost, then, and he was sent to prison for three years. My daughter was angry, I remember. Appalled that he had only received three years despite killing someone, but all I could think was, that we were punishing the wrong person."

"They were only children. I stood there as the victim, as the wronged, because my grandchild was dead. Would it have been worse to stand there if he were alive? As the murderer instead of the murdered? You never think of these things until they happen to you. They are things books and movies can't tell you. The reality of such situations."

Slayte closed her eyes, battling her tears away, but they escaped and slipped down her face. She brushed the treacherous droplets hastily away with the back of her hand, knowing she had no right to cry in front of this woman, who had lost her child at her beloved's hands.

"When you kill someone, you are the one to die," she answered finally. "That is something he said to me."

Mrs. Maygold nodded in understanding, "Is that so?" she hesitated, "What is he doing with his life now?"

Slayte looked up at the sincere query and saw nothing but acceptance in the older woman's eyes. "He… has turned over a new leaf. Opened a tea shop. He's working very hard, but his past never seems to truly leave him." She hesitated, hating to speak of herself for how vulnerable it made her feel, but knowing she had no right to shield herself when this woman had lost what was most precious to her, "He took me in off the streets when I had nowhere to go. I owe him my life."

"You love him." Mrs. Maygold corrected, "Don't tell me tales, child. You aren't here whiling away your mornings with a fading old woman because you owe him your life."

"I love him," Slayte agreed, "I want to say I love him more than life itself, more than the world and everything in it, but I can't, because none of those things can even begin to compare with him. I just want him to have peace. I want him to be free from the burdens of his past. I know he has done you a great wrong, but please believe me when I say that he has not forgotten what he has done for even a single day." Her voice was strained with the weight of her emotions, and the sincerity in her words pierced through the older woman's heart. She couldn't help but remember her own dear husband, long departed.

"Enough," the old woman replied with a bemused expression. She patted Slayte's hand comfortingly, "I forgive your Levi Ackerman."

The tears that Slayte had valiantly fought back rushed forth anew, unbidden, streaming down her face as she pressed her forehead to the old woman's hands, "Oh, thank you! Thank you, Mrs. Maygold. Thank you so much. You are more merciful than the gods themselves." She struggled to recollect herself as the older woman patted her back reassuringly, a surprised laugh escaping her lips at the unexpected - and unwarranted, in her eyes - praise.

"You tell him to take good care of you. You're a precious one, my dear." She smiled at the younger woman's outburst, recognizing the youth of losing one's self to a wave of emotion, as Slayte currently was, with distant fondness.

The brush of darkness that passed Slayte's face caused her to lift her head and see, that while she wept, shadowy tendrils had wisped their way up Mrs. Maygold's feet and she was covered up to her waist in them. Slayte's mouth set in a grim line, accepting the inevitable with a heavy heart.

"I do believe it's time to head back in," the elderly woman was saying, "I feel a sudden chill."

Slayte nodded mutely and rose to her feet, feeling numb. She covered Mrs. Maygold better with the light blanket and wheeled her with leaden feet back to the nursing home.

When the front doors opened and the nurses took the wheelchair out of her hands, Mrs. Maygold looked back at her through brilliant, cerulean eyes. "Goodbye, Miss Rivaille. I'll see you tomorrow. I'm glad we had this talk."

Slayte's reply died on her tongue as her gaze fell on a tall, raven-haired individual, his encompassing gaze hidden behind a golden mask. She could not bring herself to utter the meaningless platitude because she knew with certainty that she would not be seeing Mrs. Maygold the next day.

Slayte lingered in the shadows of the nearby trees, waiting. In the Underworld, she had been nothing more than one of the many shadows that dwelled there, her presence had been, admittedly, negligible there. In the mortal realm, however, her aura stuck out like a sore thumb. It was impossible for Thanatos not to notice her, but if he chose to disregard her anyway, there was no helping it.

Even as she awaited Thanatos' arrival, she could not contain the shudder that overcame her when his looming shadow fell over her. Looking up at the enigmatic deity, whose gaze was still not fixed on her, she frowned.

The kind Mrs. Maygold, who so readily forgave her grandson's killer, and the coldhearted god before her, who had all but announced, mercilessly, that a terrible fate in Tartarus awaited the man who had grown up under such deplorable conditions and had struggled against fate and the world to carve a respectable existence out of his life, had nothing in common. Here stood the deity who had just taken the life of that generous and selfless woman, and others just like him would judge over her soul, over her eternal fate. She sighed, there was no point in raging against Thanatos. He had no empathy to speak of.

"They live so valiantly… and die so quietly," she remarked bitterly, thinking of her last farewell, of the warmth and sympathy in those wise blue eyes. "I don't envy you your role."

Silence met her words, prompting her to continue. "Or does a hard heart come with the territory? When you were given command of death, did you receive an unfeeling heart to match? One that feels nothing when taking the lives of mortals like that woman?" She mused towards her feet.

Thanatos angled his face towards her then, his expression as unreadable as ever, and she took it as a warning. Slayte knew better than to provoke him.

"I apologize," she amended, "I seem to ramble when upset." She glanced up at the window of the elderly woman's room where the nurses had gathered, likely having just discovered her death. "How would I know what you feel? Or whether you feel anything at all? I don't know. I never have."

Her own words brought back the sudden recollection of Elissa's admission. Her best friend had _told_ him of the ill-advised feelings Slayte had harbored for the noble god. She had forgotten that there had been another reason why she was dreading seeing Thanatos again. The blood rushed to her face as she chanced a nervous glance at him. His expressionless countenance was turned towards the woods beyond. If Elissa's information had affected him in any way, there was no sign of it. Did he think less of her for it? She scoffed internally, there was no way to think _less_ of something that one did not think of at all. Cursing herself for having forgotten something so important, she determined to feign ignorance and continued straight to her point.

"You told me to stay by Elissa's side," she began. At this, he did turn towards her, his blank expression revealing that she had his attention.

"That is your task," he agreed, "And yet... you chose to meddle."

Slayte's mouth fell open. Was he commenting on Elissa's absence from the riverside?

"I scarcely had a choice…" she protested feebly. "She didn't know the first thing about you, and that last incident… she had a lot of questions." She hesitated, why was she defending herself? She was justified in warning Elissa about Thanatos! "Do you deny that you're dangerous? Do you think your company is _good_ for her?" She frowned in disbelief.

"I see. Then you are confident in your ability to see to her well-being." The note of irony in his voice did not go unnoticed. Elissa had nearly died more than once already, and if Slayte was not mistaken, she had Thanatos to thank for the fact that Elissa was still alive.

Slayte despised leaving Elissa in the dark, however, especially on such dangerous matters. As Levi had said, she deserved to have as much autonomy as possible. "You haven't been honest with her, and I can't bring myself to lie to her, outright. Like I said, she is my most precious friend. She is being told all these half-truths and lies… she's frustrated. Who even is 'Itachi'?" She fumed.

Slayte saw the dark look that crossed Thanatos' irises at mention of the name and she gasped in response. Pressing a hand to her mouth, as if wishing to take back the utterance, she averted her gaze. Had she, unwittingly, just spoken his _true_ name? A capital offense! Had he provided _Elissa_ with his true name? Why?

Looking back up at the deity who was turning towards the woods, clearly of a mind to leave, she stepped forward with a sense of urgency. There were too many questions left unanswered.

"Wait!"

He stopped, but did not turn back toward her.

"Do you know who is watching her? What they want from her? I've been trying to figure it out but… it's shrouded in so much mystery. Can you tell me what you know?"

When her questioning was met with prolonged silence, she sighed in frustration. "Vetty is an underworld cat… and an immortal one. She can't possibly be killed. Someone had to have sent her to Elissa. Someone powerful." She waited, and when Thanatos still did not answer, continued, "Vetty showed me… a pair of crimson eyes, watching Elissa menacingly. She's in danger. Someone from the underworld wants something from her but, try as I might, I can't figure out who it could be… or why."

"To be honest, I thought it was you, at first. But, I guess… that can't be right."

She glanced up at Thanatos. Seeing him in person, she was reminded of the fact that she hadn't only fallen for his face all those years ago but for his calm and wise demeanor. She was banking on those qualities to save Elissa now. If that was, indeed, his true intention.

"I've told you everything I know. Can you do the same? Let me know who I'm watching out for. Who are we protecting her from?" She questioned, turning to him determinedly, all her cards on the table.

"Continue watching over her." With those simple four words, Thanatos pushed on down the road, leaving an indignant Slayte behind. By the third step, he disappeared in a flurry of shadow and Slayte fumed to herself.

He had efficiently taken whatever information she had gathered and offered none in return. She ran a frustrated hand through her hair. Clearly, she would have to play her angle differently if she hoped to gain any information whatsoever from him. Thanatos was no longer her master, clearly not her friend, and most certainly not the object of foolish admiration. What he was, was a reluctant partner in the ultimate mission to protect Elissa from whoever wished her harm.

And if she wanted to make the most out of this unusual alliance, she would have to find better ways to work with him.

* * *

_[One week later]_

"Hi," Elissa spoke into her phone as she walked down the street. At her feet, Vetty padded along beside her. "Can I check the status of my order, please? I'll give you the number."

It was a glorious, late June morning. Elissa pushed her sunglasses atop her head and glanced down at her watch. It was 8:30AM. She was just in time to catch Slayte before opening hours.

"Okay," she side-stepped to avoid an excited child on a tricycle. "But will it arrive by tonight? Because it said one day delivery when I placed the order, and that's what I paid for…" She listened, before politely thanking the customer service representative on the other side for the update, then disconnected the call. "Vetty," she called brightly to her cat. "Your new tree's arriving tonight, after all!"

Her cat drew to a stop, turning her face up toward her. Elissa smiled affectionately down at her - only for the smile to wane when she noticed her pet's body tense. Her ears dropped submissively. Elissa halted beside her.

"Vetty?" she crouched down, noting the cat's odd discomfort. "Are you alright?"

Vetty mewled in response. She turned her head, looking behind Elissa. Elissa's eyebrows knotted together, and she cast a glance back over her shoulder. Her eyes widened when she spotted a familiar figure sauntering toward them.

"Cain?"

He was dressed casually, as if he had a day off from work, in grey jeans, white sneakers and a white T-shirt. His phone was pressed to his ear, and he was laughing heartily, sharing an animated joke with whoever was on the other side of the line. His eyes then fell onto Vetty, before flicking onto Elissa. Surprise etched onto his handsome face. He beamed at her, causing Elissa to feel unexpected heat creep into her cheeks. She hadn't seen him since the day he'd changed her flat tyre.

"I'll call you back later," he said into the phone, and hung up. "Elissa," he smiled suavely, as Elissa rose back to her feet. "You're a sight for sore eyes, darling!"

Elissa awkwardly pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. As Cain's eyes trailed appreciatively over her, she felt oddly self-conscious in her white summer blouse, tan shorts and matching gladiator sandals.

"Hi," she greeted politely. "Day off?"

"My first in forever," he declared. He leant down, and brushed his hand over Vetty's soft fur. Elissa frowned slightly, when her cat's ears sunk even lower, and she released another quiet mewl. "Hello again, kitten," he smiled. "Ah… what _was_ your name?" He peered at her collar. "Petty?"

"Vetty," Elissa supplied. Then something suddenly occurred to her. "Wait a minute. I never did ask you; how did Vetty end up getting out of your shelter? She came right back to me the same night after I dropped her off!"

Cain looked up at her, eyebrows lifted in bemusement. "I was just about to ask how she came to be with you again. After I took her from you, I handed her to one of the interns. I suppose they forgot to lock her cage, blasted fools. Wouldn't have been the first time. She somehow managed to find a way out, I suppose? I would never have imagined," he cooed down at the cat, "that she'd ended up back with you. So you decided to keep her, after all…?"

"Yeah," Elissa shrugged. "She just needed a bit of training. I guess she kind of grew on me."

"Then it's just as well, she managed to escape us…" Cain smiled.

Vetty shrunk down lower onto the pavement, as if she wished to melt into it, when Cain ran a gentle finger between her ears.

"You're making her kind of nervous," Elissa observed.

"Ah," Cain shrugged languidly. "I can't imagine why. She was perfectly content the last time we met."

"She probably thinks you're trying to take her away again," Elissa guessed. "I guess you're good at making bad impressions."

"You pain me with the memory," Cain lamented, but his striking blue eyes were twinkling with mirth as he regarded her. "I believed us friends after our last date."

"It wasn't a date," Elissa flushed indignantly. She had almost forgotten how maddeningly forward Cain was. Nothing at all like Itachi-

 _No,_ she stopped herself firmly. _Itachi is a hit-man. Cain told you he is a junior doctor. Cain might be weird… but at least he hasn't been the reason people have died. He's a healer. The only dead things he's been involved in, are probably just animals he couldn't save…_ she distractedly thought.

"When can I remedy that?" he murmured smoothly.

"What?" Elissa's head snapped toward him, not sure she had heard him right.

He chuckled. "You've turned a charming shade of pink."

"You're embarrassing me. Stop being so _weird._ "

"I apologise. I seem to do that a lot around you."

"You do. It's alright, Vetty," Elissa bent down to pick her cat up in her arms. She snuggled into her owner.

"An adorable bond," Cain remarked, observing the cat with a smirk.

"She's alright," Elissa stroked her cat's head reassuringly, and continued to walk down the pavement. Cain fell into step easily beside her.

"Where do you live, anyway?" Elissa asked conversationally.

"Not too far off. About a twenty minute walk. We're practically neighbours, you and I," he stated.

Elissa snuck a glance at him. His long blond hair was pulled back into a man-bun. He looked attractive, she thought, was cleanly shaven, and she couldn't help but notice that his fresh aftershave smelled _really_ good. Leather bracelets were tied to his right wrist, and his phone model looked like the latest upgrade.

She supposed he could afford it, being a doctor.

"And where are you headed on this pleasant morning?" he queried casually.

"Just to a tea-shop," Elissa answered evasively.

"Oh?" Cain's eyebrows rose. "Tea. I was just looking for a place to have some breakfast. Might I accompany you? I like trying out different places to eat. Of course," he added, "I'd hate to be too pushy with this request…"

Elissa hesitated. Did she really want him knowing where she hung out? She didn't need to tell him that it was her regular place - right? And it felt too impolite for her to just refuse while they were both otherwise unoccupied. Besides, any extra business and custom would help Levi and Slayte out. She knew Slayte didn't really like him - and she doubted Levi would - but then, neither of them really liked many other people much, and she figured they could at least be cordial to Cain,

"Sure," she shrugged. "If you like tea, you'll love this place."

"I adore tea," Cain enthused. "Dark Grey is definitely my favourite."

"Really?" Elissa's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "I've not tried that."

"It's Earl Grey," he explained. "But _spicier_ ," he added with a grin, placing emphasis on the last word.

Elissa shook her head. Why was it that every other word he said, seemed to have some kind of other connotation to it? She'd never met anyone quite like him, who did that. It was as unnerving as it was outrageous.

As they stepped into The Wings of Freedom Tea Shop together, Elissa greeted Slayte, who had just finished handing a departing customer some takeaway toasted sandwiches.

"Elissa!" Her best friend's face lit up at the sight of her. "Hi!"

Vetty meowed, as Elissa placed her back down. The cat slunk straight over to Slayte as she stepped out from behind the counter, an apron tied around her waist.

"Morning, Slayte. Look who I bumped into along the way," she gestured behind her, at Cain, who trailed unhurriedly in after her, looking admiringly around his surroundings.

"What a quaint little place," he drawled.

Levi's head lifted as he regarded the unfamiliar blond young man who had sauntered in after Elissa. He narrowed his eyes at the use of the word _'quaint'._

"Who's this?" he questioned Elissa flatly.

"This is-" she began.

"I'm Cain, Cain Lockwood," Cain strode confidently forward, extending his hand amiably toward Levi.

"..." Levi looked aloofly down at his hand. Then he looked up into Cain's smirking face. He blinked expressionlessly, immediately making his judgement on Cain's character - and abruptly turned away from the counter, disappearing into the kitchen with some plates.

Elissa cringed, and shot Slayte an uncomfortable glance.

"What's he _doing_ here?" her friend hissed into her ear. "The guy's a creep, Elissa-!"

"Shhh, Slayte! He's fine! He just wants some breakfast. Don't be rude!" Elissa whispered back.

"Did I do something wrong?" Cain mused, turning back to the girls.

"Oh, no, you're fine," Elissa assured him. "Levi is just… antisocial. I mean. It takes him a while to warm up to people." _More like never,_ she quietly added to herself.

"A charming place," he smiled. Then he walked up to Slayte. "We meet again."

"Uh… yeah. We do," Slayte forced a smile through clenched teeth. As Cain took a seat at one of the tables, she added beneath her breath, _"Unfortunately."_

"Slayte! Cut it out," Elissa scowled at her, whispering out of Cain's ear-shot as he studied the menu with interest. "You literally disapprove of _any_ guy I hang around. Stop it!"

"You hang around weird guys," Slayte protested. "Just find someone normal!"

"Normal? Like _you_ and Levi are?" Elissa hiked a slender brow up, grinning in amusement. "Be nice."

Slayte shot Cain a suspicious, disapproving look. But for Elissa's sake, she forced herself to go up to his table.

"What do you want?" she questioned. It came out more like an impolite, irritated demand.

Elissa settled opposite him, and mouthed ' _be nice'_ againas he pored over the menu.

"Hm. Dark grey tea. Scrambled egg on a toasted bagel with cheese and bacon. Ah! And a croissant. A portion of fruit on the side."

"Wow," Elissa commented. "You must be hungry."

His blue eyes lifted to meet hers, sparkling with mischief. "Always," he replied.

Slayte's mouth dropped open. Her eyes darted between the two in disbelief, dismayed to find Elissa half-smiling, half biting her lip behind her raised hand, almost as if she were not quite sure whether to laugh in embarrassment or kick him under the table.

Slayte knew which of the two _she_ wanted to do. She grabbed his menu with more force than was necessary, before trilling sweetly, "Elissa? What would you like me to get you?"

"Just an Assam tea, please. I kind of already had breakfast. Well." She reconsidered. "I wouldn't mind a blueberry muffin."

"Oi," Levi, who had returned to the counter, overheard her. "You're finishing our stock of those."

Elissa smiled apologetically at him. "They're just too delicious. You've only got yourself to blame."

"Tch," he rolled his eyes, but set one aside for her regardless.

As Slayte walked back to the counter to get their orders, she muttered, "Look at the way he's looking at her. Like he's eyeing up some kind of dessert! It's disgusting. How does she not see it?"

Levi quipped, his voice hard-edged, "Is this man-barbie the guy you mentioned over the phone?"

Slayte blinked in surprise. She remembered that Levi had overheard her conversation with Elissa, warning her off Thanatos. "No," she answered, as she grabbed a plate. "But he's no good for her either." Charm oozed effortlessly from Cain, as he leaned forward, smiling that infuriatingly smug smirk, openly teasing her best friend. When he reached out and placed a hand lightly over Elissa's wrist, the young woman tensed, before drawing hers back. She didn't seem to know where to look, half-embarrassed, half-flattered by his attention.

"What kind of stupid face is that?" Levi intoned, eying the pair closely. "Does she like it? Is she disgusted by it?"

"Both, probably. She's still thinking it over. Women are dumb like that. Trying to decide if what she feels is attraction or alarm." Slayte mused as she watched Cain's flirtatious advances through disapproving, narrowed eyes.

"You never made a face like that." Levi remarked absently, still disgruntled by the way the overbearing slimebag was coming onto their friend.

"I never had anything I needed to think about with you." Slayte replied easily, never taking her eyes off of Elissa, ready to jump in at a moment's notice.

Levi's gaze slipped away from their mutual friend to his girlfriend. It was in her nature, he knew, to make such intimate confessions offhandedly, as if they couldn't possibly affect him. As if her feelings weighed very little in the grand scheme of things. It relieved him, not to have to guard his reactions or school his expression in response to her - there was no fear of disappointing her, as she expected nothing - but it irked him at the same time that she valued herself so little.

"You did though," she commented, her back still turned towards him.

"Did what?" He muttered, having lost track of the conversation.

"Made that face. Half interested, half appalled."

"I did not." He scoffed, without even thinking about it. He knew with certainty what he felt for Slayte.

"Yes, you did. Still do, when I surprise you and you don't know what to do with me." She took a long sip of her coffee, still watching her friend like a hawk.

The idea that he could have given her the impression that her rare advances were anything other than desired and appreciated stunned him. He made a mental note to remedy that at their earliest convenience. And yet, being who he was, he had no way to reassure her without resorting to sarcasm, witticism, and double meanings.

"I always know what to do with you." His voice was laden with intent, heavy with promise.

She turned halfway at that, breaking her gaze away from Elissa to meet his hooded, stormy grey eyes. A wry smile played on her lips and a faint blush dusted her cheeks before she broke away from his penetrant gaze and turned back to preparing the order. His answer had pleased her. He didn't know why that mattered, but it did.

"Watch them while I'm in the kitchen?" she whispered.

Levi nodded, gaze locked onto Cain distrustfully. He spied Vetty at Elissa's feet. The cat was not her usual, playful self, and sat huddled against her owner's legs, subdued. With a sigh, he grabbed some milk and poured it into a bowl. It gave him a reason to go over - and warn Cain off with a spot of intimidating eye contact.

Stepping around the counter, he approached their table, and set the bowl down by Vetty.

Elissa turned to him, glanced down, surprised, and then gave him a grateful smile. "Thanks, Levi," she said. "That might make her feel better. She's being so weird and quiet this morning."

Levi nodded. Then his gaze slid to Cain, who was leaning back in his seat languidly.

"So, this is your shop?" the blond smiled. "I love the decor. It really is such a qua-"

"Are you blind?" Levi cut him off. "Quit calling it that. Do you know any other words?"

"Levi!" Elissa gasped. What was with him and Slayte's unfriendly behaviour?

Cain's eyebrows lifted. "I was merely offering a compliment-"

"Save it for the food," Levi responded curtly. His eyes then narrowed at Cain. "We have rules here. No touching other guests."

Elissa stared at him in shock. She'd never heard this rule before!

"Ah…" Cain's smirk waned. "Is that so…? And where can I read these 'rules'?"

"From my mouth. Follow them or get out." With that, Levi turned back to the counter, satisfied that his point had been made.

Elissa gawked after him.

"He doesn't like me, I see," Cain observed, looking completely unbothered by the fact.

"He just needs time to warm up, like I said," Elissa shook her head. "Don't take it to heart. It's just how he is. Should have seen how he spoke to me when we first met."

"And how," Cain's intense gaze turned back to her, "did you meet?"

"Here, actually. I made friends with his girlfriend first. We became friends after. He's not the most open guy, or easy to get to know - and he's downright grumpy and rude a lot of times, but he looks out for his own, and he makes Slayte happy," she glanced across at Levi, a fond smile on her face.

"I see…" Cain's gaze turned to Slayte, who had returned from the kitchen and was leaning into Levi to whisper something into his ear. "And this...Slayte… works for him? It appears to be more than that..."

Elissa looked over at her friends, seeing that Slayte's behaviour was speaking for itself.

"Yeah. They're together." Recalling their previous conversation, and the fact Cain had seen Shisui and Itachi too, Elissa then said in a hushed voice, wishing to warn him off them, too, "Hey, do you remember? The strangely dressed masked men?"

His eyes shifted back to Elissa. "Yes. Whatever became of them?"

"You haven't seen them around again?" she questioned.

Cain shook his head. "Just the once."

"Well, if you ever do, make sure you stay away," Elissa muttered.

"Oh?" Cain looked intrigued, his full attention on her. "And why is that? Did you find out anything else about them?"

"Slayte says their family is part of some underground crime syndicate, or something. I don't know the full details, but they're hit-men apparently, and they're dangerous."

"Your friend?" Cain's gaze moved back to Slayte with piqued interest. "And how does she know?"

"She-" Elissa hesitated, realising she had probably said too much. "She heard it," she said vaguely, not wanting to disclose that Slayte had any past connection with who were most likely to be wanted men.

"I see. Interesting. Hit-men?" Cain's eyebrows shot up. "Terrifying. Then it _would_ be wise to keep distance. How right you are, Elissa. Beauty and wisdom-"

A plate was practically slammed down in front of him. Elissa winced. What timing. Slayte had heard the last few words, and was clearly raging inside at what she saw were his attempts at flirting.

"Here's your order," Slayte grit out tersely. _"Enjoy."_

She slipped Elissa's order much more gently onto the table before her. "Here you go," she said warmly.

"Thanks, Slayte…"

Slayte gave an oblivious Cain a disgusted look, before turning to welcome another couple who had entered the shop.

"How does the food look?" Elissa peered down at his full plate.

Cain picked up his knife and fork. "It looks-" he began, before wincing suddenly. He lowered his fork, and pressed a palm to his forehead.

"Cain?" she noticed the look of discomfort on his face, the sudden tension that marred his brow. His eyes had squeezed shut, and he drew a trembling breath, as if pained. "Hey, are you alright?"

He didn't seem to immediately hear her. Growing alarmed, she leaned forward, reaching for his arm. "Hey. Cain. What's wrong?"

His eyes opened, and slowly lifted to hers. He appeared disorientated, as if he had momentarily forgotten where he was, and who he was with. Then his expression relaxed once again.

"Sorry," he offered. "Just a sudden headache. I'm well."

Elissa continued to watch him with uncertainty. "Are you sure? Want any meds? she asked kindly.

"Don't worry, Elissa," he purred, back to his usual self. A sly grin began to grace his lips. "Though your concern warms my heart..."

Elissa rolled her eyes, seeing that he was fine after all, and threw a napkin at him.

* * *

Foreboding. Doom.

The air was rife with it. Even as Itachi left the palace, it settled heavily on his shoulders, like a cloak of chains. He bore the burdens of his role long enough to know what the black fog in the air meant. Invisible as it was, even to other gods.

He took note of the shades racing past him, tearing at his robes in their mad dash to escape the Underworld and watched them go indifferently. Soon, he would follow, where destruction would erupt and Death would claim mortal souls in droves.

He knew this kind of catastrophe. Had seen it many times before. And never felt less like a god than he did on days like this.

"Nii-san," the voice that called out to him was familiar and cherished. He turned towards his brother, seeing the stoic youth standing in what he must have assumed was a strong wind, but in reality, was, in fact, a jet-black ocean of the shades tearing out of the underworld, passing by in waves.

Itachi approached his brother. Laying a gentle hand on his shoulder, he willed the shades away, reminding them to maintain a respectful distance. The winds fell and Sasuke's robes settled suddenly around him in the still air. He looked up at his quiet, older brother not understanding just what had taken place. He noted, however, the grim set of his mouth and his posture, ever so slightly more erect than usual.

"Mother requested your presence at the breaking of the fast in the rose gardens. Will you join us?" Sasuke asked slowly, observing his older brother for any nuance that might betray what went through his mind.

Itachi only withdrew his hand from Sasuke's shoulder slowly, reaching up to tap his younger brother's forehead in an affectionate gesture. He was reminded, for reasons unfathomable, of Angelissa's sister, whose embrace Angelissa would never know again.

"Perhaps another time, Sasuke."

"Tch," Sasuke rubbed at his forehead irritably, as he watched his brother turn away. Ordinarily, he would have insisted, or tried to provoke a reaction out of him, but there was something _off_ about Itachi, and so, Sasuke merely watched his brother's retreating back, deciding what excuses he would make to their mother in his brother's stead.

* * *

"Vetty," Elissa breathed, her eyes drawn to the windowpane as she shrugged on a light blue track jacket. "Look at the sky."

Six in the morning and the first rays of dawn should have been streaking out over the sky, but instead, only an ominous black and gray nothingness loomed overhead. The washed out sky looked defeated, and Elissa felt her shoulders sag in response. The sun, she knew, must be shining somewhere above the darkened clouds but it was invisible to her and she, too, felt the heavy fog cloaking her heart.

She shook her head, trying to shrug off the feeling. It was a dreary morning, so what?

She poured Vetty's cat food and made sure there was enough water for her beloved pet before picking up her keys from the sideboard and slipping her phone into her pocket.

"I shouldn't be more than an hour or two." Elissa knelt to tie her sneakers, double-knotting to prevent them from coming loose during her morning run. "I'll see you later, Vetty, be good." She called over her shoulder affectionately, noting the black cat lounging idly on the sofa, before turning to leave.

She headed out into the cold, bleak morning air, picking up the pace as she left the side road where her apartment block was situated. Settling into an easy jog, she wound her way through the pathways of the nearby forest, knowing she would come out on the main road at the other side.

Despite the strenuous activity, she felt a chill and could not explain why. Her mind wandered, like a butterfly flitting from blossom to blossom. Only her mind was a crow, instead of a butterfly, and the flowers were dark shadows. She thought about how surreal it was, to be older than her older sister. As if she were stuck in time, and Elissa was moving forwards. Like a series that Elissa loved, but had ended, leaving her feeling empty in its wake. She supposed, that was the simplest of terms she could break it down into.

Talking to Itachi about it had helped. It had helped even more than talking to the therapist her parents had made her see. Itachi had listened and provided comfort, in his own, wise way. She couldn't place why she had so inherently trusted what Itachi had said about her sister wanting to move on from her illness. That being strong all the time had taken its toll on her. It sounded right, in retrospect. Her sister was always smiling, whenever Elissa visited. As a child, she had been relieved to see the smile on that ailing face but as an adult, she knew that smiles were often little more than masks to hide the suffering within. It made sense. She wondered why it had taken Itachi to piece together the meaning behind her own memories.

She wanted Elissa to do all the things they had promised to do together. At least, that's what he had said. She couldn't place why his statements rung so true, despite being an outsider. Maybe she would go see Greece on her next vacation. Maybe she would take Slayte along. That would be fun. Get away from all the things weighing them down lately. Slayte would surely prevent her from dwelling too much on memories of her sister, and besides, she had never really seen Slayte go anywhere outside the tea shop. They should go and have a girl's trip, relax and recharge.

She broke through the trees, coming to the clearing that led to a bridge overlooking the highway. She slowed with a sigh, and wiped the sweat off of her forehead. Strange. Why did her skin feel so clammy, despite having worked up a sweat? An inexplicable feeling of dread haunted her since waking up this morning. She stretched her arms over her head, trying to chase it away as she set foot on the bridge.

Itachi. A hit-man. As much as Slayte's explanation _logically_ made sense, it was irreconcilable with the man she had come to know over the past few months. His touch, on the rare occasions they had touched, was always so warm, so gentle. She couldn't imagine him actually hurting someone with those tender hands. Even the nearby woodland animals had always seemed to trust him implicitly. Vetty, the sparrows, the crow that had landed on his shoulder naturally, as if it belonged there, as if Itachi were a part of nature himself. She sometimes toyed with the idea of emptying out her cup… and asking him to fill it.

Of tossing out everything she had been told about him and just accepting whatever he chose to tell her. It alarmed her how appealing this idea was to her. How easy it would be to disregard logic and trust in him. Elissa frowned. She wasn't a little girl anymore, drunk on fairy tales. She knew better than that.

She sighed and approached the railing, resting her forearms on the peeling green paint of the sturdy iron and looked out at the six-lane highway below her, unseeingly. The gray of the road kissed the gray of the sky on the horizon and she frowned. Life wasn't as hopeless as it looked today, was it?

She was doing the right thing, wasn't she? Avoiding him this way? Did it really matter that the days passed by without seeing him by the riverside, without hearing his point of view on matters, his soothing, poetic speech, his cryptic eloquence? Did it matter that their absence left a void in her life that nothing seemed to fill? These were things that Slayte, for all her good intentions, simply could not understand.

Elissa exhaled heavily, trying to pull herself together. It wasn't like her to allow herself to wallow in despair this way. Her eye fell on the approaching traffic - so many people in their own cars, their own lives, their own thoughts, all trying to get somewhere. Collected and isolated.

Her eyes narrowed at an approaching oil tanker truck that was weaving to the left and right, narrowly staying in its lane, almost as if - was the driver drunk?

Elissa gasped, and her heart skipped a beat in alarm as she recognized that the driver was nodding over the steering wheel. The traffic below hurtled forward, even as the tanker veered further off course, skidding over the white lines of its lane. The load behind tipping precariously as it did so.

Her heart seemed to fall into her stomach. She was sick with helplessness. How could she prevent the catastrophe waiting to happen? How could she warn the other drivers in time? The tanker passed under the bridge and she raced to the other side, unable to tear her eyes away from the scene. She waved her arms desperately, gesturing for the traffic to stop, but who would listen to her, or even notice her? Maybe they would see the driver's strange behavior in time. She could only hope.

A cacophony of honking horns picked up, just as, to Elissa's horror, the driver finally lost control of the tanker, skidding across the pavement horizontally. The load tipped over, leaking gas for hundreds of meters. The tanker blocked four of the six lanes, and Elissa watched in terror, her legs trembling, as one car after another crashed into the upended vehicle. The endless sound of grating, screeching metal seemed to tear through her very being. It was a crash without end, an infinite nightmare.

She pressed a hand to her mouth in anguish as she watched through horrified, wide eyes, the way the cars piled up, crushed almost without resistance as if they were little more than tin cans. The leaking gas caught fire and the smoke that filled the air was fuelled only further by the screams that accompanied it.

* * *

Itachi followed the shades storming out of the underworld as a single, collective mass, blackening their surroundings. The gold-masked deity soared through the air behind them. He tuned out the voices of the dying, although they remained in the back of his mind. The identities of the souls he was being sent to collect.

He heard an old man's cough, a young girl's lisp, a baby babbling. The patient, soothing tones of a young woman comforting her child. The petulant complaints of an adolescent boy. He let the voices bleed into one another, disfiguring the words, a kaleidoscope of sound, devoid of meaning.

Streaking through the sky, he followed the servants of the Fates - a carnivorous, hungry mass, marking the ones that were chosen for him. He passed the towns, the woods, the lakes, closing in like a hawk on the site of the catastrophe he had sensed approaching since morning.

His eye caught on something in the midst of the furious hurricane of shades. Wavy brown - like the lap of the earth itself -, pale ivory - like warm sunlight on marble -, and brilliant hazel, with the allure of the stars themselves. Angelissa.

What was she doing there, where death and destruction had marked their domain? A moment's hesitation, an instant of uncharacteristic indecision, as Itachi's eyes narrowed at the shades storming past her, tearing at her - but not, to his relief, clinging to her.

He took in the surroundings - the collision site, the flames, the screams of agony - and moved by reflex, alighting behind Elissa. She was paralyzed with the trauma of the sight before her eyes, the agony of her soul was nearly tangible.

He knew her interactions with his involvement in the mortal realm had left her shaken, broken in many ways. In their encounters, their low conversations, he had seen the cracks - painstakingly mended. She had healed her own wounds, inch for inch, with gritted teeth. But the sight before her, before one who cherished life as the holiest, most sacred of gifts, would irreversibly shatter her once more. There would be no way to gather the pieces and bond them together again. The mass grave before her would undoubtedly consume her for the rest of her life.

A curtain of black fell over Elissa's vision, blocking out the calamity before her eyes, shielding her from the fire, the calamity, the devastation just beyond. She felt a warm body behind her and turned, stunned, gasping for air. She hadn't realized she had stopped breathing. Her hazel eyes lifted to meet the eyes of none other than the only one who could ground her in the face of this senseless, sheer brutality. He stood close to her, closer than he ever had before. His left arm was raised, holding his cloak before her, hiding the carnage taking place below. At this proximity it was almost like a comforting embrace. Almost.

"Itachi…" her voice broke, his name itself a plea for help. To do something, _anything._ To save those people.

Her eyes filled with helpless, anguished tears, if there was anyone who could do something about all this, it would be Itachi, wouldn't it? Her heart beat erratically in her chest, and her breathing was shallow and rushed, irregular. Even if she had words to appeal for his aid, she could not possibly work her lungs to voice them.

"Shh…" he hushed her, leaning in close, "Listen."

Her eyes fell on the golden clasp of his cloak, only inches from her nose. Crafted, she realized distantly, masterfully, as if it were an ancient artifact. The smells of the wreckage - of explosions and gas and agony - faded, as Itachi's comforting scent surrounded her. He smelled of the woods. Of a forest the morning after it had rained. He smelled faintly of pine, of the comforting smoke of a campfire. He smelled like life itself.

Slowly, her eyes fluttered closed as she heard something… strange. Odd. Out of place for the situation. A bird chirping cheerfully. Why would a bird be here in this carnage? She tried to recognize it - was it a sparrow? A nightingale? It trilled more sweetly than she had ever heard birdsong before. The screams behind her faded as the song of the little bird sounded more clearly, the buzzing of a bee joined its symphony.

Wait. The screams. They _shouldn't_ be fading. What was going on? What had happened to those people? The last she had seen was the collision. How many more cars had piled up? Were the passengers alright? An explosion sounded distantly, alerting her to the reality of her situation. She pulled away, tearing around to see, to _know,_ the full extent of the tragedy that had taken place but before she could reach out to pull his cloak aside he lifted his right hand to take a firm hold of her chin, bringing her face back around to meet his eyes.

"Look at me," he whispered, his warm breath fanning over her parted lips. "Angelissa."

She had never been this close to him. Looking into his eyes, usually hidden behind his mask, she saw those onyx orbs, mesmerizing as they always were, capturing her in his hypnotic gaze. There was _care_ written in them, a tenderness she had always sensed, now confirmed. They were swirling with _something_ , tinged with… red? Red like roses. The ones blooming all around her.

They were so vivid, almost painful to behold in their beauty. Never in her life had she seen such roses. A sea of petals that smelled so sweetly, as if they had been dipped in honey. Birds flitted by her, and she couldn't help but smile as they landed on her shoulder, soft feathers nuzzling against her face before taking flight again.

The song of the nightingale was clearer now. Nature's sweetest tunes. More birds flew by, ones she could scarcely recognize. Each adding their own notes to the nightingale's song. Wading through the roses, she found that flowers of every color bloomed in this field. Each smelled sweeter than the last. A flock of hummingbirds flitted around her like little fairies. _How strange_ , she thought distantly, _for hummingbirds to travel in flocks._

It was so enrapturing, so delightful, the crystal notes of the chirping birds so clear and poignant, even the sky above glittered like a single sapphire. She felt dizzy from the assault on her senses. It was too vibrant, too sweet, _too much._

Itachi caught her as she slumped against his chest, holding her upright against him with his left arm, covering her in his cloak as he did so. The illusion he had placed on her, would serve, he determined, to ease the trauma of what she had witnessed and he maintained it carefully as he extended his right hand towards the wreckage below.

Sirens sounded as mortal law enforcement and medical aid arrived on the scene. As far as the eye could see, vehicles were mangled, crushed, and torn apart. The bodies that were dragged out of their steel entrapments were even more broken. Burned, torn apart in places, flesh ground down until it resembled nothing more than butcher's meat. The screams and moans of agony that lifted in the air were enough to set a lesser god's shoulders trembling.

" _Come."_ Itachi silently willed the one-word command to the souls gathered below. His outstretched right hand a summons, irresistible. A peace seemed to settle over the disastrous scene as the mortal souls acknowledged his presence. Slowly, surely, the agonized humans separated themselves from their pained and broken bodies and floated up towards him - accepting his mastery, his dominion, over their immortal souls.

Itachi glanced down at Elissa's half-lidded eyes, reassuring himself that she had not seen the suffering of the masses below. He held her a long moment, unwilling to break the pleasant illusion he had cast on her, but knowing all the same, that he would inevitably need to allow her to return to the truth of a harsh reality.

Casting a glance at the souls gathering around him, he concentrated, searching beyond the shades of the Fates, to locate the shadow that served him. Summoning the shadows that formed Elissa's closest friend in the mortal realm was an instantaneous affair.

Slayte materialized out of thin air, confused and stunned at the sight before her. Itachi gave her a moment to collect her bearings as he knelt gently, seating Elissa on the floor, resting her head against the railing of the bridge.

Slayte cast a glance at her surroundings, the wreckage, the collected souls, the flames and screams and sirens. She did not need more than a second to decide what mattered most in that instant.

"What happened to her?"

She stepped forward immediately, pulling Elissa's half-conscious figure into her arms. "Is she alright?"

A second glance answered her own question. She breathed deeply, as if she were only sleeping. A peaceful expression graced her features. Slayte recognized the telltale signs of an illusion. A unique talent of the Uchiha. She gaped up at Thanatos, her mind racing to connect the pieces.

"Tend to her," was the simple command that met her ears, as Thanatos' gaze lingered a moment longer on Elissa's prone form. He turned to leave and Slayte could only observe the mass of souls gathered behind him to follow him to the Underworld.

Thanatos froze midstep, bringing the crowd behind him to a stop as well. He turned, slowly, his long-lashed gaze falling on Elissa. It was then that Slayte saw that Elissa had in her half-conscious state, reached out to take hold of his cloak.

She struggled to open her eyes, weary with the aftereffects of the illusion placed on her and whispered thickly, "Don't go."

Her voice was hoarse with exhaustion. "Please."

Alarm rang in Slayte's heart as she witnessed with her own eyes, the desperation in her best friend's demeanor. She realized suddenly how gravely she had underestimated the situation.

For the first time since summoning her, Thanatos' gaze fell on Slayte, and she nodded mutely, understanding the unspoken command. She reached out, taking a hold of Elissa's outstretched hand, gently loosening her grip and turning her friend toward herself.

"It's alright, Elissa. I'm here for you. You're not alone," she cooed reassuringly, as one might with a small child, and Elissa's eyes fell closed once more. When Slayte looked up again, Thanatos had disappeared.

"Are you two alright?" An unfamiliar voice called. Slayte recognized the medics of the mortal world approaching and decided quickly that it would be for the best if they tended to Elissa.

"My friend fainted. Would you please take a look at her?" she replied quickly, her voice strife with concern.

The medic called over some others who took Elissa out of her arms and brought her to a nearby ambulance. Slayte followed mutely, still numbed by the chaos all around her.

Police cars and ambulances littered the area. Officers and nurses rushed from one person to another, attempting to form some semblance of order. The chaotic scene was illuminated by the alternating blue and red lights of the surrounding vehicles and Slayte looked down on her folded hands as she hovered near the ambulance, waiting for good news.

She was certain Thanatos had not harmed Elissa, not with the way he had been looking at her best friend. The tenderness in his gaze was veiled, but it was impossible for her not to recognize it. It was the very look she, herself, had been hoping to receive for some 800 years. A look she had considered him incapable of.

But what did that _mean,_ for Elissa? A part of her hoped that she had just imagined it all. And yet, glancing nervously in the direction of the ambulance once more, Slayte determined that the safest place for Elissa to be at the moment, was clearly at Thanatos' side.

Her old master had protected Elissa. Had done so although she was clearly not in any physical danger, far removed from the wreckage below. She frowned. He had used his ocular gifts, to cast an illusion on Elissa, protecting her from the trauma of witnessing what had taken place. It was wholly _unnecessary_ … which made it that much more meaningful. That much more significant. Just what was Elissa to Thanatos?

Logically, it wasn't possible that he felt _something_ for a simple mortal, was it?

"Miss, we're going to need to see your ID, we need a comprehensive list of the victims and witnesses." Slayte looked up at the tall policeman that had spoken, before reaching wordlessly into her jacket pocket. She extracted her wallet and handed over her ID card, thanking Levi in her heart, as she always did, when she was required to show identification.

"Is that young lady a friend of yours? Does she have any ID on her? We have some questions about the accident. It's possible she saw something relevant to the case."

Slayte frowned at the policeman. Elissa had been through enough.

"I can give you a name and address, but she's been through a lot. I'm sure whatever questions you have can wait a day or two."

The policeman looked surprised at her rebuttal.

"I can bring her by the station later, if that helps," she added as an afterthought.

"Miss Rivaille," someone called behind her, promping Slayte to turn to the speaker. "Your friend is asking for you."

Without another word, Slayte tore after the nurse, leaving the befuddled policeman behind her.

"Elissa!" Slayte cried, catching sight of her best friend. She rushed to her side, gently holding her friend by the shoulders as Elissa struggled to rise. "Are you sure you should be sitting up already?"

"Miss Caelum, was it?" the policeman cut in, a notepad held at the ready. "We have a few questions for you."

"I said it can wait!" Slayte snapped, "She's just regained consciousness!"

"It's fine," Elissa replied, waving off Slayte's protests. "I'll answer whatever I can."

"Thanks for your cooperation," the policeman nodded, "What were you doing in the area?"

"I was out for a run."

"Can you tell us about the accident? Did you see how it started?"

Elissa paused, recollecting. "The driver… of the oil tanker was… there was something wrong with him. He was slouched over the steering wheel. I think… he was unconscious. The tanker overturned and then…" She trailed off.

"And then?"

What had happened then? She recalled the initial collision but… everything after that was a blur. Something about roses. Rain. Warmth. But that was all wrong. That couldn't be it. She fell silent.

"What happened after that, Miss Caelum?" The policeman pressed again.

"I don't remember," Elissa admitted, "the next thing I remember is Slayte holding on to me."

Slayte swallowed her relief. She wasn't ready to deal with answering any more questions on Thanatos at the moment.

"Are you sure you don't remember anything?" The policeman was clearly unconvinced.

The medic cut in, "It isn't at all uncommon. The poor girl is in shock. Her mind must have blocked it out to protect her from the trauma. She needs rest now."

"So, the two of you went for a run together?" the policeman asked instead, not about to be put off so easily.

Elissa looked up at Slayte, then. Slayte was at the tea shop, wasn't she? That had to be a twenty minute drive away. How had she suddenly shown up when Elissa needed her?

"I wanted to surprise Elissa by joining her on her run," Slayte lied with false confidence, "I know her route so I thought I would catch her halfway."

Elissa frowned. Knowing Slayte, she didn't quite buy the story, but she wasn't about to contradict her friend in front of the overly eager policeman.

"Anything else you want to know?" Slayte frowned at the taller man.

"That's all for now. We may contact you if there is a need for further questioning." He nodded at the girls and left to meet with the other officers, busy at work on the premises.

With a sigh, Slayte helped a dubious Elissa to her feet. "C'mon Elissa," she said, wrapping her friend's arm around her shoulder to support her, "Let's get you home."

Itachi & Angelissa on the Bridge by Larskukka (https://larskukka.tumblr.com/)


	15. Part XIV: For the Love of Lies

* * *

**Part XIV: For the Love of Lies**

* * *

Levi methodically folded the freshly-washed tea-towels, placing them neatly atop the pristine kitchen counter. He needed to keep himself busy, to take the edge off his thoughts. Right then, they were focused on one particular thing. He couldn't think what in the world was going on with Slayte. She was keeping things from him, of that he was certain; he'd always let anything she'd act vague about slide in the past, never wanting to dig too deeply, to push beyond what she was openly willing to share with him. He was no fool. He knew Slayte had skeletons in her closet, too. But lately, she was acting even more distracted. Even more evasive with her answers. Even more - if it were at all feasible - fiercely protective of Elissa.

He let her believe that he was buying her excuses, accepting her brush-offs, all the while watching her closely, silently observing her behaviours. Not a single detail escaped his keen eyes. Too many strange things had been happening as of late - and Levi was determined to get answers. Starting with his girlfriend's unexpected disappearance from their tea shop, without so much as a single word uttered to him. One moment she had been wiping down tables while he'd popped into the kitchen to make them both a comforting cup of early-morning tea. The next, he'd stepped out - to find that she had completely vanished.

He'd been left standing alone with two cups of steaming tea in his hands, frowning to himself in bewilderment. Slayte had her quirks - and he was fond of many of them - but disappearing without a sound into thin air? This was something new entirely to him. This was something she needed to explain.

As if on cue, his cell-phone screen lit up. His steely-grey eyes darted onto it, and he dropped the towel in his hand, snatching up the mobile immediately.

"Oi," he greeted, irritated at her uncharacteristic exit. She'd left him to open up the shop alone. "If you're going to slack off, just say so."

" _I'm so so sorry,"_ Slayte's voice apologised in an emotional rush into his ear. _"Something's happened, and Elissa needed me."_

 _Of course_ it was Elissa, Levi thought to himself, turning his eyes up to the ceiling of the kitchen in resignation. "What happened? You vanished faster than a bat out of hell, Slayte."

" _I'll tell you more when I get back. Okay?"_ she questioned. _"I'm fine. I can't really talk much now. Elissa's asleep. I need to watch her."_

He detected the worry in her voice. "Slayte…" he began, tired of the way she was constantly placing any confrontational questions on hold. Was Elissa sick? Hurt? Had something happened to her? Why didn't she just spit it out?

" _We'll talk later. I promise."_ She seemed to sense his exasperation. The way his great patience was finally wearing thin. _"Just- I need to stay with Elissa a while. Maybe even overnight. I'll be back as soon as I can."_

Levi's irate expression morphed into one that registered brief surprise. He blinked. If Slayte was staying with Elissa overnight, then something serious had to have happened. He could tell, from her tone, that his girlfriend was distracted.

"Fine," he conceded reluctantly, unhappily. But he knew her better than to press any further at that moment.

" _I'll call you when I'm about to leave,"_ she added. Then, after a brief pause, _"Thank you, Levi."_

"Yeah. Whatever…" Levi replied, as she disconnected the call. Staring at the phone in his hand, he decided that when Slayte came home, he was going to find out as much of the truth as he could, and that this time, he wouldn't just turn a blind eye to it.

As Slayte hung up, she felt a twinge of guilt. She'd vanished so abruptly from the tea shop, and knew Levi would want answers once she returned. He deserved them - though she wondered what in the world she could say to excuse disappearing into thin air. But the events she'd witnessed over the course of the last hour had been even more shocking to her, than her sudden disappearance surely was to Levi.

One moment she'd been cleaning tables - the next, she'd felt freezing black shadows encircle her and an irresistible pull at the very core of her being. No sooner had she blinked, than she'd found herself standing at a bridge, overlooking a catastrophic event down below, littered with blazing flames, frantic emergency vehicles and screaming mortals everywhere. And as she'd turned to gain her bearings, she'd spotted none other than the tall, majestic form of the imposing Thanatos himself. She had watched, in bewildered disbelief, as the God of Death had lowered her best friend's barely conscious body gently to the ground, the great care behind his actions evident even to her incredulous eyes.

She perched on the edge of Elissa's bed, rearranging the duvet cover more snugly over her best-friend's shoulders. After the girls had been questioned, they'd managed to get a lift back to Elissa's apartment in one of the police cars. Slayte had been grateful for that. Given the dazed state Elissa had been in, she doubted her friend could have made it very far walking anywhere, even with Slayte supporting her to do so.

As soon as they'd gotten into Elissa's apartment and kicked off their shoes, Slayte had taken her friend straight to her bedroom and laid her gently down onto her bed. A visibly drained, exhausted Elissa had passed out cold within seconds of her head hitting the pillow.

Slayte's eyebrows drew together in worry. She reached out, brushing a soft lock of brown hair tenderly out of her slumbering best friend's face. She felt a fierce flame of protectiveness swell within her chest as she listened to Elissa's deep, even breaths. She did not look like she was in any pain or discomfort. Instead, she looked at peace, lost in the comforting embrace of deep sleep.

Thanatos, Slayte had quickly discerned, had cast an illusion upon her. It would be a while, she anticipated, until Elissa woke up. Slayte had never been on the receiving end of an Uchiha's ocular abilities - something she was eternally relieved about, given the frightening stories that circulated about the Uchiha's crimson eyes, the feared _Sharingan_ \- and its strange, mythical powers - but she had certainly _heard_ enough about the undeniable, deadly prowess of their illusions - and that Thanatos had been known amongst the Uchiha as the Master of them. Word had reached Slayte during her time in that realm, that there were very few - if any - within the shadow kingdom, capable of casting _genjutsu_ to the level of precision and reality as he did.

The after-effects of being caught in a Sharingan's ensnaring illusion were known to be taxing on the mind. She'd heard servants whisper fearfully of them in the Underworld. They'd spoken of mind control, of losing one's sanity. Hysteria. Grogginess. Varying degrees of memory loss. Personality changes. Dizziness. Exhaustion. An altered sense of reality. Confusion. Deep sleep. Insomnia. The more powerful the illusion, the more lethal its effect, and the more disorientated the victim would be upon waking.

" _Tend to her,"_ Thanatos had commanded - though he hadn't needed to utter the words. Slayte knew she couldn't possibly leave Elissa alone until the girl made a full recovery. What if Elissa had nightmares? What if something else unpleasant happened while she was asleep? Slayte had no way of knowing _what_ kind of vision Thanatos had shown her. Only that it had obviously not been a distressing one, given the tranquility on Elissa's features when Slayte had looked into her face. She found herself wondering, again, just _why_ had he chosen to help Elissa, though her life had clearly been in no mortal danger?

It seemed so unlike the Thanatos she had known to intervene in such a way. The proud, unreachable deity of death she had spent so long resenting for his perceived heartlessness, his unattainable, distant nature, his aloofness, his callousness. And yet once more, he had protected the life of a person most dear to her. He had _cared_ enough to stop in his way, to shield her from the trauma of watching a massacre of bodies burning in a graveyard of mangled metal.

She remembered the desperation in her best friend's voice as she'd tried to stop Death from departing. Slayte swallowed thickly, staring at Elissa's face as if the answers to all her questions were written onto it. What was the nature of their acquaintance? How could she have miscalculated and underestimated it so grossly?

Her mind spun with impossible thoughts that pointed to an equally impossible conclusion. Elissa knew Thanatos's _true_ name. Thanatos himself had shared it with her - the highest of honours, to not only _know_ a god's given name, but to be permitted to use it, too. They had been meeting for week's at the river's edge. Elissa had spoken of how she believed him to be kind to her. How she'd believed them to be 'friends'. Thanatos had protected Elissa on multiple occasions; saved her soul, instead of reaping it. Slayte had witnessed the care in his destructive hands - and, though veiled - his gaze, also, when it came to Elissa.

She was stunned by the undeniable facts. How was it possible that a deity of his rank could notice a mortal? Elissa was the most incredible and precious girl in the world to Slayte - but a mortal all the same. Why would he make the time to speak with her? Thanatos! He, who had never paid heed to anyone or anything beyond his most immediate of kin. Just what was going on between him and Elissa?

Slayte heard the whispered suggestion trickle into her mind - but stubbornly refused to accept it. It was too outrageous. Too impossible. Punctuated by the fact that Elissa had no idea _who_ she was truly talking to.

She felt softness brush against her arm as Vetty gracefully leapt up onto the bed. The feline mewled softly, snuggled against her owner's side, and affectionately licked Elissa's cheek. Slayte met Vetty's dark eyes, and saw open concern within them that mirrored the unrest she felt simmering within her.

They stayed that way, loyally by Elissa's bedside, keeping vigil over her, waiting for her to regain consciousness.

* * *

Elissa blinked groggily as she slowly came around, disorientated and uncertain of her immediate surroundings. Her head was heavy and swam with confusion. It took her almost an entire minute to recognise where she was; safe in her own bed, in the security of her apartment.

Her brain felt oddly foggy as she tried to determine what had happened to her. Attempting to form any thoughts was a laborious task. She wanted nothing more than to close her sleepy eyelids again, to melt back into the soft, warm mattress beneath her body...

"Elissa?" A familiar voice called her name in tones of love and concern, a lifeline back to the waking world. Elissa blinked again, this time forcing herself to push through the haze that threatened to drag her back into slumber, and turned her face to the right, to find an anxious Slayte leaning over her.

She felt wetness at her cheek. Vetty meowed softly, licking affectionately at her face.

"Elissa!" Relief flooded Slayte's features. "Thank goodness you're alright! Here. Drink some water!"

Elissa swallowed. Her throat felt parched, her lips dry. She gratefully accepted the offering as Slayte lifted her head gently and poured cool, replenishing liquid into her thirsty mouth. As Elissa swallowed down the final gulp, and Slayte lowered her head back onto the pillow, she lifted a hand to her forehead. Her skull was throbbing and a sudden wave of nausea overcame her. It felt like she'd just awoken with the worst possible hangover.

"It's alright," Slayte soothed gently, noting, with concern, how dazed her friend still appeared to be. A sure confirmation that Thanatos had captured her senses in a _very_ strong illusion, indeed. "I'm here, Elissa."

Vetty meowed, curling into her owner's arm.

"Ugh…" Elissa groaned, briefly closing her eyes once more. What had _happened?_ She had the displacing feeling that lots of time had passed since she'd last been awake - but was uncertain as to just how much.

Why did she feel so terrible and out of it? She hadn't gone out drinking, to experience the side-effects of a hangover. The last thing she remembered was going for a run, and then-

Her eyes flew open, and she sucked in a sharp breath. Abruptly she bolted up in bed, gasping when the room violently revolved around her. Slayte reached out to catch her before she could topple sideways.

"E-Elissa!" she sputtered. "Slow down! Not too fast. You just woke up and need to take it easy-!"

"The- the crash!" Elissa cried, her eyes wide with dread and alarm. "I was on the bridge, and a tanker tipped over!"

"It's alright," Slayte gripped her shoulders comfortingly. "The police and ambulances dealt with it."

"But what happened?" Elissa's gaze searched hers, frantic with worry. "How many casualties? I remember seeing the initial crash and then-" And then? She struggled to recall what had happened next.

"Do you… remember anything?" Slayte questioned, voice oddly hesitant.

"I-" Elissa scoured her muddled mind as images and sensations flashed in her memory. Perplexing, impossible - and yet as strangely vivid as the sun itself.

A warm body behind her. A dark cloak enveloping her. The smell of rain and pine and woodsmoke. Strong fingers gripping her chin, angling her face up to meet piercing, heavy-lashed onyx eyes.

Words echoed in her head, belonging to a silky voice that was as dark and rich as the night itself.

" _Shh… listen."_

" _Look at me. Angelissa."_

Angelissa. There was only one person she knew in the world who called her by her full name. She frowned with the concentrated effort to remember. Itachi. Had Itachi been there? But how? How could he have possibly been? Her heart pounded within her chest as she was overwhelmed by crashing waves of confusion that drowned out any logic in her mind. It didn't make any sense for him to have been there, especially when other conflicting images began to slowly surface back into her memory. Images so at war with the mindless chaos she had witnessed beforehand.

Dark eyes, glinting crimson. Red roses blooming all around her. A sparkling, jewel blue sky. The sound of birdsong and buzzing bees. The sweetest scent of flowers. A feeling of incredible peace and tranquility, of endless happiness.

How was it plausible that she had seen those things? Felt such things? Heard his voice? Felt his touch, his proximity, closer than he had ever allowed her to be before? And yet if she hadn't, then _where_ were these recollections coming from? Elissa had never felt so uncertain, so out of her element. Disturbed by her inability to know for sure just what had taken place after she'd seen the initial collision. Her thoughts clouded over, and a searing pain assaulted her temples. She bowed her head, pressing her hands to her skull. This was unlike any headache she had ever experienced before.

"Wait." Her frown deepened. "How did I end up back home? How did you find me?"

Slayte's hands fell away from her shoulders. "You didn't answer your phone," she answered evasively. "I got worried, and came looking for you. I know the path you take on your morning runs, so…" her voice trailed off. "It's a good thing I did. I found you passed out at the bridge. The medics looked at you. They said you'd fallen into shock."

Shock? Elissa's eyes lifted to meet her best friend's once more. Slayte saw the bewilderment in them, and swallowed. Elissa was completely baffled, completely overcome. She looked emotional. Tearful. Slayte felt anger stir in her chest. Thanatos had sought to shield Elissa from the horrors around her - but had evidently overdone it. Mortal minds were not meant to be manipulated by the Sharingan in such a way. They were much too fragile.

Elissa knew what shock felt like. She knew it could result in temporary memory loss. But waking up so groggy and disoriented, feeling like she'd been struck by a truck herself? Hallucinations? Imagining a blue sky on what she was certain had been a dismal, dull morning? Imagining that Itachi had been there with her, spoken to her, comforted her? She was at a loss. They hadn't seen each other in weeks, since she'd actively made the decision to avoid him. How could it have been that he'd even found her there? Had her mind conjured it up, as a defence mechanism to shield herself from the trauma she had seen? If Slayte had found her unconscious, then was it so impossible to think that her brain might have shut itself down, somehow, in a desperate attempt to protect itself?

She couldn't shake the sense of foreboding that hung over her like an ominous shadow. She could sense it in her very bones. Something just didn't feel right about what her mind was telling her.

"Was I… alone when you found me?" Elissa whispered, hugging Vetty tightly to her as the cat snuggled against her stomach. "I thought- I was sure that I saw…"

"What?" Slayte waited, feeling dread knotting in her stomach. "Who?"

Elissa shook her head. "Itachi," she confided, her brows drawing together. "I thought I heard his voice. I thought I saw him there."

Feeling wretched for keeping things from her best-friend - but knowing that it was for Elissa's own good and wellbeing that she didn't confirm Thanatos had indeed been present, Slayte dismissed, "You're feeling overwhelmed. You've had a big shock. The medics said it's not impossible for you to feel strange and think strange things afterward. Your mind is trying to block out your memories to avoid trauma. Maybe… it's replacing them with things you wanted to see?"

"No," Elissa shook her head again, looking unhappy and frustrated. "I know what shock is, Slayte. My brain… it just feels…" she lifted a hand to her forehead again. "Ugh. I don't feel right. I know what I saw. But it doesn't make any sense."

"Just take it easy," Slayte offered. "I'll fix you something to eat. You've been asleep a long time. A police officer dropped us back here, and you passed out as soon as I put you into bed."

Elissa blinked, and for the first time, looked up to find that it was daylight outside her windows. She hadn't thought to ask how many hours she'd been out for.

"How long did I sleep?"

Slayte hesitated. This, she couldn't lie about. Her best friend only needed to glance at her phone-screen to figure it out for herself. "Elissa… you've been asleep for over a day. I stayed overnight to keep an eye on you. I've been so worried."

Elissa's heart leapt. Her jaw dropped. That simply wasn't possible! Was it?

Slayte retrieved Elissa's phone from the bedside table. Elissa gripped it, as if it could somehow anchor her to her sanity. Sure enough, the date showed the next day. 11 o'clock in the morning. She had indeed been asleep for over twenty four hours.

"I…" Elissa whispered, more confused than ever. "How could I have…?"

A whole _day?_ Twenty-four hours of her life, gone? Stolen away, without her even noticing. That wasn't due to shock, she told herself, perplexed and unnerved beyond measure. This was something else. Her intuition once again screamed at her that something wasn't _right._ And her gut-instinct was rarely wrong when it came to significant things.

"I don't feel good," she admitted aloud, trembling in response to what she had just discovered. She felt light-headed and woozy. Exhaustion seemed to weigh her entire body down.

"I'll make you some breakfast," Slayte squeezed her arm reassuringly. "You must be starving. Then we can head to the hospital after, to get you checked over again just in case. Okay?"

Elissa nodded mutely, hugging Vetty close, lost in the whirl of her spinning thoughts as Slayte stepped out of the room to prepare her first meal in over twenty-four hours.

* * *

Slayte idly watched patients and medical staff bustle by, as she and Elissa sat waiting in the crowded Accident and Emergency reception area of their local hospital. She glanced anxiously down at her phone. It was almost 2:45PM, and Slayte knew she'd been away from the tea shop - and Levi - for far too long. She had texted her boyfriend to inform him that she would be heading straight home as soon as she was sure Elissa would be able to manage alone.

She glanced across at her best friend. Elissa had perked up somewhat after the hearty breakfast Slayte had practically forced her to eat. The colour had returned to her cheeks, and she seemed more alert. But the lingering, far-off, distracted look in Elissa's hazel eyes left Slayte silently concerned. She wanted to make sure Elissa hadn't received any other form of injuries to the head before Thanatos had found her. It didn't seem likely - but for Slayte's peace of mind, she needed to know.

They had already been waiting to be seen in the dull waiting area for over two hours. Slayte wondered how much longer it would be until a doctor called Elissa in.

"Do you want anything to drink?" she offered. "Tea?"

Elissa didn't immediately answer, once more seemingly lost in the labyrinth of her thoughts. Slayte wondered if this was a side-effect of exposure to the Sharingan too - general absent-mindedness. "Elissa?" she pressed, reaching for her friend's arm.

"Huh?" Elissa blinked, and turned bemused eyes to her. "Sorry? Did you say something?"

Slayte regarded her worriedly. "I asked if you wanted anything to drink? Tea or coffee?"

"Oh," Elissa shook her head. "No thanks, Slayte. You fed me enough to last me for the next twenty-four hours."

Slayte smiled wryly at that.

At that moment, a voice called out, "Miss Angelissa Caelum?"

Both girls looked up in astonishment, instantly recognising the smooth, deep baritone that echoed about the reception area. Cain Lockwood stood by the double doors leading into the private examination rooms corridor. His long blond hair was tied neatly back in a ponytail, and he wore a knee-length, white doctor's coat, with a light grey shirt and formal dark grey trousers underneath. Around his neck was a stethoscope, and he was holding a clipboard in his hands. A pencil was tucked behind his right ear.

"Are you kidding me?" Slayte hissed to Elissa. "What's _he_ doing here? I thought he was a vet?"

"No, he just volunteered at the shelter," Elissa whispered back, staring at him in shock. What were the chances of being seen by Cain, of all doctors? He looked handsome and professional in his work attire. And just then, very focused and serious.

"Do you want me to come in with you?" Slayte asked, not happy about the prospect of leaving her best friend alone with the insufferable flirt, but ultimately respecting Elissa's wishes for privacy. She eyed Cain like a hawk as a colleague of his passed him, slipping some more patient files into his hands.

"I'll be fine," Elissa replied.

"Are you sure?" Slayte bit her lower lip. "I could-"

"Slayte, it's fine," Elissa reassured her and rose from her seat. Carefully she began to make her way over to where the young doctor stood waiting, wary of being assaulted by any further spells of dizziness along the way.

Cain blinked as she approached, clearly equally as surprised to see her. "Miss Caelum," he greeted formally, and offered her a smile. "A delight. How unexpected."

"Do you work here?" she questioned, following him through the double doors that took her out of Slayte's line of sight.

"Occasionally, on call," he answered easily. "But you're the last person I would have expected to see here. This way."

He led her into one of the examination rooms on the left side of the hallway, closing the door securely behind her as she entered.

"Have a seat," he invited, as he settled into one behind the mahogany desk. Elissa sat down in the patient chair, looking around at the pale, bare blue walls, and waited as he pulled up her details on the computer screen before him, tapping away at the keyboard. She was suddenly hit with the awkward realisation that Cain could see the full history of her medical notes. What a coincidence, she thought to herself, that they would meet again under such circumstances.

His blue eyes settled onto her. "How can I help today, Elissa?" he asked. "Are you unwell?"

He wasn't flirting, or joking. He was being professional and attentive. Struck by this, she began, "Uh… I just came for a check up. I don't know if you heard about the oil-tanker explosion under the bridge?"

"Ah, yes," Cain nodded, his eyebrows drawing together. "Horrid affair. Those poor people. Some of my colleagues were called out to assist." He paused, and drummed the end of his pencil onto the table with long, elegant fingers. Elissa's eyes lowered, oddly transfixed by the motion. "You weren't caught up in it, were you?"

Elissa's ears focused on the _tap, tap, tap_ of the pencil.

" _Shh… listen…"_

Her mind wandered. Itachi's soothing voice had sounded so close to her. If she closed her eyes and concentrated, she was sure she could remember his warmth.

Cain leaned forward, peering at her closely. "Elissa?" he called to her.

She blinked, and dragged her eyes back up to his. "What? Sorry. No. I mean, yes, I was there. I was passing through on a morning run when I saw the initial collision, but then…"

Cain cocked his head. "Then…?" he prodded patiently.

" _Look at me. Angelissa."_

Elissa had to fight back the shudder that threatened to shoot down her spine. She remembered those whispered words so clearly, the sensation of fingers gripping firmly onto her chin. The memory of meeting onyx, searing eyes that had ensnared her immediately. Of looking into them, feeling them pulling her in, like bottomless pools of darkness that she could have drowned in forever.

"Ugh…" She winced and lifted a palm to her forehead again. Cain rose from his seat, immediately concerned. "I'm sorry. I think I fainted. The medics say I was in shock, but… I went to sleep and I still don't feel well. Slayte says I passed out for over twenty-four hours after she got me home. Something just feels wrong."

Cain was silent for a long moment. "I see..." he murmured. "You have gone rather pale," he observed. "Let me take a look at you." He placed the stethoscope into his ears and listened to her chest and back. Once he had done that, he gestured. "Can you move here onto the examination bed?" When Elissa unsteadily rose to her feet, he reached out, lending her a hand. "Let me help you."

She accepted his assistance, and lowered herself to sit onto the bed. Cain lifted a small light and shone it into her eyes several times, checking for any signs of concussion.

"How are you feeling right now?" he asked her. "Any dizziness? Headaches? Any further episodes of fainting?"

"I get dizzy spells," she informed him. "And my head hurts. It feels heavy and groggy. I can't explain it."

"How long has it felt this way?" Cain eyed her, shining the light back into her eyes one final time. Elissa squinted against its brightness.

"Ever since I woke up."

"What time was this?"

"Around 11 o'clock this morning."

"Hmm. And before that? You said you went out for a run. Were you feeling well prior to witnessing the event?" Cain moved to check her ears next.

"I was fine," she supplied. Besides feeling a little uneasy, she had otherwise been in perfectly good health.

"Ah," Cain cleared his throat, fingers hovering over her ear. "Your hair… would you mind…?"

Elissa blinked, and pushed her hair aside for him. He was being so polite and professional. It was a side to him she'd yet to see, she was pleasantly surprised to find. Was it because they were in his workplace, and he had to be? He was making no attempt at all to flirt with her or otherwise make unnecessary physical contact. Any uncertainties she might have felt before stepping into the examination room with him, had all but disappeared.

"Your ears are fine," the young doctor remarked. "Let's see. Any fever? Sore throat? Upset stomach? Other unusual symptoms you've noticed over the last few days?"

"No," Elissa shook her head.

"Open your mouth," Cain instructed. She did so, allowing him to peer into the back of her throat. He then checked her temperature by scanning her forehead with a digital thermometer.

"Lay back for me, Elissa," he directed.

Elissa lowered herself back onto the bed. Cain stepped around so that he was standing directly behind her bed.

"I'm going to run some simple tests to check for any inner-ear issues," he stated. She felt his warm, large hands grip the top of her head and tilt it gently left.

"Any dizziness?" he questioned.

"No," she said.

He next tilted her head toward the right. "Now?"

"No."

His hands drew away. "That's all fine. Let's check your blood pressure next." He nodded for her to sit up and take a seat back at the table.

Elissa sat upright and slipped off the bed - but was overcome with a violent wave of dizziness that caused the room to spin rapidly all around her. She swayed on her feet and gasped, overrun with motion sickness as she tilted dangerously off-balance.

Warm, strong hands caught her under the shoulders, and she was pulled in to lean against a solid chest. She turned her head, her vision swimming, to find that Cain had broken her fall and was supporting her weight against him. His face was lowered, and hovered inches from hers, his brows drawn together in deep concern. She felt heat creep into her cheeks, frustrated by the deplorable state she was in, not understanding _why_ she felt so weak and disorientated - or why her heart had picked up pace at the sudden over-awareness of his proximity.

Their eyes locked together, and for a moment, neither of them moved to pull away. Up close, he was dreadfully attractive, Elissa realised. His clear blue eyes had a darker ring around the irises. They were beautiful. Striking, even. Like a pristine, glittering ocean.

"Steady there, Elissa," his voice drew her out of her sudden trance. "Let's get you seated."

"Sorry," she apologised, deeply flustered. She allowed him to help her back to her chair. "I just felt really light-headed then."

"Have you had anything to eat since waking up?" Cain stood for a moment, watching her closely. "Hydrated?"

"Slayte gave me breakfast," Elissa responded. "I have plenty to drink."

He sat down and secured the blood-pressure device around her arm. "So you say you were asleep for a whole day?"

Elissa nodded. "Yes. Isn't that weird? I've never slept for that long before."

"It is somewhat odd," he agreed. "Especially for a young lady as healthy and in good shape as you are." He glanced at his computer screen. "No prior health issues from what I can see. Let me check these readings here."

A brief silence ensued, in which he waited for the blood pressure machine to provide its report. When it beeped to signal it had finished doing so, Cain glanced down at the numbers.

"Your blood pressure is perfectly fine. Textbook. Your pulse, however, is a little on the fast side…"

His eyes slid up and met hers for a second. Elissa felt her heart pound and her cheeks burn with even more heat. Her heart-rate had sped up when he'd touched her. Was this the part where he dropped the professional act, and threw in one of his maddening jokes? But Cain didn't. He simply removed the sleeve from her arm and turned back to his computer to type up some notes.

Elissa swallowed. She could deal with being embarrassed when he _acted_ embarrassing. But he was only doing his job and nothing untoward right then, and she was mortified by her body's reaction. Surely he could see the pink staining her cheeks? He was a doctor. Of course he would notice! What in the world was the matter with her?

"Your vitals are all fine. It seems this episode of headaches and dizziness has come about quite suddenly, from what you have said. Tell me," his smooth voice settled around her, "what exactly happened to you, before you fainted at the incident? All the details you can remember. Even if you are uncertain. Shock can cause your mind to block things out."

"Can it-" Elissa hesitated. "Can it make you _think_ you saw something? That maybe wasn't there?"

Cain's eyebrows rose at this. His sharp, bright gaze fixed onto her intently. "Saw something?" he echoed. "You mean such as... a hallucination of sorts?"

Elissa's breath stilled. That was precisely what she meant. Mutely, she nodded.

Cain sat back in his chair. He once again tapped the pencil against the surface of the desk. "You should not have done so… under ordinary circumstances. You say you saw the crash right before you fainted. That doesn't really leave much time in between to hallucinate."

Elissa's eyebrows furrowed together. But she had seen something. She was sure of it. Hadn't she?

"It's not impossible for your mind to block out trauma with other images," Cain added. "Tell me," his voice gently coaxed her. "What happened, and what did you see?"

"I don't remember much," Elissa wrapped her arms around herself. "Maybe it _is_ just all the after-effects of shock."

"Shock doesn't make you pass out for a day, darling," Cain responded. The bold term of endearment was familiar - but he said it dryly, without any amusement. "Something else must be responsible for your exhaustion. So try and remember anything you can."

"I was just on a run, like I said," Elissa shrugged. "I stopped by the bridge overlooking the carriageway below. I saw the driver of the vehicle lose consciousness. The tanker tilted and cars began to pile up into it. Then…" she paused. How could she possibly tell Cain what she believed had happened next? It sounded impossible, insane, utter nonsense, even in her own head.

"And then…?" Cain leaned forward, regarding her studiously.

 _And then Itachi, the mysterious, dangerous masked hit-man I told you about, appeared behind me. I'm sure of it, except I'm really_ _not so sure, because that would've been impossible, even though I'm_ _certain I heard him say my name. He took my chin in his hand, he told me to look at him. And I know it sounds crazy, but the crash scene just... disappeared all around me. I saw a beautiful garden, and I was standing in it, and there were stunning red roses everywhere, the sky was a gorgeous blue and I could hear all these singing birds around me. I felt sunlight on my skin, I could smell the sweetness of the flowers all around me, and it was just perfect…it felt so_ _real ..._

Elissa cringed at her internal monologue. Cain would think she was out of her mind.

"Elissa." His deep voice pulled her from her thoughts.

"I can't remember," she shook her head evasively. "I just know I saw something… that felt out of place before I fainted. I woke up in Slayte's arms. She said she found me sitting against the railings of the bridge."

"Alone?" Cain tested.

"Yeah. Then an ambulance and police car came over to us. Slayte took me home after they checked and questioned me."

"And upon waking, a day later, you have experienced memory-fog, dizziness and headaches," Cain concluded. He placed the end of the pencil into his mouth, his eyes not moving from her face.

"Yes," she agreed. Meeting his gaze, she asked, "What's wrong with me, Cain?"

Cain regarded her for another long moment. Then he lifted one broad shoulder into a half-shrug. "It is hard to say, precisely. Your vitals are fine. No signs of concussion. You have been asleep a long while, though. That may factor into things. I'll print you a blood-test form. We can check your bloods before you leave, just to ensure we haven't missed anything. If everything is fine, then it isn't impossible that the trauma of the ordeal was overwhelming on you. It is extremely uncommon to react in the way you have."

He turned back to his computer and hit a few keys. The printer then hummed to life behind him. "I cannot say I've come across anything similar in my experience so far. Perhaps you are generally overworked, and stressed. I suggest you take rest from work next week."

"Oh, I couldn't-" Elissa began to protest. Her boss would _kill_ her.

"It's not up for negotiation, darling," he dismissed, retrieving the form he had printed off. "Here's your sick note. Rest. You should make a full recovery in a matter of days, but if you don't…" he reached into the front pocket of his lab-coat, and pushed a small, rectangular card onto the table in front of her. "Call me," he stated.

Elissa looked down at the slick business card in surprise. _Dr. Cain Lockwood (MBBS)_ , she read. Beneath the name were listed further qualifications, his email address and personal cell-phone number. She hesitated to accept it right away. Glancing up at him, she saw he was occupied with signing off her note.

He had helped her, and been nothing but attentive and serious. Elissa realised that she had perhaps been too hasty in her judgement of Cain, after all. There was clearly much more to him than a silly, awkward flirt. He was smart. Educated. He clearly cared for his patients. And he had looked after her well.

Quietly, she took the card and slipped it into the pocket of her baby blue summer jacket.

* * *

The small diamonds and pearls woven in her long dark hair glistened like stars upon the midnight sky while she walked along the corridors of the resplendent Uchiha palace. Her dark blue dress took a more vivid hue as the fires of the torches mounted on the walls colored her with an ethereal, otherworldly glow. Her soft skin was mesmerizing, shining beautifully. Her lavish dress, with a deep, elegant cut in between her chest, allowed the milky allure of her sternum to show. The lavender and gray flowers adorning her shoulders seemed to bloom at the beckon of the Underworld's blue light. It was dark and yet so vibrant. Full of fervor and power.

Blue fiery light danced across her eyes, too, making them shimmer, like rich, dark crystals, as she carried herself with intent towards the study, the more private strategy room, of her husband. Her long sleeves danced at the brisk rhythm of her sandal-clad steps. It wasn't long before she reached her destination and, with a nod to her clansmen standing guard, she made her appearance known.

The heavy doors, black as a moonless, starless night, opened for the Underworld Queen. Her husband would not deny her a hearing. It was not often that she chose to voice her concerns over matters that her husband had been exercising full authority over. Still, this issue spoke to her soul and she had neither the mind nor the heart to remain silent.

Her breath arrested in the pits of her chest when she laid her eyes upon the scene before her. The room was as impressive and grandiose as she had remembered it to be. All sorts of battle parchments and old books were laying left and right and a map stretched along the dark oak table at the center of it all. Erebus had not been alone; nor with his trusted right-hand men. She could feel the dark aura oozing out of the regal posture of the other man sitting at the largest, tallest chair, always stealing her sanity away.

"Wife," Erebus acknowledged her seriously, stirring her thoughts away from the sight before her. She could discern affection perfectly laced under the tone of his voice in a way that would go unnoticed by any other person than herself. She willed her powers to aid her once more, as she was called to conceal all manners of secrets from her husband's heavy watch. Erebus was a stern man, a man of politics, of strategy, of leadership, of duty, of order. Of _too much_ order...

Nyx neared the table and offered a noble curtsy to the man that occupied the central, unchallenged seat at the epicenter of the room. "Lord Cronus," she gracefully greeted, her eyelashes dropping low and her earrings catching the light in a splendid, alluring twinkle.

"Lady Nyx," Cronus responded with an unconcerned nod. She swallowed thickly, suddenly very aware of her stifling surroundings.

Her perceptive eyes did not miss the intensity that flashed across Cronus' dark irises when her husband had carefully put aside the parchment that he was holding. The glance was fleeting, like cascading water, come and gone like a rivulet, but its intensity was that of a waterfall raging against the rocks on a stormy night. He spared her a heated look, quickly drawing in every detail in her flattering dress and her lively countenance. His lips curved for a brief second, a sign only Nyx with her great experience of reading him could see.

She had not expected to chance upon Cronus at her husband's side at this time of the day. But the unease fluttering in her heart attested to many truths that she knew better than to ignore. How her heart beat wildly at the sound of his deep, manly voice, how her skin crawled under his intense, mesmerizing, chaotic gaze, how her breath left her lips in shaking puffs whenever she felt his dark, volatile aura looming over her. How she craved his touch, his kiss, him… _all_ of him...

It was not often that she was met with both Erebus and Cronus being in the same room; both her husband and her lover, the man that was supposed to own her heart and the one that _did, so sinfully,_ own it, the father of her sons and the master of all that drew breath in their dark, midnight world, who dreadfully commanded every part of her being. Nyx was torn by duty, love and passion.

She was once again reminded of how regal, commanding and arresting Cronus truly was, pure chaotic fire, a storm that shook her very core. She glanced at her husband, stern and strong, unmoving like a tree with heavy roots and stony resolve. An honorable man that did not in any way deserve the cruel game that the Fates had in store for him – and for them all. He did not deserve to have his wife taken into bed by another. He did not deserve the lies, the betrayal, the deception, the blasphemy weighing down on his shoulders. And yet here they were… and Nyx was the cause of it all.

"You wish to discuss a matter, wife?" Erebus' voice pulled her like a rope around her neck. "What is it that troubles you?"

Erebus clearly was concerned for her, wished to know what ailed her that warranted a visit. The man might have been austere, but his love for his wife was not in question. Her heart clenched at the thought.

The issue she wished to discuss was intended for her husband's ears, not the Patriarch's. But Nyx willed herself to speak regardless. Her powers also laid in her uncanny ability to offer counsel and detain bad decisions from both men. The degree of her successes, though, varied considerably depending on which man she was counseling.

"I do, dear husband. But I fear I have intruded on an inopportune time," Nyx said gently and at the beckon of Erebus, came to his side. She seated herself next to him with elegance and grace, as a loyal wife should. She almost bit her tongue at the thought. A loyal wife… that was a title she had long renounced, because of her very own actions.

"Erebus and I have concluded our brief meeting, Lady. You may speak," Cronus's deep voice offered nonchalantly, but the unrivaled finality of the words commanded absolute authority and demanded attention. She held his gaze for a second, releasing a deep breath, and then averted her eyes demurely.

Sensing her momentary hesitation, Erebus continued. "We keep no matters from Lord Cronus, wife. Say on."

Nyx suppressed a sigh, but this time dared not lift her gaze to meet either of theirs.

_Do we…_

Her thoughts traveled unbidden to the last family meeting, to her defiant tone towards the announced decision, Erebus subtly, incredulously, questioning her loyalty… to _Cronus_ of all people. It was a laughable concept, especially coming from her husband in particular. Had Erebus told Cronus of her apparent displeasure of hearing a young goddess was to take old Kokytos' place? If he had, no sign of that conversation could be found on their faces or in their actions. Did Erebus omit to report it? He was fiercely loyal to Cronus. Perhaps he thought nothing more of her protest, seeing that it was already a decided matter and there was nothing he or Nyx could do to challenge the Titan's judgement. At this moment, however, she had another pressing issue to address.

"Hades," she began, her voice steady as she leaned closer to the dark oak table and laced her fingers in between each other on her lap. "Our son has expressed his wish to participate more actively in the clan's affairs many a time."

Erebus' jaw tightened for a moment. "We have discussed this on several occasions before," he spoke sternly, appearing quite tired of this repeated discussion. "Hades has a lot to learn still, wife."

She drew in a breath. "Hades is a young deity, but that doesn't make him any less eager or capable," Nyx pressed respectfully, maintaining her ground. "Thanatos carries burdens much too strenuous when our Hades has nearly none. You know this, dear. You know how the thought pains me."

Erebus let out a hefty breath instead. Her concerns were known to him and were voiced plenty of times in the past, becoming more and more frequent with age. "Our sons greatly differ in function, wife," he replied. "Hades is the youngest of the Uchiha. He must climb the stairs of hierarchy when the time is ripe for him."

Nyx's midnight eyes blinked. "I do not ask for leniency in his stead, dearest husband," she countered resolutely. "I ask only of you to offer him a chance to prove his worth." At Erebus' silence, Nyx continued. "It is a pity to see him so crestfallen. He seeks naught but your approval and a fair opportunity."

"Many opportunities will rise for Hades to prove himself," Erebus noted. "Now that a war against the Olympians is treacherously brewing on our very doorstep." Anger was invading his stony gaze and Nyx could only swallow, hidden realizations she could not voice hammering against her chest.

"Tell your youngest," Cronus' commanding, deep, piercing voice demanded their full attention. Nyx and Erebus turned to the Lord Supreme, holding on to his every word. "To come and find my men at their station on the western grounds."

"My Lord?" Erebus queried carefully, hesitantly.

"I have something in mind for young Hades," Cronus stated. "If this will please your Lady, Erebus," he remarked, and for a moment glanced at Nyx, an amused, stealthy smirk dancing about his inviting lips. Then it was gone, disappearing into chaos.

Cronus slowly rose from his seat, all magnificent and imposing; tall and mighty with no equal. Immediately, Erebus and Nyx followed, an unquestioned display of their absolute respect to the Titan God.

"We greatly appreciate it, Lord Cronus," Erebus thanked the Patriarch and bowed his head. Nyx could not find it in herself to decide whether to rejoice or lament at Cronus' proposal. In a way, she supposed, he chose to honor her plea and give Hades a chance to prove himself. Still, a wave of trepidation stirred the waters in her mind.

"Thank you, Great God," Nyx curtsied deeply and Cronus nodded solemnly.

"I bid you a good night, Erebus," Cronus paused, his eyes lingering on hers, while Erebus bowed in salute, "Lady Nyx," and he then departed, leaving the two of them alone and Nyx astoundingly empty.

Erebus and Nyx walked towards their chambers in silence. What was exchanged between them in the study, while and after Lord Cronus was present, was left between those walls. It was unnerving… to follow the same steps of the man she was bound in wedlock, to share his bed, his concerns at times, to receive his love, while deep down she knew that her heart yearned for another. How atrocious… She felt horrible every time such thoughts invaded her mind. She was afraid that her heart would go numb from it, like it did with the girls encased forever in a watery, stony grave, that denied them death. That at first she'd mourn and then grow gradually cold, like she did when brought before those mortals' horrible end. Despite her fears, her guilt over the secrets she was keeping from Erebus never dwindled to numbness. They lessened when she was burning in Cronus' fire, when she was diving deep into his chaos. But every day they returned fierce and strong when she glanced at Erebus' calm face, when his hand slipped over to hers and kissed her knuckles lovingly.

When they finally reached their private chambers, she asked for a few moments of privacy, to prepare herself for the night's sleep. To steel her resolve and make herself lie down to bed next to the honorable man she called her husband, while a storm was raging behind her closed eyelids. She did not need any handmaidens or nymphs to mentally ready herself for that; only quietness.

Nyx gently closed the door behind her, leaving Erebus sipping on his warm drink and neared her vanity bench and table. She removed her right earring slowly, staring at herself in the mirror and heaving one deep sigh after the other, her chest rising and falling as if humming a sacred song. She thought of herself as a strong woman, but, at times, she felt nothing more than the young goddess she once had been; ignorant of the true dangers the Underworld, in all its beauty, had prepared for her fate.

"You thought that I would not notice…" the husky voice startled her so that she almost dropped the delicate diamond earring. After all this time, she still has not gotten used to the sudden appearances. How bold to visit when a simple door was the only thing standing between them and her husband. His tall, dark form was now prevalent on the mirror and, in absolute daze, she could do nothing but stare at the Titan God, her midnight irises shining like glass.

"My eyes see everything, woman." Cronus' hands slipped around her waist, his thumbs brushing against her rich dress, and his chin for a moment rested on her beautiful raven hair, relishing her wondrous, womanly scent. Shock-waves run across her entire body at the touch. "I'd recognize this look in your pretty eyes anywhere," he muttered seductively and her pupils widened, unbidden. So, his piercing gaze was not simply a trick that her mind and desire had conjured and played against her. He was watching her at that table, as much as she was watching him; perhaps even more so. Nyx swallowed hard as she saw him lean down to place a conquering kiss at the side of her neck. His scent was absolutely enticing, a potent drug.

She met his eyes in the mirror and heaved a long, staggered breath when his hands journeyed towards her hips and he pressed his body against her back. He held her gaze unashamed, rather amused at the treacherous reactions her body gave away. His lips caressed her skin once more, tantalizing, electrifying. It took all of her resolve to stop herself from closing her eyes to relish his touch and give in to chaos.

"Continue," he advised, without unlocking their gazes, taking the earring from her tightened hands and placing it safely at the vanity table. "Your _husband_ awaits." Nyx gulped at the words. She tried to steady herself, putting her hands on the edge of the table in a vain attempt to regain some form of control.

Sensing her suddenly stunned posture at the mention of her spouse, Cronus' gaze lowered. "Hn," he voiced, faintly amused, and his warmth left her very suddenly. With the poise of an Overlord, he carried himself to the armchair she kept next to her vanity and seated himself, sparing her an intense look, wordlessly prompting her to continue.

Wetting her lower lip, Nyx averted her gaze from the imposing man and removed the clasp of the second earring. She delicately pulled at her rings next and carefully placed them at their designated spots.

"Your cat is delayed." His tone was accusatory, ruthless.

"I..." Nyx began, reaching for her hair brush, "… have not heard from Vetty for several nights. She is never silent without a reason." She took her silky hair in her hand and brushed gently.

" _What_ is the reason?" he pressed, very unforgiving. Nyx blinked and turned towards him in alarm.

"I do not yet know," she answered truthfully, worry crawling at her back, as she placed her brush back down at the table.

"Time is of the essence." She saw a strange light flashing in his irises for a fleeting moment, but his eyes and tone still held steady despite that. "And your cat has acted beyond what was ordered once already." He raised his sharp eyebrows and rested his chin on his closed palm, his hand propped on the chair's armrest.

Nyx guided her eyes downcast and looked at the black velvet belt of her dress. She had to remove it, but hesitated in doing so. She could feel Cronus's eyes transfixed on her smaller form, inquisitively, demanding secrets, actions, resolve, utter obedience of any kind. She had to offer a reply now. "I have confidence that the blood pact that Vetty forged with the mortal girl was a carefully thought –"

"Has Thanatos made any other _contact_ with the girl?" he interrupted bluntly. "What is the nature of their encounters?"

Nyx blinked again, puzzled. Such pressing questions, such fierce inquiry. What had happened that frustrated Cronus so? She had no suitable answers to give him, since Vetty has indeed not made contact with her for quite a bit of time. It was worrying, but Nyx had placed great trust in the mischievous feline.

She gulped and turned to the side, carefully trying to undress herself in a demure fashion. "Turn around," he ordered abruptly and Nyx blushed, despite herself, despite her long and intimate experience with the God of Chaos. He regarded her closely as she obeyed the command and turned for him to watch her, unperturbed. She released her belt and let her beautiful dress drop from her shoulders, the fabric long enough to pool around her slender ankles even while she still had much of it still on herself. She carefully wiggled out of the constraints and stepped out of the satin darkness. Covered and concealed only by her undergarments, she placed her dress on the vanity bench, feeling her body aflame in the wake of Cronus' blazing gaze. Nyx rushed to retrieve her night robes and cover her naked skin.

"Speak, Nyx." He commanded fiercely, now that his attention was no longer diverted by the view of the undressing Goddess, but she had still nothing to reply with.

She fumbled with her robes, searching for the silky cords to tie them around her. She drew a long breath to prepare for the storm. "I do not possess this information yet, Lord Cronus."

In a blink of an eye, Cronus was in front of her, his breath fanning her delicate face. He took a firm hold of her chin and locked his untamed, wild eyes on hers. Her hands froze in place, leaving her robes still untied and her, once more, prey to his whims.

" _Find out,_ " he hissed more menacingly, unnerving her incredibly. He was clearly disgruntled. What warranted such vexation? She could not quite place. Was he so incredibly worried of their terrible plan; or, rather, _her_ plan that he was willing enough to assist her with? They shared more than a simple bed at night, they shared secrets and schemes. He was the only one she could turn to when the circumstances were unfavorable, when she felt like succumbing to the never-ending chase of relief and release.

"A mortal girl hardly poses an issue for _your_ powers." His voice was harsh and strong, sharp like cut diamonds, but yet sweet to her in a chaotic, maddening way. His fingertips rubbed against her cheek, but the touch was not yet fully gentle. "What is the delay for?" he questioned and his hand traveled downwards, his long fingers closing around her neck, to take her into a firm grip. Nyx swallowed thickly, feeling the pressure of his touch.

Cronus blinked once, slowly, and his onyx gaze turned softer, much more controlled and reined.

"Do not forget yourself, sweet Nyx," he then spoke, studying her beautiful face. She exhaled at his words, her chest rubbing against his torso at their unbelievably close proximity. "I am your greatest ally, as you are _mine._ " His hand slipped even further down, passing by her chest and coming to now rest at her waist. His other one journeyed to the nape of her neck and he breathed out, resting his forehead against hers in an uncharacteristic display of such affection.

Yes, he was the only one who knew her truths; or at least, the vast majority of them. She, of course, did not enjoy the same privileges, as Cronus was often unreadable, unreachable, detached. But she prided herself in being the only one close enough to _touch_ him, to feel his anger and his passion, to calm him when his chaos ran rampant and to embrace his scorching pathos in all its glory. He was inside her every crevice and she was his outlet, his trusted Queen. His woman, as he had said, moments before old Kokytos met his end.

"Do your part well, my Nyx," he whispered. "And we can then relish our successes," his deep voice dropping even lower. _"Together."_ He squeezed at her side meaningfully and his dominating lips sensually captured her own. His taste was wanton, delicious fire. He was pure chaos… but she couldn't help but be drawn to every part of him.

A sudden, intruding noise from behind the door interrupted their intimate lock and Cronus' eyes returned back to their onyx coldness. Her heart fluttered and her stomach coiled.

Cronus pulled himself back, his hot breath no longer intermingling with hers. He glanced at the closed door, his brows furrowing for a short second, and then turned back to her. "You may call him _husband_ ," he began, stressing the word with veiled annoyance, his thumb caressing her lower lip that only mere seconds ago was trapped in between his own. Cronus lowered himself marginally, muttering next to her ear, pure seduction dripping from his voice. "But you and I both know to whom you belong, Nyx."

_...You are mine._

The voice thundered in her mind, leaving her breathless. The door opened, finding her alone, trying to tie her robes in frenzy. She didn't even hear Erebus knock…! Nyx turned, blinking away the passion in her eyes and willing her erratic heart to settle. She erased all traces of betrayal from her face and body, and met Erebus with a strained smile.

* * *

After bringing Elissa home, and thoroughly questioning her the entire way as to Cain's undoubted trespasses, Slayte felt just as ill at ease with Elissa's reassurances on the public menace's "perfectly gentlemanly" behavior, as she did on Elissa's declarations that she was "totally fine". Slayte noted that Elissa was still unsteady on her feet, that her eyes were still unfocused on occasion, but Elissa had refused to allow Slayte to stay on any longer.

" _Cain said I'm fine, Slayte! Let me breathe, will you? Isn't Levi waiting for you?"_

Slayte had hugged Elissa reluctantly goodbye and made her promise to let her know if there was anything out of the ordinary. That was little else she _could_ do, although she feared Elissa would not make good on that promise. She stood hesitantly a few minutes on the other side of Elissa's closed apartment door before sighing and turning away. Doubtless, she was being what Elissa and Levi called "obsessive" again.

She trudged home, taking the long way around, realizing belatedly that perhaps she had subconsciously also been putting off the inevitable meeting with Levi. He had never been anything but patient and understanding with her, but his tone on the phone had given her the impression that that patience was stretched very thin at the moment. How upset was he with her? Angry enough to want to break up? That wasn't realistic, was it? Granted, she hadn't been the best towards him these last few days… weeks… months, even. She frowned. But there had been so much going on, he understood that, didn't he?

Levi was a man of few words. There was certainly a mutual fondness between them and she hoped she was correct in thinking that he enjoyed her company. He was, she daresay, even _affectionate_ to her on occasion, but she doubted that he loved her with the same kind of intensity that she felt for him. With a wry smile, she acknowledged that that was probably a good thing. It wasn't healthy to be willing to set the world on fire for a single individual. Her footsteps slowed as she saw the tea shop loom in the distance.

Taking a deep breath, she gathered her courage and pushed open the front door. The tinkling of the bell was soothing – a "welcome home". The air was permeated with the familiar smells of a variety of flavors of tea brewing - peppermint, chamomile, jasmine - mingled with the persistent faint scent of pine soap, courtesy of the regular cleanings. Slayte had never been out overnight before and the sensation of "return", of coming back to a place where one belonged, was heady and overpowering. She scanned the shop automatically, searching for the cherished image that would complete her welcome.

Her eyes caught on him, like a moth to a flame, lingering on his lean figure leaning languidly against the counter, his teacup held in the odd way that was so characteristically Levi, elegant fingers spread around the brim. His face was turned towards the kitchen window, and she could only guess what those solemn grey eyes had been contemplating before he angled his head and glanced at her over his shoulder, alerted to her entrance by the ringing of the bell. His eyes narrowed and she tried to discern if that was his characteristic annoyance or if it was an expression she had provoked.

"Hi," she breathed, suddenly nervous. "Miss me?" She grinned, hoping to lighten the mood with a joke, but he only raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

"Guess not," she muttered under her breath, as she turned to close the front door.

Setting his teacup down, he nodded towards one of the tables, "Sit down. We need to talk."

Slayte swallowed in resignation, accepting her fate, before resolutely making her way to the table. She sat in one of the mahogany and green plush chairs and her hands met self-consciously under the wooden surface. She inspected the woodwork, admiring the grain, searching for images in the patterns to distract herself from the matter at hand as Levi set his empty teacup into the dishwasher and moved to join her at the opposite end.

He leaned back in his chair, crossed one leg over the other, and regarded her down the bridge of his nose through cool grey eyes. She was reminded of the time she had been caught stealing fruit from Nyx's gardens. It was an incident ages past, but she distinctly recalled the feeling.

"Did you sleep well?"

The casual question caught her off guard. She had been expecting an interrogation, of sorts. She blinked at him, nonplussed, before remembering that she was expected to answer.

"Oh, um, yeah – fine." She lied awkwardly. She had not slept well, if at all. There was no way she could sleep while Elissa was in such a state. She had kept a solitary vigil over her friend the last 24 hours, nodding off here and there, but quickly shaking herself awake again as soon as she was able.

"You?" she returned the question, grateful for the small talk.

Levi's expression tightened infinitesimally, and he pushed past her question with another of his own. "How's Elissa?"

"She's alright, as good as can be expected, all things considered. I took her to the hospital this morning and they ran some tests. It looks like she's okay," she took a deep breath, before continuing undeterred, "but she still seems a little out of it sometimes - dizzy and unfocused. It's got me worried that maybe they missed something. That's not normal, is it?"

Levi blinked at her. Trust her to suddenly become conversational when it came to Elissa. And she had yet to mention _what_ precisely had happened that warranted her running off the way she had.

He crossed his arms and observed her, knowing that, since Elissa was the topic of conversation, this could go on for a while.

"She slept a long time, but I think that's a good thing, to sleep it off. And she ate her breakfast alright. Maybe she's just tired. She's been under a lot of stress, and - " She broke off, noting the unamused expression Levi was watching her with. She had been rambling, again.

Silence stretched between them.

"Do you have something to tell me?" he asked finally, offering her, as he often did, the chance to choose what and how much she wished to disclose.

She hated feeling pushed into a corner. She knew this about herself. It made her dig her heels in and refuse to budge, wary of whoever was doing the pushing, and although it was unwarranted, although she knew he didn't deserve it, that was precisely the way she responded to him, by instinct.

"No." She answered, her voice small, but determined.

What was there to tell? Nothing he would believe, surely? Nothing he could understand. Nothing it would do him any good to know.

He angled his head to the side, eyebrows furrowing as his frown deepened. "A shame," he drawled.

She held his gaze, uncertain where this confrontation was headed. Unsure of what, precisely, she would be forced to confess and how much she would be able to keep hidden.

"Didn't you say on the phone we would talk when you get back? Or did you sleep so well that you forgot all about it?" he scowled at her.

"I did say that," she agreed hesitantly.

"Then? Out with it."

She sighed, averting her gaze as she quickly puzzled together a believable story, something to throw him off, but no sooner had she moved her lips to speak, than he cut her off.

"Oi, oi, oi. Don't even think about it." He was genuinely upset now, judging by his almost livid expression, and Slayte could only look on, stunned.

"What?"

"Don't even think about telling me some half-baked stories and bullshit excuses. I'm not Elissa. Don't pull that shit with me. You think I don't see your shifty eyes? Whatever you tell me, it had better be the whole truth."

Slayte felt cornered. This was why she had so dreaded this confrontation with him. He was just too perceptive. He knew her too well. There was nothing he couldn't get out of her if he really put his mind to it.

"You're right." She agreed, "You're not Elissa. I can't say no to you and I can't lie to you. Which is why I appreciated your patience with me so much more than words can say."

"Yeah," he scoffed, unrelenting, "well, everything has its limits."

She frowned, biting her lip. Was it at all possible to convince him to go back to the blissful, willful ignorance they had assumed with one another?

"Listen, Slayte," his voice, ever the contrast between gentle and brusque, much like his personality, called her attention, dispelling her thoughts. "I would like to keep you around for a long time. But I just don't see how that's possible if we keep dancing in circles around each other like this."

Her mind blanked. "W-what? What is that supposed to mean?" Was he seriously suggesting that they end things between them, merely because she had secrets she wasn't willing to share? She paled, felt sick, and then - all in the span of an instant - grew angry.

"It means," he clarified, watching the storm of emotions crossing her features, "That relationships don't last where there is no trust." He waited, allowing her to absorb the meaning of his words even as he noted, judging by her expression, that she seemed to have misunderstood something.

"Without honesty, this… whatever it is we have between us, will inevitably come to an end." He watched her clench her fists.

"If you really feel that you can't tell me anything, maybe you should reconsider what exactly I am to you."

Slayte was fuming by this point. There were two possible interpretations of what he was saying. Either he meant that they should work on getting closer to one another, investing in their relationship by being open with one another or… that her secrets meant their relationship was coming to an end. Clearly, it was the latter.

"Are you done?" she snapped.

That wasn't quite the reaction he had been expecting, but he nodded. An angry Slayte was a Slayte ready to talk.

"Do you think it's fun keeping secrets? Do you think I don't tell you because I don't _want_ to?" Her voice rose in pitch, indignantly, and Levi maintained a neutral expression.

"Don't you know how much all this eats me up inside? And I have no one to talk to, no one to confide in, because the minute I do, you'll either think I'm crazy or worse - you'll get hurt!"

She jumped to her feet, staring him down angrily, "And _where_ do you get off telling me to think about what you are to me? How _dare_ you say that to me?! You have no idea- _no idea! -"_ But before she could finish that statement, he interrupted her.

"Sit down." His tone was curt.

"No! I'm not done, don't tell me what to do!" Slayte still had a lot to say, she had just gotten to the crux of her argument, was about to throw in his face _exactly_ what he was to her.

"Sit down," he repeated, "we're going to talk about this like two responsible adults. Stop acting like a goddamn brat."

She sputtered in indignance.

He tapped on the table pointedly, reminding her to sit down.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This was Levi, she reminded herself. It was Levi, and she loved him, even if he was the most frustrating, godforsaken piece of - No. That was wrong. She tried to remind herself of _what_ she loved about him. Summoning an image of him pouring a cup of tea in the early dawn rays of sunlight, she exhaled slowly.

She sat back down, avoiding his gaze. They could talk about this like adults.

If she could bring herself to see things from his point of view, she knew, she would have to acknowledge that she wasn't entirely in the right here. His concern was understandable and being left in the dark had to be frustrating. It didn't help, though, that his point of view had absolutely nothing to do with the reality of the situation.

"I understand that you don't want to talk about your past. Hell, I don't want to talk about my shitty past either if I can help it." An uneasy pang of guilt settled in her stomach, a sensation that only served to further ground her. What she had learned of _his_ past, she had learned against his will, and by prying. She wondered if he could forgive her that transgression, should he ever learn of it.

"But this isn't just about your past anymore. It's every little goddamn thing with you. I'm getting the feeling that you just clam up whenever you're having a hard time and try to make do on your own. Doesn't exactly help that all of your decisions are like shit hitting the fan."

She shot him a look, but said nothing.

"You run off with a knife, and try to kill Elissa's cat. Then you mope around here without talking to anyone. You scream into your phone like a banshee. Hide under the counter like a kid who had a nightmare. Go take out the trash and come back covered in filth, looking like you've seen a ghost and I'm supposed to - what? Ask you if you want some tea?"

The more she listened to him, the more sense he was making, and she frowned, unwilling to acknowledge that fact. "Yeah, actually, I would like that very much," she returned snidely, "this conversation would be a lot more tolerable with tea. Why haven't you made us any?"

"Maybe I'm getting tired of dumping it."

She winced. It was true that she had now left her tea twice without touching it, and had not even put thought to the fact that he must have been the one to pour the cold remains down the sink.

"Sorry," she mumbled. Torn between anger and guilt, two emotions that did not mesh, she sighed and rested her elbows on the table, covering her face with her hands in exasperation.

"What are you so afraid of?" he asked, his voice deceptively soft, frustratingly persuasive, as he effectively brought her entire situation under the light of a single question.

She dropped her hands to the table and turned her head to the side, refusing to meet his eyes. "What do you want to know, specifically?" She asked, deflecting.

He frowned. Despite everything, she clearly had no intention of being forthcoming with him. Did she not trust him? Did she think he couldn't handle whatever it was that was going on? Was he just a fucking kid in her eyes? Whatever it was, it was beyond maddening.

"Forget it. If you're still going to play games with me, I'd rather not know anything at all." The sound of the chair scraping against the hardwood floor as he made to stand punctuated his statement.

"I'll tell you," she cut in, before he could leave. Hesitantly, still without meeting his eyes, she added, "Because it's you."

He stood there, watching her defeated and resigned form, wavering between listening to what she had to say and making good on his intentions to just walk away.

"Don't question what you are to me, it isn't fair," She muttered, her voice small, hurt. "I'll tell you what you want to know, just please understand that I can't possibly tell you all of it, I will have to change some details, or leave some things out but everything I tell you will be true in its meaning. That, I promise you." She finally looked up then, her conflicted sable eyes meeting his own aggravated grey ones. The heat of the argument faded to a simmer.

He sighed, resenting himself for reducing her to this insecure, hesitant mess and resumed his seat. It might be uncomfortable for her to be honest about what was going on, but it was necessary. If Slayte and Elissa were in any sort of danger, then they needed him. He would be damned if he was going to let the one woman he had finally allowed into his life stand in the face of danger on her own. There would be hell to pay before he let anyone lay a hand on her.

"What do you want to know?" she questioned further, folding her hands over the table, when he did not immediately respond.

He met her gaze then, and his steely grey eyes were all business.

"Are you in danger?" were the words that left his mouth, contrary to everything Slayte might have expected.

"No," then remembering she had promised honesty, she added, "at least, not directly."

Irritation sparked in his voice at her evasive answer. "What the hell does that mean?"

"It means no one is targeting me," she clarified.

"Is Elissa in danger, then?"

She paused. Weeks ago, the answer would have been simple. Now, she wasn't so sure. She recalled Thanatos' gentle behavior with her friend. If Thanatos was truly Elissa's ally, she was as safe as could be, wasn't she? The eyes looming in the darkness… couldn't possibly belong to someone more powerful than Thanatos?

"Slayte." His voice brought her back to the present.

"Right, sorry. I- I'm not sure with Elissa. She was in danger, but… recently, things have started looking up. Maybe it's going to be okay after all."

"What danger was she in, then? First you were freaking out over Vetty, then this guy she met… What do you think is happening to her? When you say not directly, do you mean you're in danger because you're trying to protect Elissa?"

Slayte winced at how accurate his assumptions were. She hesitated, thinking. Honesty was far more difficult than she had expected it to be. "Yes. Protecting Elissa could prove to be dangerous to me. So far, though, everything I thought was dangerous is turning out to be okay. Advantageous, even, maybe. I can't shake the feeling that someone is targeting her, though, but all my leads are turning up empty. "

He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, satisfied that she was finally answering properly. "Why do you think someone is targeting her?"

"The things that have been happening lately are just too strange. Too many near-death experiences. Dangerous people gathering around her, even if it's to protect her, is alarming, isn't it?" The concern evident in her voice showed how ill at ease she was with the entire situation.

"And these dangerous people are…?"

"Vetty, that guy…" she bit her lip, hesitating before adding, "... me."

He raised an eyebrow, amused. "What's dangerous about you?"

To this, she said nothing and he observed her quietly. It did not bother him too greatly not to know what she considered so dangerous about herself as much as he found it a great relief that she had some qualities she considered so.

"I…" she tried, finding it difficult to articulate what she was trying to say in a way that wouldn't spell trouble for his soul.

"Is this related to your past?" he interrupted.

"Yeah."

"Then forget it, I don't need to know that part. I hope you're more dangerous than a stupid cat, though."

She smiled at that, "I hope so, too."

"What happened to Elissa yesterday? Why did you disappear?"

She nodded at his line of questioning and wondered how long he had held all these questions back. Now that she was actually talking to him, it wasn't quite as difficult as she had feared.

"Elissa was caught up in that oil tanker explosion yesterday. She wasn't involved in the accident itself, but she was close enough to see everything and collapsed in shock. I was… summoned… as her emergency contact." It was as close to the truth as she could possibly get.

Levi frowned, considering. "Is she alright now?"

"Yeah, she's doing better." Slayte nodded, "She doesn't remember most of it."

"That's good."

Silence reigned for a few minutes, as Levi mulled over the answers she had given him.

"What about that guy?" He said finally. "The one you were screaming your head off about. The killer."

"Oh, _him."_

"Yeah," Levi agreed, seeing her nervous expression, " _him._ That's the one you meant with dangerous, right?"

Slayte wracked her brain, reminding herself to withhold only the information that was perilous for his survival _,_ not the information that made her uncomfortable.

"I don't know…" she admitted, "I was sure he was, but… I could be wrong. I guess, it turns out, I didn't know him as well as I thought I did."

"This someone from your past?"

"Yeah," she answered bitterly, "More like… he _was_ the past." Then, remembering who she was talking to, she looked up again, hoping he had not read too much into that brief admission.

"Were you… involved?" Judging by his incredulous expression, he had read her statement with uncanny accuracy.

The uncharacteristic hesitation in the question gave her pause. She glanced up at him. She still wasn't used to the idea of being loved, still wasn't wholly convinced that he cherished her, in any sense of the word, but she knew that she would have to word her truth very carefully. There was something in his eyes, something that made very clear to her that whatever she was to him, he was not one to share.

"Elissa said you used to work for him," he added, when she delayed her response.

"That's not... quite accurate. I lived my whole life in his _world_ ," she gestured vaguely at the word, "serving him and his family. It's not… a job, like you gave me. With you, I worked for myself. For rent and pay. With them, I just worked. I didn't need an identity so there was none of that. They provided for my needs, so I didn't need money." She shrugged, "That's just the way it was."

"You were… a slave?" he asked, perplexed.

"I guess… you could call it something like that. It was an honorable position though, just meaningless…. for me." She sighed, the relief at finally having said it was mingled with bitterness at the memory.

"You didn't answer my question," he reminded her. There was no need to clarify what he meant.

She met his eyes and could not feign ignorance. She wondered if it wasn't kinder to not tell the whole truth, just this once. She hated the idea of confessing to him that there was ever a time where she had felt something for another. Her feelings for Thanatos were, in retrospect, childish, foolish, and not at all based in reality. Whereas her love for Levi was something that consumed her very being, something that even frightened her at times with its intensity. But would he understand that?

"Do you want the whole truth? I don't want to upset you," she admitted finally, hoping he would just make the call for her.

"Don't be dumb, would I be asking if I wanted you to tell me lies?"

"There wasn't really much of anything there," she admitted offhandedly, as if it were the most mundane thing in the world, and not something that had tormented her existence for centuries, "I liked him, but the feeling wasn't mutual. I was pretty much invisible to him. Almost literally, I would say." She shrugged, as if the confession was of little consequence.

"That's it?" he asked, disbelievingly.

"That's it," she agreed, surprised herself as to how normal her story sounded when one neglected the eight-hundred-year time span. "I just don't like telling you there was ever a time I liked someone else." Her eyes dropped to her own intertwined fingers, embarrassed.

"You didn't even know me then." He scoffed, "It's not like I joined a cloister until you showed up either."

She watched his mind pick apart the information she had given him, knowing he would analyze and rearrange every tidbit until it made sense to him.

She felt bare, exposed and vulnerable, and although there wasn't a person alive she was more comfortable being vulnerable with, a part of her still felt bitter. "You do it too, you know."

"Do what?" He met her eyes, interrupted from his thoughts.

"Hide things. Important things. Things that affect us now, not in the past."

He waited, allowing her to expand.

"Who was that guy you were so angry about? I only said "good morning" because I saw the two of you talking, but you were furious. Why?" She met his gaze evenly, "Why wouldn't you tell me? You probably have the same reasons I do, right? So why is it okay when you do it but it's not okay for me?"

"That was a one time thing," he dismissed, "That's not going to happen again. Your shit is going on every day."

She frowned at him. Was he hearing himself? Did he know how weak that argument sounded? Was he going to keep it to himself even after she had told him almost everything?

Disillusioned and upset, she rose to her feet, ready to make herself a cup of tea that she would surely be taking up to her room. She wanted some time alone. She stopped mid stride however, when he caught hold of her wrist.

Before she could so much as ask him to release her, he tugged on her arm, pulling her smoothly into his lap.

"W-what are you doing?" A furious blush crept over her cheeks.

"Did I say we're done talking?" he murmured into her ear, his tone cold and his breath warm. "Where are you going?" Resting against his chest as she was, she could feel the hum of his deep voice as he spoke.

"I've answered everything you wanted to know," she protested, "You clearly have nothing to say to me, so I would say we're done here." She turned her face away from him petulantly.

He rested his right hand against the table's surface, blocking her escape, as his left arm snaked around her waist, holding her firmly in place. It was always unsettling to him, how his anger, his irritation, all seemed to ebb away whenever he held her in his arms.

"Since you've been running around like a loose cannon, I've had plenty of time to think," he muttered, regarding her through narrowed, cool grey eyes.

Slayte didn't know if she was still angry and wasn't at all sure what direction the conversation was now taking. She suspected, however, that he knew precisely what effect his proximity and his low voice were having on her.

"And I've decided. If I had to choose between keeping you happy and keeping you here, I'd fucking tie you down if I had to."

Slayte could feel the warmth radiating from her face and was certain she had turned a bright shade of red to the tips of her ears. She cursed herself for the sparks of wanton desire that scrambled to life in her pulse at his unorthodox words. She wasn't _supposed_ to react that way to such a callous statement!

She glanced up at him, despite her embarrassment, and the intensity in those eyes set warmth flooding through her system.

"Do that," she mumbled, her voice barely audible. "If it ever comes down to it, do just that." She repeated more clearly as she met his eyes with steely resolve, "Whatever else I may claim, I promise you, all my happiness is here."

Of all the answers he might have expected from her, that wasn't one of them. He sighed in defeat and pushed an exasperated hand through his raven locks, "Is there something wrong with your brain, stupid?" His voice was one of warning, teaching her once more what was acceptable and what wasn't. "You aren't supposed to say things like that, if it were anyone else…"

"But there isn't anyone else," she shot back, unwilling to revert to the role of clueless lampad, wanting him to take her words seriously. "There's only you. So why do I have to care what anyone else would think?"

To that, he had no answer.

"You're batshit crazy," he said finally.

"Well, that makes two of us."

* * *

Uchiha Itachi strode up the meandering pathways leading from the River Styx to the Underworld's Palace. The Lampad at his side chattered aimlessly as she lit the way forward.

The walk back to the Underworld's Palace had always served, for him, as a time to gather his thoughts, his experiences of the day on the surface and to make sense of them, sort them away, in order to face the politics of the Underworld with a calm and collected demeanor. As of late, however, he did not seem to be able to find the peace necessary to sift through his turbulent thoughts. That could be, in part, due to the fact that the current surface events weighed more heavily on him than those in the recent past.

As he drew to a stop in front of the looming onyx doors emblazoned with the crest of the Uchiha Deity Clan, he paused. His eyes took in the familiar white and red symbol and all it stood for. It was foolish in his eyes, for gods themselves to devote themselves to a meaningless image and yet, the Underworld was unanimous in its worship of this arbitrary symbol. He turned to the Lampad at his side and dismissed her with a nod. The servant-girl, who had been hovering hesitantly at his side, seemed relieved and curtsied low before disappearing into the shadows.

Itachi turned away from the palace, choosing instead to roam the Underworld's forests before greeting his family. He stepped into a grove of tall, ebony trees, the blackened bark glistening as if lacquered as ethereal, glowing persian blue leaves provided a radiant, otherworldly canopy overhead. The ground between the trees was unlike anything to be found in the mortal realm. Glistening lapis lazuli stones were ground down with time resembling coarse sand. They glowed with the unique energy of the underworld and the forest stretched tall overhead, drunk on their power.

The surroundings were, indeed, magical in comparison to the surface, he mused as he heard the sound of the stones crunching underfoot, and yet, he somehow preferred the rich, dark earth of the surface. It had its own power, its own source of life, that was somehow more revitalizing than the sorcery of the Underworld. That color, like the lap of the earth, like Angelissa's tumbling, chestnut hair, was more the color of life than the green of forests.

A faint frown turned down the corners of his lips, as he reflected on the incident that had taken place only earlier that day. The catastrophe that had been looming in the air all morning had come to fruition, as was to be expected, and when he discovered none other than Angelissa in the middle of that chaos he had moved without thinking to shield her. He had not even questioned his instinct to do so. It had felt natural, like protecting Sasuke, or Shisui - one of his own. When had he started considering a simple mortal woman as one of his own?

The very idea was dangerous. To lead her on, to form any sort of lingering attachment to her was the height of irresponsibility. Any day, any moment, The Fates could decree her death and he would be required to obey their will. This was inevitable. At the very latest, then, she would be required to look upon his face… and the horror and anguish that would cross her expressive features, the agony in her hazel eyes as she realized what he was… was also inevitable.

She had been wise to step away from him. Wiser, in that moment, than he clearly was.

He assumed that Slayte had taken her back home, by now, and the young mortal would be sleeping off the aftereffects of the illusion she had suffered under the effects of his Sharingan. The vision he had shown her was burdensome in its intensity, and he blamed himself, as a master of the Sharingan's powers, second to none, for not reining it in. The need, in that moment, to counterbalance the horror in her eyes, to show her an image as lovely as reality was crushing, had caused him to show her an illusion of what must have been a dizzying depth for her. It would be a day at least, before she regained consciousness.

The implications of _his_ esteemed control over illusions, slipping, was not lost on him. For a mortal woman to hold that much sway over him was dangerous in every sense of the word.

"Greetings, my liege."

The voice that spoke was smooth and sensual, deeper than the lilting tones of the goddesses of Olympus and therefore, compelling and, to some, bewitching. The Cerulean Forests bordered on both the River Lethe and its like-named deity and although he had considered the odds of actually meeting the fair-faced goddess here low, the Fates did not seem to favor him this evening.

Lethe was the name of the goddess who guarded the River of Forgetfulness for so many centuries, she had stopped counting. She was a vision of dark, divine beauty or at least, that was what she heard whispered among her subjects and even, on occasion among the young, lustful olympian gods. Who was it that had suggested she was the Aphrodite of the underworld, only to correct themselves and insist she was, in fact, far more entrancing than the pale-haired goddess of love? She could not put a name to the face. She did not care for the surface goddess but found her resulting ire amusing - flattering, even.

The poets had their own ways of describing her - lips the color of the dark juices of the sweetest pomegranates, fathomless, pale blue eyes that held the promise of absolution, as well as fair, aristocratic features. Hair dark as night, with traces of deep auburn that tumbled down her back in loose waves and framed her face like an underworld halo. Her svelte figure had sent more than one foolish young god tripping over his own feet. She was clothed in more form-fitting robes than her olympian counterparts and wore, on this occasion, black chiffon robes that draped loosely off her shoulders and were wrapped snugly around her hips, a diamond encrusted belt around her waist matched the ones at her ears and completed the ensemble.

Lethe did not see anything she considered out of the ordinary when she beheld her reflection on the river's surface. Was she beautiful? Objectively, yes, even she noted that. And although she did not greatly value beauty, she was amused by the effect it had on others, and with what ease even proud and noble gods were reduced to simpering fools at the mere sight of her. Beauty had its own power, and _power_ , was what she valued.

Among the gods of Olympus and the Underworld there was only one - ever unattainable, unreachable, unaffected by her appearance. Dark, enigmatic, handsome and wise… the elusive Thanatos was her only equal, of this, she was certain.

Just as Death and absolute Forgetting went hand in hand, so too, did she believe, did they complement one another in ways that others never could. The waters of the river pooled and stretched over the shore, before slinking back into the river, as if it had been hoping to follow her as she smoothly, slowly approached her visitor.

"What brings you to these parts, o' noble god?" she curtsied low, lifting only her eyes to meet his gaze through thick lashes.

"I am merely passing," he dismissed, turning his back to leave.

"Pray, stay a moment," her words were delivered as a statement, not a request, and he paused, looking over his shoulder to meet her pale blue eyes. Lethe was not one to be taken lightly. Ever deeply involved in the politics of the Underworld, she was close, he knew, to his mother as well as Cronus and many others. Slighting her would not be without consequences.

Her expression was nearly as impassive as his own, her lips turned down into what seemed to be a near perpetual pout as she regarded him coolly. "It is not often you roam these parts, Thanatos," she provided conversationally as she approached him. She folded one arm over the other as she spoke. "I was given to believe I would be seeing more of you."

She stopped just in front of him, the toes of her black leather sandals nearly meeting his black boots. "Madame Chiyo had informed me that your predecessor would visit often to partake of my waters."

She looked him up and down appraisingly, appreciatively, as she spoke. "I am certain your role is not without its burdens. When you are weary, you are always welcome to come and find me." She reached up to brush imagined dust from his shoulders as she continued casually, "Mortals and their wine, the gods and their ambrosia… in reality, what they truly desire are the waters of Lethe," her voice dropped to a hushed whisper, "They all want to forget. I'm sure my liege has also had experiences he would rather forget as well." She withdrew her hands and stepped back smoothly, continuing with a wry smile, "Is that not so?"

"I have been fortunate thus far not to take actions that I would wish to forget." He stepped smoothly past her. "I do not intend to begin now."

A smirk crossed her otherwise impassive expression as she observed his retreating back. He had spurned her most decidedly with that simple statement and yet, Thanatos would not be worth the chase if he gave in so easily.

"And whence will you run, Thanatos? Just as our roles are intertwined, so, too, are our fates. Even if you roam the world for millennia on end, you will not find a goddess more suited to you than I am. Only you and I know the burdens of the mortal souls that are delivered here."

Itachi paused, then, his back still turned towards her, listening.

"I can offer you the bliss of forgetfulness. However, I cannot partake of it myself." She walked up to him slowly, her pale features basked in the glowing blue light of the trees. Laying a hand on his shoulder, she continued, "Allow me to ease your burden, if I cannot ease my own."

Itachi did turn then; the icy look of warning in his eyes was unmistakable. She withdrew her hand as if singed, an involuntary reaction to the threat in his otherwise calm expression.

"Mind your step, if you do not wish to fall."

The words were spoken in slow, even tones but their meaning was unmistakable. She had expected resistance, but not to this extent. Had never thought he would have been so bold as to threaten her, knowing her role and influence in their world.

"Go on, Thanatos," she called after him, her voice dark and bitter, "I know the truth of my words. I can wait. I have nothing but time."

He neither paused nor turned back as he continued, unconcerned. She watched his fading silhouette with a frown. He could be stubborn for as long as he liked, but the truth was, there was no one in the world for the two of them but each other.

* * *

It was another dull afternoon. The thick clouds in the sky were once again a dreary, melancholic grey; a sure sign that the heavens above intended to weep heavily. Elissa sighed deeply as she stared glumly out the balcony windows. It was the second day of her formal sick leave, and though resting had done her a whole world of good in terms of ensuring her strange symptoms of dizziness and headaches had completely faded, and allowed her precious free time to work on her story - she still hadn't been able to shake off the foreboding, restless feeling plaguing her bones.

She sat curled on the couch with a bowl of snacks, a snoozing Vetty snuggled against her side. The television was on, but Elissa wasn't paying attention to the movie that was playing. Her eyes returned to her laptop screen, to the next chapter of her story, and her fingers lifted to start typing again.

_"Well," Kore stated casually. "You must be weaker than Apollo, then."_

_She knew she had immediately struck a nerve, for Hades's eyes snapped open, and he cast a withering, indignant glare at her._

_"Take that back," he rumbled menacingly._

_Kore folded her arms and sighed, looking away regretfully. "I cannot, for you told me that I am as heavy as the- ah!" she screeched, when Hades abruptly reversed their positions and pinned her beneath him, his movements as swift and fluid as a striking rattle-snake._

Elissa paused, thinking for a moment, before continuing in her work.

_She blinked, enthralled by the smouldering sight of him above her._

_"Take it back," he snapped, his lips hovering inches from hers._

_"You should say please," Kore dared to antagonise him further._

_"And you should obey, Persephone," he breathed, dragging the tip of his aristocratic nose down the bridge of her short, pert one. "If you know what is good for you."_

She paused, her eyes skimming over what she had just written once more. Her gaze was then snagged by the end of the sentence: _his lips hovering inches from her._ Unbidden she found her thoughts rewinding back to the day of the oil-tanker incident. Of words she was now almost certain she hadn't imagined. The screen before her blurred out of focus as Elissa lost herself in her recollections. Her mind stubbornly refused to shift on it, even as the logical part warred with her over the plausibility of Itachi being there at all. But she couldn't ignore it. Her intuition was screaming that he must have been. So close to her; close enough for her to feel the warmth of his breath fanning against her face when he'd spoken, in fact, and it was after that moment, when she had met his eyes, that everything had faded around her-

She blinked, snapping abruptly out of her reverie. Her hands balled into fists. She couldn't _stand_ it anymore. She'd spent all of three days agonising over her memories, over what her head told her was real and what it kept insisting must have been a hallucination. She'd replayed the incident over and over in her mind, and she had grown sick of it. Tired of the trepidation and uncertainty and the lack of answers. Enough was enough, she told herself fiercely, angrily. She wouldn't let Itachi haunt her thoughts like this any longer. It wasn't fair. She was making herself feel sick with unknowing.

With steely resolve, she made an impulsive decision. She'd already avoided him for long enough at the river's edge. The only person who could answer what she needed to know, the only person who could either confirm or deny it, was the very one she had spent weeks actively ensuring she did not bump into again. He was dangerous, she had been told. Involved in questionable, shady dealings. People had lost their lives because of him. And yet Elissa knew that there was nothing else for it; she _had_ to see him. If only to set the record straight once and for all - before her internal frustrations drove her mad.

It was broad daylight, she reassured herself. She would be fine. Slayte had said so, herself; if Itachi had intended her harm, she would have surely already been hurt. She recalled the kindness in his voice and eyes, and shook her head. Shoving all doubts into a mental cage, Elissa cemented her intentions, bolstering her courage.

Setting the laptop aside, she headed to her bedroom and grabbed a black, zip-up hoodie to protect herself in case it started raining. Shrugging it on and pulling the hood over her loose hair, she grabbed her mobile, keys and - because she was sensible, and always carried it in her bag anyway - pepper spray, which she slipped into her right pocket. She felt a twinge of remorse and irrational guilt for even considering that she might have the need to use it; Itachi had never, ever acted threateningly toward her before. There was no guarantee that he would even be at the river. But she told herself it was a necessary precaution. How did she know nobody was after him, too? Didn't hit-men have targets on their own backs? Or did they just shoot bullets in the backs of others?

Elissa shook off the chilling thought, glanced at a sleeping Vetty as she passed through the living room again - before quietly exiting her apartment.

The turbulence of her spinning mind ensured that the walk to the river passed quickly. She marched to it, every step causing her sense of anxiety to escalate. By the time she had come to a stop by the usual spot, her heart was pounding. It had been so long since she'd last stood there. Nostalgia tugged at her, overwhelming her with an odd wistfulness, a yearning for more innocent days. How much things had changed since their last spoken words. When he had encouraged her, once more, to trust in her instincts. Everything Slayte had told her was racing through her mind, and so were the phantom visions from the day of the incident. Her eyes anxiously scanned the trees, the grass, seeking him out.

Disappointment crested in her chest when she saw that Itachi was nowhere to be found. She had half-expected him not to show up. After all, she'd been deliberately not doing so for weeks. He had probably noticed. Or maybe he hadn't cared at all. What made it any different for him to consciously stay away? He had every right to avoid her too, if he so chose. The thought of him doing so was a sobering, depressing one. Elissa stood for a few minutes in unhappy frustration, watching as the river flowed tranquilly by. She felt the first, tiny specks of rain hit her skin and glanced up at the sky. It had grown even darker, and Elissa rued her decision not to bring an umbrella with her.

Bending down, she picked up a stone, drew her arm back, and sent it skipping flawlessly over the water's surface. She began to smile faintly to herself in pride - before her expression quickly fell, turning troubled once more. She swallowed thickly to herself. Itachi had taught her that. He had taught her many things - before she had discovered the unpleasant truth about him. She tossed two more, and then, accepting that she would have to try to find him again another day, began to turn back toward the gaps in the oak trees that would lead her out of the park.

A tall, cloaked figure stepped out from between them, and Elissa's heart fluttered, skipping several beats. Her eyes immediately came to rest on his masked-face, and their gazes instantly locked. She felt the breath flee from her lips. Itachi had come.

He offered her no greeting, no gentle call of her name as had been his usual custom before. He simply stood, in dignified, unnerving silence, his eyes never breaking away from hers. The intensity of his stare caused Elissa's pulse to hurtle faster still, as she realised he was waiting for _her_ to speak first.

She gazed at him, rooted to the spot, knowing that her face was surely showing a myriad of emotions. The silence that stretched through the distance between them was heavy, tense. Suffocating. Nothing at all like the comfortable ones they'd shared together over the course of their many previous meetings.

"How did you know I was here?" Elissa finally began distrustfully, despite herself, "Or have you been coming here the whole time?"

Itachi paused, listening to the tones of her now familiar voice, and let a beat of silence pass between them before answering, "I could ask you the same question."

She bit her lip, knowing he was right, but the evasive answer did nothing to put her mind at ease.

"Tell me who you are," she demanded, and added miserably, " _please_."

He watched from behind the cover of his gilded mask, noting her anguish with discomfort, the sight of it reinforcing what he had already guessed to himself. They had formed a lingering attachment, and this did not bode well for either of them.

Seeing his hesitation, she pushed on, "I can't take this not knowing anymore. Everything I have experienced myself in my time with you is telling me one thing and logic is telling me another. I know you said…" She recalled the words that had echoed through her mind every day since he had uttered them, "That I should empty my cup, for it to be filled, but my friends have no reason to lie to me. You, on the other hand, I don't know you. I want to believe you, but… there's just been too much…"

The sound of the gentle rain, drizzling onto the eaves and dripping into the river behind them was a steady hum like the blood rushing in her ears as she waited with bated breath, hoping to finally reach some sort of even ground with him.

"It sounds as if you have reached a decision," he answered her at length, a note of finality in his even tones. "Then… why are you here?"

His question gave her pause. "I haven't reached a decision," she countered resolutely, her fingers tightening around the pepper spray in her pocket. "I want to throw everything away, like you said, and hear what you have to say." She swallowed thickly. The magnitude - and foolishness - of doing so conflicted with her logical, cautious nature, but she pushed on. "A theater actor? An investigator? A hit-man? Your identity keeps changing. I need to hear it from you. And this time, tell me the truth."

Itachi's gaze dropped from her eyes to the hand clenched in her jacket pocket and for one split-second, she had the sinking feeling that he _knew_ what she had brought with her, and for what purpose.

He met her eyes once more, his expression resigned, but to what, she did not know. He approached her slowly, his movements controlled and elegant as always. As if he were the height of aristocracy, as if he were from some other _world_ where he knew neither fear, nor death, nor suffering or anything at all other than his own, absolute power. His ebony eyes, pools of emotions she could not name, fixed on hers, pinning her in place.

"I play a role on a predetermined stage, but I am no actor." He drew ever nearer, his cloak furling out into the wind behind him, and Elissa felt her resolve wavering as he approached. "I am in the midst of an investigation, but I am no sleuth." He stopped less than an arm's length from her, close enough for her to feel his warmth, despite the rain, and met her eyes with a cold expression - both tormented and resigned. Unforgiving.

"I am duty-bound to end lives but I am no assassin."

The words evoked a gasp from her, and she clamped a hand over her mouth in response. So it was true.

She stumbled backwards, unable and unwilling to believe it. Her eyes filled with helpless tears and she realized that some part of her had been holding out hope that Slayte's accusations would once more prove to be ill-founded. The crushing reality was more than she could bear. If someone as kind and soft spoken as Itachi could be a killer, then she couldn't be sure of anything or anyone anymore.

"I cannot tell you what I am," he continued, his voice low and compelling, dark and entrancing, "But I can tell you what I am _not._ "

She was caught in those onyx eyes she had once admired, once sought comfort in - they seemed to pity her now - and she was helpless to look away.

"Whatever explanation your mind may conjure… it is far from the truth."

She felt physically sick, dizzy and lightheaded. He was a killer. He had ended lives with those very hands. Those same, gentle fingers that had served as a sparrow's perch, that had handed her her forgotten bag, that had helped her up and then held onto her own hands, longer than necessary. The hands she had always considered comforting, warm, and kind. Those very same elegant, ringed-fingers had squeezed the life out of who knew how many people? Her stomach lurched at the realization and she feared she was going to be sick.

She stepped away from him, desperate to put space between them. She felt the slippery, rain-drenched grass underfoot give way and she tumbled backwards, the hood of her sweatshirt slipping from her head as she fell. She heard the bubbling of the river, louder and clearer than ever and felt the cool spray of water against the back of her neck. Her descent came to a sudden stop as Itachi caught a hold of her wrist and held her suspended above the water, preventing her from falling further. She hadn't realized how close she had been to the river's edge until this moment and saw that the ends of her long hair had already taken the plunge.

Their eyes met. The black of night and shadows and all things mysterious and forbidden catching merciless hold of her own hazel - the star-flecked green and brown of life and hope. The heat of the undeniable chemistry between them, something she had always made an effort to ignore and he seemed to pretend didn't exist, was a physical force in that moment. Itachi looked down on his own hand as if it were foreign to him. He had determined to put space between them and yet, his body had acted yet again of its own accord. Impulsively. Irrationally. With a grim expression, he pulled her back to solid ground and released her, his decision made.

Elissa caught her breath from the near accident and stared at her wrist in open-mouthed surprise. A single, simple touch had dispelled the terror that had gripped her only moments before. The sensation of his warm, strong fingers wrapped around her slight wrist still lingered there, surreal, comforting, and above all _familiar._

"It was you," she breathed, looking up at him, confusion written in her hazel eyes. "You were there."

"Your meaning?" His expression was carefully blank, empty as a canvas.

"By the scene of the accident, you were there. You held me. You _did_ something to me!" She couldn't place it, couldn't describe it, but the feel of his elegant fingers on the bare skin of her wrist was unmistakable and confirmed beyond a doubt what she now knew to be true. He _had_ been there on the bridge and whatever she had suffered the days after had been a consequence of something he had done.

"What did you do to me?" Her voice wavered with emotion - anger, hurt, betrayal.

"What is it that you are suspecting me of?" His answer was patient, like an elder prompting a child to be honest.

"You were there on that bridge, weren't you? You just… suddenly _appeared,_ " she demanded, not wanting him to evade the question again. It didn't make sense, but she knew what she had seen.

At length, he lifted his sable eyes, guarded and indecipherable, to hers. "Is that possible?" he asked mildly.

"Don't! Don't skirt the topic, you - you looked into my eyes and then…" She fumed, struggling for words. "I saw this terribly vivid vision of … a flowering, blooming garden, and…" Elissa knew she sounded like she was out of her mind, but how could she possibly explain it in words that made sense? It was confusing, even to her.

"Are you holding me accountable for the hallucinations of your mind?" His tone was dismissive, aloof.

Her lips parted in hurt surprise at his uncharacteristically cold response. "I know what I saw," she insisted, despite his indifferent manner. "Why won't you just tell me the truth?"

"And how," he questioned, his unassuming, encouraging tones prompting her to doubt what she was certain she had experienced, "do you expect me to explain what your mind has invented?"

"That's -" she hesitated, uncertain and confused. Why was Itachi being so withdrawn? So unlike himself? She tried to see his eyes through the mask, to read any emotion there but he held his face at an angle that made it impossible to see anything but shadow.

"That's not it..." She muttered, unable to bring the fire to her words that she wished to summon. She wasn't certain of anything. It was all so vague and confusing. Even if she _was_ right, she couldn't convey what she thought she had seen in a way that made sense, and yet, she could not shake the feeling that he knew _exactly_ what she was talking about and was feigning ignorance.

"Why are you being like this?" she asked quietly, feeling tears lodge in her throat. "Why do you have to make me out to be the fool? Why can't you just tell me what's happening? I'm not some child who's too stupid to understand. Just tell me! I can take it, whatever it is."

Itachi's gaze softened behind his mask. Elissa was troubled, distressed, and he was the cause of that distress. It would be best to allow her to live out her mortal life undisturbed, to put some distance between them.

"You witnessed an accident, you say," he began, "Your mind was spared from the ill-effects of that sight by means of a pleasant vision. Do the circumstances surrounding that fact make you so wary?"

"Yes," Elissa responded without hesitation, "Because I know it wasn't _natural._ And it _wasn't_ my mind playing tricks on me." There was a fire in her hazel eyes and she clenched her fists in anger.

"I came here, willing to throw aside any suspicions, hoping only for the truth, but you belittle me, you treat me like a child! I don't know what happened to me, but I know that you _do._ "

She took a deep, shaky breath as the next words that left her mouth cost her more strength than the entire confrontation had, "And it hurts that you trust me so little. That you feel the need to deceive me."

Itachi's solemn ebony eyes narrowed as he watched Elissa lower her head, her shoulders hanging low. He knew that this was not the manner in which they usually spoke to one another and yet, he clearly saw that it was impossible to carry on as they had been. It was far too dangerous. He could not approach her as a trusted friend, merely as a passing acquaintance.

"So long as the truth is subjective to personal interpretation, and reality is skewed by individual points of view…" he began, hoping to lift her lowered head. "Your well-being is paramount to the truth."

"Don't give me that…" Elissa whispered bitterly. "Talking in riddles, trying to throw me off, deciding what _you_ think is best for me." She did raise her head then, as he had hoped she would, but the look of crestfallen disappointment and unbridled anger burning in her eyes, he noted dimly, was one that he had never seen from her, least of all directed at him.

"I had hoped at least, never to have to hear words like that from you." She stood tall, her crumbling resolve building back up into a solid wall. Her eyes were cold as she looked back at him, even as her clenched fists trembled. "My free will, and my right to choose for myself, is what should be _paramount_ to my well-being. I thought you knew that, I thought I made it clear how important that is to me, but it looks like I was wrong," she shook her head at him regretfully.

Itachi did not respond, his eyes, like the night, unwavering and constant as they held hers.

"You still won't tell me anything about yourself. You said you're 'duty-bound' to end lives? What does that even _mean_? How many lives have you ended? You won't even explain it to me!" She gestured in frustration.

He listened in silence, watching the storm of emotions that danced across her features. Watched, as she grew increasingly upset. Knowing that _he_ was the root cause of it.

"What am I supposed to think?! You clearly don't trust me. Just admit it!" She squeezed her eyes shut briefly, as if in despair, her voice dropping to little more than a whisper, "I'm so tired of being the one who tells you everything, who opens up hoping you will share too, only to receive cryptic words or silence in return."

The rain picked up as the heavens split in the promised downpour. She heard it crashing down heavily all around her, and yet did not feel the torrent of water she had expected to drench through her clothes. Glancing up, she saw that he had lifted his cloak over her head, shielding her from the worst effects of the rain. Her eyes traveled up his form - the broad expanse of his chest, clothed in a black tunic, catching on a familiar burnished-gold clasp, before reaching his face, expressionless and indifferent as his cold eyes regarded her, aloof. His lips were pressed into a firm line, like immovable mountains that would not part for her. He would offer no explanations, even as he mirrored, almost exactly, his actions from two days prior.

Her eyes locked defiantly with his. Full of spirit, he glimpsed, flecked with sparks of gold like stardust itself. "I _know_ what I saw and heard," she added, words rising once more in volume. "My mind didn't make it up. Nobody _else_ calls me Angelissa!"

With that, she angrily turned away from him, tears stinging her eyes, too agitated to stand being in his presence for a moment longer, and began her lonely trek through the downpour, down the riverbank, back to her apartment.

He watched her go, words of comfort on the tip of his tongue, words he knew would bring her back, would ease away that frown… but Itachi was no fool. Wisdom dictated that the less there was between the two of them, the better, and the best way to initiate distance was, unfortunately, with pain.

She chanced a glance over her shoulder, just before she turned the bend, but Itachi had already disappeared. She did not know what hurt more; that he was gone, or that she was no longer surprised.

* * *

Slayte Rivaille leaned over the railing of the tea shop's rooftop terrace. She watched the sun's slow descent from her perch, enjoying the cool breeze that skimmed her shoulders. With a sigh, she undid her heavy bun and enjoyed the light sensation of the weight finally being lifted from her head as she shook her long black tresses loose and they tumbled down to mid-thigh. Clasping her hair clip onto the railing, she made a mental note not to forget it when she went inside.

She lifted her steaming cup of earl grey tea to her lips and watched the city slowly go to rest. The roads were bathed in reddish-orange light and children wandered idly home. She watched, bemused, as two boys shoved one another playfully before disappearing into a side door leading into an idyllic little house. An excerpt of a story she would never get to read. That was the appeal of mortals, they were so fascinating, so interesting, so sincere. She sighed before adding mentally, _and so dumb_.

Her conversation with Levi had felt empowering at the time, relieving, to be rid of so heavy a burden, at least in part, but in retrospect she was filled with regret, not knowing what part of that conversation might take root and lead him towards forbidden knowledge and his own untimely demise.

She frowned. He hadn't left her a choice. He was always insistent on freedom of choice, so it was unprecedented for him to press her in that way, but, she supposed, with the way she had been acting, it was to be expected. She must have been driving him out of his mind with her near-constant state of panic.

She sighed and rubbed her temples in irritation. It was tiring, sometimes, constantly being on edge. Trying to save everyone, protect everyone, although she was technically just as helpless as everyone else. She had no powers to speak of. The only ability she had was to melt into the shadows, a cool, refreshing nonexistence such moments were, but hardly of any use in actual battle.

She set her tea down on a side table and crossed her arms on the railing, peering down on the tea shop's entryway glumly. Levi stood there with his broom, one he had paid a ridiculous amount for, because brooms were "important investments", and swept the sidewalk meticulously.

She loved him. She sometimes hated loving him. It was a helpless, desperate feeling that physically hurt at times. It was an insatiable craving that no amount of reciprocation could satisfy, even if he were the reciprocating type, which he wasn't. It was insecurity and self-doubt, it was worry and nightmares and a constant instinct to protect, without quite knowing from what. She sometimes resented him for it. He was so laidback, so carefree, he could show her affection when he felt the need for it and ignore her when he was otherwise occupied and was so sensible and sane about it she couldn't help but feel bitter sometimes, as unreasonable as she knew that was. She sighed, assuming that that was likely for the best, so they could balance one another out.

Still, removed from his line of sight, she frowned down on him with the careless honesty of the unobserved. Why did he have to be a mortal? An unsuspecting, ignorant mortal that was so terribly frail. Just the slightest incident and he could be stamped out of existence. Deprive him of a single gasp of air and he would be gone, never to be seen again. Was it any wonder she was frustrated? Was it any wonder she was desperate to protect them when their lives were so very fragile? Just the wrong information was enough to kill them. Information like the kind he had forced out of her.

Her thoughts were brought to a sudden stop when she saw a petite, blonde mortal saunter up to the tea shop. They were clearly closed, didn't the impertinent human see that?

The girl in the pretty white sundress walked up to Levi, apparently asking him a question that caused him to pause in his sweeping and lean on his broom to answer. The chic, little slip of a thing pressed a hand to her mouth and laughed, a charming sound that reached all the way up to Slayte's ears.

Slayte narrowed her eyes at the young woman, rage flooding her veins. She glanced at Levi who gestured casually, supposedly providing directions, oblivious to the blonde's flirtatious manner. Tch. Typical.

Slayte glared down at the blonde, for once, reveling in the knowledge of how frail mortal existence was, and how _easy_ it would be to snap that pretty little neck. Drawn by the intensity of her glare, the blonde looked up at the rooftop. Her mouth dropped open at the terrifying image of what she was certain was a demon glaring down at her with all the wrath of hell, impossibly long black hair framing her figure like a fury.

Offering hasty apologies to Levi, the young woman scrambled off, casting a last fearful glance over her shoulder. Hmph. Slayte smirked to herself. There was clearly more than one way to skin a cat.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she removed it quickly. A call from Elissa! She instantly swiped her thumb over the green symbol and pressed the cell phone to her ear. "Hey Elissa, what's going on? How are you doing? Are you feeling okay?"

" _Slayte, I need to talk to you. Are you busy?"_

"Too busy for you?" Slayte scoffed with a smile, "Never."

She turned away from the railing and stepped straight into a dark and oppressing aura that arrested the breath in her lungs. She looked up, seeing none other than Thanatos towering over her, his expression displeased.

" _... he's never going to be honest with me. You were right. I was an idiot."_

Slayte had missed half the conversation, her eyes transfixed on Thanatos's golden mask, but she had heard enough to say, "You're not an idiot, Elissa, don't say that."

Giving Thanatos another wary glance, she turned away from him to say, "Hey, Elissa, I'm sorry. Something just came up, can I call you back?"

" _I thought you said you weren't busy? I asked first!"_

"Oh, yeah, it's just… all of a sudden…" Slayte tried to think of a viable excuse as Thanatos loomed in the background.

" _... friends come first!"_ Elissa complained.

Slayte hesitated, Elissa sounded like she really needed someone to talk to. Thanatos was the one who had come unannounced, surely he could wait a moment?

"What's up? Go ahead and tell me, I'll deal with this thing later," she reassured her friend.

" _No, it's okay…"_ Elissa laughed weakly, but it sounded bitter. Her friend was upset. She glanced once more at the deity just behind her. Had Thanatos had something to do with it?

" _Make sure you call me when you're free, please, I need to talk to you."_

"I will," Slayte reassured her, "I promise."

Elissa disconnected the call and Slayte frowned at her phone before pocketing it and returning her attention to her old master.

"I suppose it's safe to assume that you know why Elissa is upset?"

Thanatos was the same, stoic image of indifference that he always was but the slight frown of his expression did not escape her notice.

"What are your intentions with Elissa?" Slayte asked, meeting his eyes.

When he still did not answer, she sighed and returned to the railing, leaning over it and watching the city. The sun had nearly fully set and lights twinkled in the many windows.

Slowly, he approached and came to a stop beside her. For a long moment, neither of them spoke, watching instead the mortal world before their eyes going on with their lives. They were casual observers that did not belong in the scenes playing out before them.

"I never get tired of watching them," she admitted into the silence. "The more I see, the more I want to see. Their lives could end at any moment, and they have no idea what follows… but they are confident and unafraid. They plan their days as if they were immortal."

Her quiet musings did not disturb the peace and reflected some of his own thoughts. "While I, on the other hand, am nearly immortal and am terrified every day." They watched an elderly couple meander down the road, arm in arm.

"Am I obsessive because I'm from the underworld? Is that why my emotions are all so painful?" She glanced up at him, realizing he was one of the few who could answer any questions she had on the nature of her existence. "Whether it's joy, sadness, fear…" she glanced at Levi who crouched low with a dustpan, "... or love, it's all so extreme, it hurts. I just want it to stop, sometimes."

"Is this my punishment for running away from my duties? Is this the nature of my existence? Why am I 'obsessive'?"

"Why seek to validate your existence through the scales of others? Is this what you begged your autonomy for?" His calm, collected voice restored order to her thoughts.

She wanted to live her life in the mortal realm with Elissa and Levi for as long as humanly possible. Whatever heartache that decision might bring with it. Why was she doubting herself, now? He was right, it was foolish.

"Autonomy is a purely mortal characteristic," she voiced at length. "Gods, nymphs, and all others are deprived of it."

"They cherish it most ardently. More than Apollo likely cherishes his chariot." Her voice was laced with bitter sarcasm. "Why is it that they prefer the freedom to jump to their deaths over a gilded cage? Their desire for freedom is infectious, it makes me want it, too, even though I still don't understand it."

Itachi's thoughts returned to Elissa, to how she had accused him of treating her like a child. The phrase _"My free will, and my right to choose for myself, is what should be paramount to my well-being"_ still rang in his ears.

She had accused him of making a grave error in prioritizing her safety over her freedom. But what was that freedom worth if it's fleeting, split-second euphoria ended on the banks of the Styx?

The silence stretched on as the shadows lengthened, and the two foreign creatures of another realm sorted their thoughts.

At length, he broke the silence. "You must guard Angelissa more vigilantly."

Slayte looked up at the raven-haired deity, his long locks floating in the breeze, his expression stern and concentrated. She frowned. She was nearly certain her assumptions were correct, but did not dare voice them.

"I can't make sense out of what I saw at the bridge," she said instead, hesitantly, "Why do you linger near a mortal whose time has not come?" The question was intrusive, she knew, so she softened her voice hoping to coax an answer out of him.

"I am bringing an end to the meetings. You must watch over her in our stead." Was the only reply she received.

Slayte assumed he meant himself and Shisui and wondered if he was aware that he was deflecting. It must be uncomfortable for him, ever poised and in perfect control, wise and perceptive, to feel something so uncontrollable and for a mortal, at that. It was not unheard of for a god to develop an attraction to a mortal, but it was impossible for a god like Thanatos whose very nature was at odds with mankind's existence. His name had been cursed by humans for centuries, due to his simple, but necessary function.

Slayte sighed, watching Levi switch off the porch lights and enter the tea shop. Who was she to offer Thanatos any kind of understanding or support? They weren't friends. They were hardly acquaintances. And yet, she knew how it felt to be uncontrollably drawn to the wrong person.

"It is hard to care for a mortal without breaking them," she admitted finally. "They don't belong together with creatures of the underworld."

"As Elissa's friend, I appreciate your decision… as someone who has been in those shoes, I…" she frowned, conflicting loyalties warring in her expression. She had chosen to be selfish. She had chosen to risk it all and be with the mortal she loved, knowing he could die if he ever realised what she was. If Thanatos, too, chose to be selfish, she would despise him for it. The hypocrisy of that fact made her uneasy.

"You are mistaken. I am merely investigating a disturbance in my domain that Angelissa is linked to." His calm reassurance served only as a further confirmation of her suspicions. It was the first time he had spoken to her neutrally, evenly. Without resorting to the authority he held over her as his birthright. For Elissa's sake. For the sake of convincing her that he held no feelings for Elissa.

She groaned, snatching up her hair clip and tying her long locks in one smooth movement back into a messy bun. She needed to be alert and at attention. She couldn't afford to be this unguarded when dealing with Thanatos. If he felt anything at all for Elissa... that changed absolutely nothing in the big picture. He was a god, he would have to be responsible enough to see that nothing came from it.

"Of course, I will be watching over her. Whether or not you ordered me to," she countered, "But what do you expect me to do?"

"I'm just an underworld Nymph, face to face with an actual enemy, I'm useless. I doubt I could even fend off a single Hound in my state. Not that I wouldn't try, but I can only die once for her, and then what?" The forlorn self-doubt from only moments before disappeared at the mention of her beloved friend and her eyes were filled with her characteristic fire.

Itachi watched her argument mutely. "I shall remedy that," he announced.

Without explanation or question, he raised his right hand, guiding shadows towards her. The nearby streetlights winked out one by one as the mass of shades thickened. Slayte tried to control her unease as the shadows approached her with long, wispy tendrils, coiling around her upper right arm. All at once, they seemed to enter her body, the coil tightening around her arm with a blinding, searing pain. She bit her lip to prevent from crying out but just as soon as it had begun, it was over.

She winced, rolling up her sleeve to see if it had left a mark. "Why is everything always painful with you?" she hissed. With her sleeve rolled up to her shoulder, she saw that a black, metallic cuff was coiled around her upper arm in three circles. There was no air between the cuff and her skin to speak of, almost as if it was engraved into her very arm.

She frowned, the thing was very symbolic of servitude. A reminder of the slavery she had risked everything to escape. She supposed there were more important matters at hand than her feelings and her freedom but it left a bad taste in her mouth.

"You have been granted the means to mold the shadows. Use your ability wisely," he instructed.

She turned to him, a thousand questions on her tongue, but his body was changing form, morphing into a flurry of crows that fled into the skies in all directions. Had his presence been nothing more than an illusion cast via the ravens he commanded? Had he been there at all?

" _You are one of these now, nothing more, nothing less."_

The disembodied voice floated back to her ears, but she kept her opinions on being one of Thanatos' crows to herself.

Attempting to draw on the power of the cuff, she felt a strange aura spill through her, dark and intimidating. She noted with surprise that Thanatos had given her the ability to summon a portion of his _own_ divine power, his own aura. A precious gift that was not to be taken lightly. The sheer enormity of it stunned her.

Shadows collected in her palm and she twisted and molded them experimentally, watching with awe as they took on physical form. With a resolute frown, she attempted to form something useful. It took her nearly fifteen minutes to understand the unique skill, to use her will to mold the shadows into submission but when she finally held in her hands a wavering, blurry ebony sword darker than the deepest night, her expression lit up with joy and sheer relief. She was no longer powerless, no longer helpless.

She dispelled the shadows and reached for her phone. It was time to call Elissa back.


	16. Part XV: Eye of the Storm

* * *

**Part XV: Eye of the Storm**

* * *

Elissa stared up at her living room ceiling, too diverted by her troubled thoughts to continue working on her story for the day as she had originally intended. She was sprawled leisurely out on the fluffy white rug beside the coffee table, in a cozy oversized white T-shirt and faded grey sweatpants. Her lower legs were hooked over the edge of the couch as she absently chewed on a piece of strawberry pencil candy, mulling over the decisions she had taken earlier.

Rain was pouring heavily down from the stormy grey skies outside. The weather had progressively worsened over the course of the afternoon. When she'd arrived home after her encounter with Itachi at the riverbank several hours earlier, Elissa had been completely drenched. After drying herself off, she'd tried to call Slayte right away, only for her best friend to be uncharacteristically occupied. She'd been quick to call Elissa right back, however, and Elissa had wasted no time in venting all her inner frustrations about the enigmatic Itachi and how she was _certain_ she hadn't imagined his presence at the bridge on the day of the accident.

Slayte had listened patiently and been thoroughly sympathetic - but Elissa had known from her friend's hesitant tones that she probably didn't fully believe her, either. It was either that, or Slayte just believed it was for the best that she stopped seeing Itachi entirely, which was what she had tried to warn Elissa about in the first place.

 _If only I'd listened_ , Elissa berated herself unhappily. She could have avoided feeling so betrayed, so confused, so hurt and belittled. Like she was losing her mind.

Her expression darkened indignantly. She _wasn't_ crazy. Itachi had tried to make her feel paranoid, as if she had imagined it all - even when he had lifted his cloak to shield her from the rain, a gesture that strongly mimicked what she was absolutely certain she had seen him do at the bridge.

She couldn't understand it. Why had he been so cold? So unforthcoming? So unlike himself in the dismissive nature of his tones? He had reached out to catch her wrist to keep her from falling into the river, and she had _known_ from the warmth and familiarity of his touch, that her mind hadn't invented it. His words and expressions had been so aloof - and yet he had closed the distance between them, standing close enough to protect her from the heavens' downpours.

His actions had contradicted the rest of his behaviour. What was she meant to think?

Her thoughts turned to what he had told her, about ending lives. He had openly admitted to it. Elissa's stomach twisted to form a tight knot of dread. She still struggled to accept how hands that had shown such gentleness could be capable of murder. He didn't fit the profile of any kind of killer. Or _did_ he? After all, he clearly had been adamant at keeping her at a distance. How much did she truly know of his real nature? Just how many darker secrets had he kept hidden away from her?

She felt betrayed and misled. She wanted to blame him - but the reality was, she had stubbornly chosen not to heed Slayte's earliest warnings.

It was for the best, she insisted to herself, that they met no further. Despite knowing this, she still felt an incessant, inexplicable regret churning in her gut. Had she overreacted? Might she have composed herself better, and tried to approach him in another way that would have encouraged him to open up to her, to get him to explain everything in a way that made it all okay, made it all make sense?

She recalled the unyielding line of his mouth, and knew that she was only fooling herself. Itachi had clearly had no intention of revealing anything further to her, or answering any more of her questions with anything other than infuriating silences or riddles. He had instead chosen to shut her out. His words had almost bordered on mocking, alluding to her mind creating things on a whim. His unreceptive stance had been unmistakable.

And yet, he had suggested that her well-being was paramount - as if he were somehow actively seeking to ensure it - despite refusing to explain to her what she categorically knew she had seen and experienced.

Elissa covered her face with her hands in frustration. Slayte had been right in the advice she had given to her from the outset. She ought to just maintain her distance from now on, and forget all about Itachi. It wasn't like they really were anything substantial to one another, anyway. They clearly weren't even _friends,_ at the bare minimum _,_ if he didn't even trust her enough to tell her anything about himself, if he treated her like she was a child. She had been stupid to consider him a friend. To allow him to occupy so much space in her mind during their time apart.

She was certain he didn't spare a single thought for her.

Besides, everything had shifted and changed in the way they interacted with one another. The air between them now felt so suffocatingly tense - so heavy and uncomfortable. Gone was the pleasant ease of their previous interactions, when they'd spent hours at a time sharing opinions on all manner of topics.

Elissa swallowed, a part of her mourning the loss of those meetings that she had cherished - only to feel furious at herself all over again. _She_ had cherished them. He had _not._ He'd left her feeling like nothing more than a fool who hung onto the idiotic hope that he would open himself up to her. She had misinterpreted him and that had been her mistake. She was _stupid._

She was stupid because even despite all the warning signs, she had still _tried._ She had sought him out and tried to empty her cup as he had suggested, but to no avail.

He was the strangest, most mysterious and thoroughly puzzling man she had ever met. She'd had conversations with him that had stimulated her mind like nobody else had ever done before - and yet she couldn't keep holding out hope that maybe there was a chance she was just misunderstanding him. Certainly not now that he had admitted to being _'duty bound'_ to end lives.

Duty bound to end lives, but no assassin? A killer was a killer. There was no grey area in taking a life, surely?

 _Damn him and his riddles_ , Elissa thought to herself, growing irate all over again. She didn't need this. She didn't know _why_ it had upset her so much, that he had chosen not to be open and honest with her, when, upon hindsight, he had never fully been open with her from the very beginning. She had shed tears! Over _what?_ Someone she barely knew! But it hadn't been so much over _him_ , as how he had made her _feel._ Humiliated and foolish.

She still didn't know his age. Where he lived. The simplest of things, that caused all manner of alarm bells to blare in her head. She didn't know why he had made the time to stop and speak to her, of all people. She had chosen to ignore all her doubts. But she couldn't any longer. She couldn't keep making excuses for things she didn't understand.

She wouldn't torment herself with overthinking things any more. Itachi was the one in the wrong, denying what they both knew to be true. He _had_ donesomething to her that had caused such a sudden, deep exhaustion to plague her body for almost two days. She would just have to accept that she would never find out _what_ that had been, or the reasons behind why he had lied about it.

There was no sense in wallowing any more over the hurt his reticent behaviour had caused her. She doubted he even cared. He certainly hadn't cared enough to stop her from walking away from him, upset and tearful.

Vetty nuzzled her left side, and Elissa reached down to pet her affectionately.

"I'm not going to think about Itachi anymore," she told her cat with conviction. "No more going to the river, and talking to him or Shisui again. They can keep their stupid masks on and carry on doing whatever shady things it is they get up to. I'm _done._ "

Vetty released a mournful mewl, almost as though she were saddened by her owner's announcement. Of course that was ridiculous, Elissa told herself. She had probably just picked up on her agitated mood.

Elissa rubbed at her eyes, still feeling disgruntled and ill-tempered despite her decision. She had three more days signed off sick before the weekend rolled around. What was she going to do with that time?

It _had_ done her a world of good to rest. Cain was correct in his diagnosis, it seemed.

Her thoughts then turned to the handsome young doctor. She remembered he had given her his contact card, and she had later stored it onto her phone just in case she experienced any further unpleasant symptoms. Ought she to thank him, and inform him that she was feeling better? Or would that be intrusive and inappropriate?

In contrast to Itachi's solemn, quiet, calm and grounded nature, Cain was loud, outrageous and fun. But he had also shown her a more serious side at her hospital appointment. It had been a pleasant, reassuring and refreshing change.

He wouldn't mind if she texted… right? He _had_ given her his number, after all.

She lifted her phone up to eye-level, and clicked on his name in her address list.

 _Hi!_ She began to type. _Elissa here! Hope you've been-_

 _No,_ she thought to herself, scowling. She sounded like a loser. She deleted the start of her message, and tried again.

_Hey, what's up? It's Elissa. Just wanted to thank you for the check up you gave me the other day. I'm feeling a lot better after resting up like you said. Thanks again!_

She paused, sinking her teeth into her bottom lip in uncertainty, her thumb hovering over the send button on her screen. If she went ahead and pressed it, Cain would have her number. Was she okay with that? Was that what she wanted?

She'd enjoyed his presence the last two times they'd met. She had started to feel more at ease around him. What was wrong with being friends? Absolutely nothing. At least he was clearly open to it, despite being a horrendous flirt.

Unlike _others_ who couldn't care less about her feelings and hurting them. Her eyes narrowed. No. She had said that she _wouldn't_ think about _him_ anymore.

Her thumb jabbed at the send button, and watched as the message was instantly delivered. He wasn't showing up as online, which she knew was because she hadn't been added to his contact list yet. She waited, watching the screen for a minute. When nothing happened, she shrugged, set her phone back down on the rug, and reached for another string of candy.

Maybe he wouldn't reply. Maybe he wasn't allowed to be friends with a patient he had treated. Maybe that broke some sort of professional doctor protocol.

A couple of minutes passed, in which Elissa idly listened to the comedy sitcom that was playing on the television. Then the chiming of a new message notification caused her to pick her phone back up.

She blinked at the screen. Cain had texted back. She swiped across to unlock her phone and opened the message.

 **_Elissa,_ ** she read. **_So happy to hear from you! Glad you're feeling better. Happy to give you a 'check-up' anytime ;) Make sure you rest the full week._ **

Elissa smiled despite herself. He was absolutely hopeless. So much for patient-doctor protocol. She doubted Cain was the type to stick to any kind of rigidity like that, based on what she had seen of his personality so far.

 _Even if I'm feeling fine?_ She wrote back. _Can I go back to work tomorrow if everything's cleared up?_

She hit send. His status was online, and she watched as two ticks changed colour, indicating that he had instantly read the message. She watched the _is typing_ notification at the top of the conversation window, and a few seconds later, he sent his reply.

**_Absolutely not. Doctor's orders. I signed you off for a week, make the most of it. Besides, you told me your boss is an utter ogre. Maybe you're still unwell, to want to go back so soon. I could prescribe another week of rest?_ **

**_Don't make me do it, darling. Or I'll sign you off for a whole month._ **

**_;)_ **

Elissa bit her lower lip, stifling an amused giggle. She sent another response.

_You wouldn't dare! Do you want to get me fired?_

The reply lit up on her screen. **_An attractive proposition, and fits right into my plans._ **

_What 'plans'?_ Elissa responded, intrigued.

**_To make you come and work for me, of course._ **

_Work for you? LOL. As what? A nurse?_

**_A fabulous idea, Elissa. You even have the name of a nurse. 'Elissa will be looking after you today.' Imagine how at ease the patients would feel. You'd be well suited to it :)_ **

_Only if you pay me double what I get at my current job._

**_That goes without saying. Maybe I can offer additional perks, too…?_ **

Elissa scoffed to herself. There he went, shamelessly flirting again. _And what might those be…?_ She humoured him.

His response surprised her.

**_An endless supply of free lunches, on me. Free healthcare for life. Am I selling it?_ **

_That's tempting._

**_Is it? Do I...?_ **

_Do you what?_

**_Do I… tempt you? :)_ **

Elissa rolled her eyes. _Don't be weird. I was just getting used to the serious you._

**_Oh, I can be very serious._ **

**_In fact, Elissa, I take you and your good opinion very, very seriously._ **

Elissa's eyebrows lifted, once again caught off guard.

 _Really?_ She sent back dubiously. He wasn't easy to predict - which made his responses so much more interesting than she had anticipated they would be.

**_Absolutely._ **

Afternoon blended into evening, and they continued to exchange frequent messages, getting along like a house on fire. Elissa found herself grinning at Cain's replies, which ranged from serious, sweet and charming, to goofy and stupidly flirtatious.

By the time she settled into bed that night and responded to Cain's goodnight text, her mood had significantly lifted, and she didn't think about Itachi again.

* * *

It had been four surface days since Cronus's party had departed the Underworld and set off to the surface on important business pertaining to the Olympians, leaving full custody of the Kingdom to King Erebus and Queen Nyx.

Nyx felt their overlord's absence with every breath she took. The lack of his dominating presence and familiar proximity. In all the ages that had flown by since their clandestine meetings had begun, he had scarcely allowed more than three days at most to pass before seeking her out again.

It felt strange, without him near. Like she was bereft of something she could not quite place or describe.

In part, she welcomed the break, welcomed how she was free to roam the palace grounds without fear of his suddenly drawing up behind her, without the fear of anyone somehow deciphering the lingering looks they shared with one another, the way his dark, fathomless eyes trailed over her as if he sought to undress her with his very gaze. She welcomed it - even as her body yearned for the heat of his touch once more, the exhilarating, deadly dance with danger that formed the very essence of their union. Craving his chaos, the darkness of his being, had been engraved into her very soul, it seemed, and there was no way to erase the stains of darkness he had left upon her.

And yet, she was glad for the brief respite. He had informed her before leaving that he would return within a week. She had time to gather herself, to plan, space to think more objectively and clearly about the prophecy.

She wandered through the Uchiha palace's magnificent, sprawling gardens, lost in her musings and worries. If he returned, and she had no further news, he would be most displeased, she knew. She had tried to reach out to Vetty once more. The cat had not answered her. An oddity in her behaviour, and one that left Nyx feeling deep unrest. She knew nothing about this mortal girl Vetty had been keeping company with for many months. She didn't know her name, or even what she looked like. What was the feline waiting for? Why did she remain silent, and not share her progress? Nyx could not understand it.

As she rounded a perfectly-tended bush bearing Underworld flowers, her gaze came to rest on a familiar figure standing by a beautiful stone well. Her heart lurched, and she faltered in her step, drawing to an abrupt stop. She recognised that broad back, the patterns on his rich, trailing cloak. It was none other than Erebus. Her husband.

He stood before the well, adorned with white narcissus blooms, hands clasped behind his back. Nyx swallowed, her throat all at once feeling dry. It wasn't so much the sight of her husband that had elicited such a reaction from her, as the realisation of where he was standing, the location he had chosen to hide away from the world when pausing in his duties.

That was the very same well where they had first met, when she had been a young goddess and he, a young god. Where they had shared their first conversation.

Overcome with guilt, she made to step back, to leave him in peace and privacy, but his deep voice called out to her calmly, immediately sensing her presence behind him.

"Wife. Join me."

Nyx's eyes lowered. She could not deny her lord and husband any request. Clutching at the midnight skirts of her flowing chiffon gown, she approached him slowly, drawing to a stop by his left side. Where she had stood, for so many centuries, for so many ages.

A dutiful and loyal wife in his eyes and in the eyes of all the Kingdom. Save for one other who shared in her terrible secrets.

"Time alters many things," he began, staring ahead, his eyes fixed on the blooms winding around the frame of the stone structure. "And yet, some things remain constant, unbending to its flow."

Nyx glanced up at him, taking in the side profile of his face. She was suddenly dragged back in time, to the moment when she had first looked upon Erebus's face and thought him handsome, noble, wise and kind. Like a righteous knight straight out of the most glorious of myths, a story in which she had been the beautiful princess and he had been the hero who had come along to steal her heart away and sweep her off her feet.

She had loved him dearly in those days, she recalled, feeling a stirring of fondness settle over her as she continued to watch his pensive face.

His dark eyes blinked, and shifted to look down at her. Their gazes locked, and she saw a softness in his dark irises that caused her heart to skip a beat.

"You have not changed," he spoke quietly, affection laced behind his words. They were completely alone, she knew, and yet her husband was ever proper. The words he spoke to her, of such a tender nature, were few and far between, fleeting - which made them all the more precious in their rarity.

A tentative smile tugged on her lips, and for a moment, she forgot all about Cronus, forgot all about her worries. In that moment, there was just her and Erebus, as they had been when they were younger, when the world had been theirs for the taking, full of promises and hopes and dreams.

"Nor have you," she answered gently.

A steadfast union they had shared, one that had endured. How had she forgotten to notice that, to appreciate it? Confusion overcame her. This was her husband. When had he started to feel like a stranger? At what point had she started fearing his closeness, and why? Was it the guilt that had spurned her to turn away from him? But everything she did, was to protect him and her sons. To keep them safe from Cronus's wrath.

When he reached out and took her hand in his, her eyes lowered, observing their intertwined fingers. Warmth seeped through her skin at the contact. A warmth she hadn't felt in so long. She had not even realised, until that moment, how cold and unfeeling she had been to his presence.

Slowly, her fingers closed around his own, as if thawed by his touch, and they looked into the well together.

* * *

Levi awoke to early morning sunlight filtering through a small open gap in the window curtains. It was a welcome change to the dreariness of the previous day's gloomy, downcast weather. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes and became conscious of a familiar weight upon his bare chest. Glancing down, he found Slayte's head resting there, her long, silky black hair spread out around her like a dark halo. His girlfriend often liked to press her ear above his heart to listen to his heartbeat. A curious habit, but one that he found endearing nonetheless.

Carefully, he shifted, so as not to wake her. But of course, the instant he moved, her hand lifted to clutch at the duvet covers cocooned around them.

"Morning already?" she mumbled sleepily, not opening her eyes.

"Yeah," he affirmed, looking down at her a moment, at her dark lashes that rested against the flawless smooth complexion of her cheeks. With a sigh, he said, "Guess I'll open up."

"Just a bit more," Slayte pleaded, wrapping her arms more tightly around him. Levi released another sigh, staring up at the ceiling of their bedroom. He indulged her for another minute, listening to the steady sound of her breathing as she snuggled close against him. One minute became two. Two became three. His eyes darted to the alarm clock on their bedside table. It was time to get up.

Gripping her upper arms firmly, he said, "Slayte. Let go. Or we'll be late."

 _Let go?_ She thought. _Never._ She inhaled deeply, enjoying his scent. Then, pressing a kiss to his shoulder, she reluctantly relinquished her vice-like grip on his body. Levi thought she always hugged him a little _too_ tightly, almost as though she were afraid he would vanish if she didn't hold onto him firmly enough. He rolled out of bed, and Slayte cracked an eye open, smiling into the covers at the pleasing sight of his bare back.

A fierce wave of love rushed through her as she watched him head to the shower.

How she loved him. And how she loved Elissa, too. Her two most important people - and finally she had the means to protect them both. Her own powers, the precious ability to keep them safe, and everything felt _right_ for the first time in a long time _._ Thanatos had turned out not to be a threat to Elissa, after all. Neither was Vetty. Now Slayte could focus better, keep an eye out for anything that intended her friend harm, and vowed she would do her utmost to keep her best friend out of danger's reach.

She got up with a spring in her step, in a good mood as she threw open the curtains, allowing glorious sunlight to flood into the room.

"I'm heading down," Levi informed her, as he exited the bathroom, dressed in fresh uniform, and left to start preparing for the day.

"I'll be right there," she called after him and headed into the shower. She had just finished and gone back to their room, wrapped in a towel, to grab her clothes, when Levi popped his head back in.

"Oi. Where're the keys to the till?" he asked.

Slayte smoothed back her wet hair and blinked back at him. "I left them in the usual place, didn't I?"

"I checked there," he raised an eyebrow at her. "And I checked the other two places you usually leave them in, too. Got a new one?"

Slayte frowned in confusion - and then remembered. "Oh, they're still in my pocket. Here." She reached for the shirt she had cast aside on the bedroom chair the previous night, and fished out the keys, holding them up to Levi.

He accepted them - and then his eyes came to rest on her upper left arm.

"What's that?" he asked, scowling at the three black circles coiled around her flesh.

"What?" Slayte asked.

He nodded, indicating what he meant, and she glanced down. Sure enough, the metallic cuff that served as the link for her to access Thanatos's dark shadow element was engraved into her skin. She felt her cheeks grow hot and hastily covered the mark of servitude from Levi's gaze.

"Oh, it's nothing," she dismissed.

"Nothing," he echoed. "That wasn't there yesterday." He walked forward, as if to remove her hand.

Slayte bit her lower lip, instinctively flinching away from his touch. Levi's hand froze in the air. She had never recoiled from him like that before, and her reaction surprised him.

"What the hell, Slayte?" he questioned.

She recalled their previous talk, about the importance of opening up to one another. She desperately wanted to tell him everything. But revealing the truth about what the mark really was, was dangerous to Levi. She couldn't share any knowledge relating to the Underworld with him, without risking his very life.

She hadn't intended for him to see it so soon - even when she knew there was no way she could have possibly kept it hidden from his keen notice, either.

"Sorry. I'm just so self-conscious about it…" she said breathlessly, inwardly cursing Thanatos for his less than covert choice of binding.

"Slayte…" There was a warning look in Levi's eyes, as if he were thinking of their last serious conversation, too.

"It's just a piece of jewelry," she blurted, telling herself that she _wasn't_ technically lying - just withholding what it was for. "I got it a while back, and I wasn't sure you'd like it, so... I didn't want to show you until later."

Levi's eyes narrowed. He didn't buy it, she realised with a sinking feeling.

"Got it from where?"

"Just some... place I walked by in town."

"You don't wear stuff like that," he frowned. Slayte, unlike Elissa, was one for minimal jewelry. In all the years he had known her, she had never worn such an adornment.

"It's really no big deal," she insisted. "Look. Just an arm cuff."

She removed her hand, and Levi looked down at it. When he touched the cold metal with his fingertips, she barely managed to suppress a shudder.

"Why's it so tight?" he demanded.

Slayte waved away his concern. "It looks tight, but it's fine. I like it," she hesitated, before asking, "Do you? You don't hate it, I hope?"

His eyes lingered. He looked almost incredulous, as if he couldn't think for the life of him why she would choose an arm cuff, as opposed to a normal necklace, or bracelet - then, to her immense relief, he shrugged. "Don't be weird," he muttered, and with that, exited the room again.

Slayte released a quiet breath, and tried to tug at the coils but they were pressed so tightly against her skin, it was impossible to shift them at all. She gritted her teeth. Thanatos could have selected something more subtle.

Then she reminded herself that he was the God of Death. Subtle didn't come with his job description - only misery, suffering and pain.

* * *

"Hey, Levi," Elissa announced, as she breezed into the tea-shop shortly before it closed for lunch. "I need to steal Slayte from you."

Levi didn't so much as bat an eyelid as he poured a fresh cup of tea. She was always stealing Slayte away. What was new about that, he wondered?

Slayte grinned as her best friend came to a stop at the counter. "Are we heading out for lunch?"

"Huh? No, I don't mean _now,_ " Elissa clarified, evidently seeing her arrival as no sort of intrusion at all. "I meant next weekend. The weather's going to be amazing, so we're doing a beach trip for the day." She glanced at Levi. "Girls only. Sorry!"

Slayte clapped her hands together in delight. A whole day to spend with Elissa? Just the two of them, on a road trip? She could hardly wait.

Levi scoffed. "Do what you want," he muttered, knowing it was useless to try and voice any protest about the matter. Elissa's mind had already been made up, and it only took the mention of the name 'Elissa' to sway his girlfriend's.

"Really?" Slayte gasped in happy surprise.

"Yeah. It's been a while, and we could both do with a break by the sea. Besides, I'm sure Levi won't mind you working on your tan." She stuck a teasing tongue out at Levi, who rolled his eyes.

Slayte jumped up and down excitedly. "I'm going to pack us the most delicious food!"

"Sun, sea and waves, here we come!" Elissa enthused. "It'll be fun! Next Saturday, okay?"

"You got it," Slayte beamed. "I mean, if Levi doesn't mind me taking the day off…" Her eyes shifted to her boyfriend.

"Like anything I say would stop you," he quipped, prompting both girls to giggle.

The sound of a ringing bell drew their attention toward the door. Slayte's smile immediately faltered at the unexpected - and unwelcome - sight of none other than Cain Lockwood. The very same doctor who looked at Elissa like she was dinner - and he was a prowling, hungry wolf.

"Afternoon," he drawled easily, giving them all what Slayte found to be a most infuriating, arrogant smirk. To her dismay, Elissa turned to greet him cheerfully.

"Cain, hi!"

"Elissa, darling. I finished early, and just had to stop by and see you. You look very well. Fully recovered, I see?"

"Thanks to you," she replied.

Slayte watched, hawk-eyed, as his smirk seemed to morph into a genuine smile. _Was_ it genuine, though? She wasn't sure anything about him was sincere. She shot an irked glance at Levi, who was looking at Cain with a similarly standoffish expression and through marginally narrowed eyes.

"Amazing what a week off work does to one's complexion," Cain went on, winking. "If you'd ever like another sick-note…"

"My boss would fire me," Elissa laughed. "One week was enough, thanks. Have you had lunch?"

"Not yet," Cain replied. "But since I'm here, perhaps I could…?"

Slayte bit down on her tongue. Was Elissa about to invite him to stay? During _their_ lunch-break? Why would she do that?! Her eyes darted between the two in confusion. Why did they suddenly seem so much more comfortable and friendly with each other? Had something happened that she wasn't aware of?

"Sure. I'm sure Slayte and Levi won't mind… right guys?" Elissa turned her hazel eyes to her friends, who both stared at her with less than thrilled expressions on their faces.

"..." Cain glanced at them, and released an awkward laugh. "They look somewhat displeased. Am I intruding?"

"Oh, no, that's just how Levi always looks," Elissa shrugged. "And Slayte's fine. Aren't you, Slayte?"

"Oh, absolutely," Slayte ground out.

"Go ahead and order something," Elissa encouraged him. As he walked to the counter, Slayte slipped out behind it, and approached her friend.

"Elissa, what's he doing here again?" she hissed.

"Oh, he texted me that he finished work early and asked where I was."

Slayte's mouth fell open. "You're _texting_ this guy?" she sputtered, horror plastered clearly all over her features. "Seriously? You gave him your _number?_ "

"No. He gave me his contact card in case I had any more symptoms, and I decided to message him to say thanks."

Of course, Slayte fumed to herself, Cain had manipulated the doctor card - literally - to get gullible Elissa to text him. And she'd played right into his hands! Orchestrated like the exact player Slayte knew him to be. Why couldn't Elissa see it? Surely he wasn't her type at all? She always imagined her friend to be more suited toward someone refined, poised and classy. Cain struck her as neither of these things.

Elissa lifted an index finger, scowling. "Hey. What's with the face? He's actually a nice guy, and he's pretty funny, too. There's nothing wrong with being friends. And he's a doctor. That's always a perk."

 _No_ , Slayte thought furiously to herself. There were absolutely no perks to having Cain around.

"He doesn't want to _just_ be friends, can't you see the way he looks at-?"

"Give it a rest, Slayte," Elissa interrupted, rolling her eyes. "He actually has a really sweet and serious side. Give him a chance."

"I don't trust him," Slayte mumbled sourly under her breath.

"You don't trust anyone," her friend answered, shaking her head in exasperation. "Cain looked after me and gave me a whole week off work. He hasn't done anything wrong. Is it because he's a flirt? Really, Slayte? At least what you see is what you get with him."

"But you hate guys like him," Slayte protested. "Haven't you always detested players?"

"I hate selfish, inconsiderate, rude guys who have no consideration for a girl's feelings. Cain's none of those things. Sure, he's forward - but he backs off when I tell him to." At Slayte's unhappy expression, she added, "I told you he's new in town, there's no harm in getting to know him better. Now, stop being so mean. You don't have to like him, but don't be rude to him. He hasn't done anything to you to deserve it."

Slayte glared daggers at the back of Cain's blond head. "I just don't want him trying to take advantage of your kindness," she whispered.

"Slayte. I'm twenty-two. Not five. I can look out for myself and decide if I think a guy is being a douche. You need to stop worrying. Please. For me?" She met Slayte's eyes.

Her best friend searched Elissa's hazel irises for a moment - before sighing deeply. She loved Elissa too much to not respect her wishes. She just hoped her intuition turned out to be wrong about Cain, and that Elissa wouldn't come to regret letting him into her - and by extension _their_ \- circle of friends.

"Oi," Levi called to Slayte. "We need more milk from the kitchen."

Slayte reluctantly dragged herself away from Elissa's side, casting a wary glance at Cain as she passed by where he stood, occupied in inspecting the food options they had available for purchase.

She entered the kitchen, muttering to herself grumpily. To her surprise, Levi slipped in a minute later. She immediately turned to him, to continue in the protests that had fallen unheard upon Elissa's ears.

"Levi, can you believe this guy?"

"What's she doing with him?" Her boyfriend appeared just as displeased.

"She says they're just friends, but I don't buy it for a minute. I'm telling you, the way he looks at her-"

"Yeah. No mistaking it," Levi agreed.

"See? Why doesn't _she_ see it?"

"Maybe she likes it," he suggested.

Slayte gaped at him. "Don't say that! He isn't her type at all!"

"You tell her that and she'll want to prove you wrong," Levi cautioned. "I don't like it, but you know how she gets when you push too hard."

Slayte sighed once more in frustration. "Ugh. I just wish she could find a nice, _normal_ guy."

"You'd object to that, too," Levi remarked.

"I would so not," Slayte shook her head. "I want her to be happy. As happy as I am but with the _right_ person."

"And have someone _else_ take up all her time? Slayte. Don't be stupid. You'd hate it," her boyfriend dead-panned.

"I wouldn't," Slayte defended. "Much…" she added, as an afterthought.

Levi tossed her a look that communicated: _'See what I mean?'_

"I just don't want this creep trying to take advantage of her," she supplied, agitated. "You know Elissa tries to see the good in everything and everyone."

"That's why she's got _us_ ," Levi pointed out. There was an edge to his tone that immediately reassured Slayte. It reminded her that he was looking out for her friend, too.

"Right," she nodded determinedly.

Levi nodded back, then exited the kitchen. "Oi. You gonna order?" he demanded, regarding Cain aloofly. "Or are you going to stand there like a zombie all day?"

Cain was unfazed by the abruptness of his tone. "Everything looks delicious."

"Hurry up and decide," Levi ordered impatiently, as another three customers entered the shop.

"Hmm. The tuna-melt panini then. And some of your finest Cortado coffee," Cain answered. "And two slices of carrot cake. I hear Elissa loves that."

Levi shot him a frosty look, as Slayte, who had rejoined him, plastered a neutral expression onto her face and set about preparing his order. After Levi took payment, Cain glanced down at his receipt.

"You only charged me for one slice of cake…?" he noted in confusion.

"Yeah," Slayte chirped pointedly. " _Elissa_ doesn't pay."

"Ah… I see…" Cain remarked, and stepped aside to allow the people queuing behind him to be served.

"Are we still up for movies after work?" Elissa asked from the table she was seated at, as Cain sat down opposite her. "You guys aren't going to bail on me, are you?"

"You bet!" Slayte called happily back. "We're watching that new horror movie, right?"

"Do we have to? I heard it's really gory?" Elissa winced in distaste. "You know those types of movies really freak me out."

"I think it's more psychological horror," Slayte placed Cain's toasted sandwich on a plate using a pair of tongs.

"Can't we watch something else?"

"Oi," Levi warned her. "Don't even think about it. You picked last time."

"Okay, fine…" Elissa relented. "But if I miss half of it because I'm hiding behind the seat, don't say I didn't warn you."

"A movie?" Cain cut in, inviting himself into the conversation. "I've yet to go to the cinema here. That sounds like a good time."

Elissa hesitated. She cast a quick glance across at Slayte, who seemed to read the intention on her face. Her dark eyes widened. Elissa saw her mouth an indignant and emphatic: _'No'._

Her eyes darted to Cain again, who was smiling amiably at her. What was wrong with inviting him along, she reasoned? Maybe if he spent more time with Slayte and Levi, they'd warm up to him? At some point? Eventually?

"Yeah," she confirmed. "We're watching a horror film."

"My favourite sort," Cain revealed. "Nothing like being terrified to truly invigorate the senses."

Slayte shot him a dirty look as she approached and set his order down in front of him.

"Speaking from experience?" she jibed, less than subtly.

"I'm not sure," Cain mused, turning his clear-blue eyes up to her. "Do I make _you_ uneasy? Slayte, was it?" His smirk was knowing, and absolutely shameless. It made Slayte's blood simmer.

She glared witheringly back. He knew _exactly_ what her name was! Elissa, irritated, and determined to make everyone get along, made up her mind.

"Want to come along and watch it with us?" she offered politely.

Cain's eyes slipped back onto her. "Elissa," he smiled widely, as Slayte gave her best friend a despairing look of disbelief. "I'd love to."

* * *

Elissa chewed nervously on a mouthful of toffee popcorn, her eyes glued to the enormous cinema screen. The room was packed with people, and to her surprise, she was enjoying the gripping movie, despite it belonging to a genre she absolutely hated.

They had headed out shortly after Slayte and Levi had shut up shop for the day. As the cinema was only a twenty minute walk away from the shop, they'd opted to go by foot to avoid the hassle of finding a parking space. Cain, who had left the tea-shop after lunch and rejoined them at the end of the day, had offered to buy the snacks - something both Slayte and Levi had firmly declined. He was already infringing on _their_ time together. There was no way either of them would allow him to take over the event any further.

Elissa jumped when the glass the female lead was hiding behind suddenly shattered. She sat sandwiched between Cain to her left, and Slayte to her right. Beside her, Cain chuckled.

"You're the jumpy type, I see," he whispered.

"I hate horror movies," she whispered back, leaning forward in her seat in suspense. "But I can't stop watching. Do you think Sarah's boyfriend is the one who created that monster?"

"No way," Slayte shook her head. "That'd be way too obvious! Levi, what do you think?"

"Tch," Levi scoffed. "I think she's stupid. Even a sheep would find a better place to hide."

Elissa giggled despite herself. "That's how horror movies go, right?"

"I think it might be clever," Cain disagreed. "The window lets her see what's outside."

"We weren't asking you what you think," Slayte muttered, and drew in a sharp breath when Elissa dug an elbow into her arm.

"And lets whoever's outside see _her,"_ Levi added scornfully.

"Why do they always make women hide in ridiculous places?" His girlfriend complained.

"Right? Or waste time like just gawking at doors or whatever, when they could be running instead?" Elissa agreed furiously.

"Shhh!" A voice behind them hushed.

They watched on for a few more minutes in silence, rooted to the thrilling action scene that was unfolding before them.

Elissa flinched in her chair again when the lead Sarah suddenly cut her arm on the edge of a broken piece of glass in her haste to escape from the grotesque creature that was stalking her.

"Gross! The monster's tracking her scent!" She gasped, horrified, as crimson droplets began to pour out the injury, dripping all over the corridor floor as Sarah scrambled desperately for safety.

"Don't be scared," Cain leaned into Elissa reassuringly, and Slayte's eyes immediately moved to her friend, watching, overprotective. "I'll keep you safe."

Slayte glowered at him. Elissa didn't need _him_ to keep her safe, not when she had her and Levi around. When was Cain going to stop acting like he was Elissa's knight in shining armour, who'd ridden out of some sleazy sunset to sweep her off her feet? He was more alarming than charming, in Slayte's opinion.

"The special effects aren't that bad…" Levi admitted, as the monster released a raging ball of flame from its terrifying jowls.

"Slayte," Cain drawled, catching her eyes on him. "Aren't you afraid?"

"I've seen much worse than that," Slayte commented, a bitter trace in her tone as she continued to glare at him mistrustfully.

"Oh?" It was hard to make out his expression in the dimness. "How intriguing. A lover of horror and violence, are you?"

"Violence? Of making people hurt? Sure. If they pain anyone I love," she answered pointedly, feigning a sweet smile.

Cain's eyebrows lifted. He said nothing to that, which was immensely satisfying to Slayte.

"Shhh!" Elissa shushed them. "You're missing the good part. Oh my God. Oh my God, that's not her boyfriend controlling that thing!" Her mouth dropped open in shock. "That's…!"

"Her weird physics teacher?" Levi snorted. "Pathetic."

"SHHHHHHHH!" Voices around them censured them again angrily.

They fell silent again, and talked only occasionally after that, until the movie's end.

* * *

Two hours later, they exited the cinema. Night had fallen, and as they walked back toward the tea-shop together, they discussed the film's events and unpredictable ending.

"That was an awesome movie," Elissa declared. "I think it's the first scary film I actually liked."

"There are loads of good ones. You just won't watch them," Levi countered flatly.

"It was alright," Slayte shrugged. "Like I said, I've seen way gorier things."

"Not one to faze so easily," Cain observed.

"That's right," Slayte tossed him a defiant look, and linked her arm through Elissa's. "I'm _not_."

He said nothing, only continued to smirk in that infuriating manner of his.

They soon reached the tea-shop, and stood around the door as Levi unlocked it.

"You coming in?" he asked Elissa, completely ignoring Cain.

"No. It's late," Elissa replied. She glanced up at the dark sky. "Looks like it's going to rain soon, too. I should get back."

"We can walk you home," Slayte said.

"Oh, no, don't worry about it," Elissa waved away her offer, gently detaching her arm from her friend's. "Cain only lives a short walk away from me and we're heading in the same direction anyway."

"But-" Slayte frowned in protest. Did she _trust_ him to walk her home? Because Slayte certainly didn't, and glancing across at Levi's narrowed eyes, she could see that her boyfriend wasn't too thrilled at the prospect, either.

"It's fine. You guys go on ahead." Elissa reassured them. "Thanks so much for this evening. We need to do the movies again soon. Goodnight, Levi. Night Slayte."

"Yeah…" Levi answered.

"A pleasure, Slayte. Levi," Cain smiled, before turning away with a waving Elissa.

Levi and Slayte looked on in silence, watching unhappily as Cain walked off into the night with their friend.

* * *

"I definitely like fantasy movies more," Elissa said conversationally, as they rounded the corner that removed them from Levi and Slayte's line of sight. "I enjoy things with more plot, not so keen on the hacking and slashing."

Cain chuckled.

"What about you?" Elissa asked him, as the first droplets of rain began to fall from the sky. She inwardly regretted forgetting her umbrella, again. It was a bad habit she'd had since childhood, which meant that she often got caught out in the rain. She didn't too much mind it, and had always loved the smell and liberating feeling of rainfall - but she hated it ruining her clothes.

"Hmm," Cain said thoughtfully. "Probably mafia movies."

"Really?" Elissa blinked in surprise.

"Family loyalties. Wealth. Senseless violence. Head of a large house. Power. Beautiful women. Lavish estates and fast cars. What's not to love about all that?"

"You don't strike me as a mafia kind of guy," she laughed.

"You're _definitely_ a girl straight out of a fantasy," he countered.

Elissa pushed him lightly, playfully, at the shoulder. He laughed deeply, a pleasing sound to her ears. "How do you even think of those lines? Your timing is outrageous."

"I suppose you could call it a talent?" he answered. "Some people like it. Some don't."

"You're so weird," she rolled her eyes. "You're that friend girls either want to slap or laugh with because your jokes are so terrible."

"And you?" He cast a lingering glance down at her. "Which do you want to do?"

"I'm not sure," she grinned, but her smile was telling. "You definitely deserve to be slapped."

"Careful. I might like that, coming from you. Only you."

"Oh, stop. I bet you say that to every girl."

"I don't. Do you really think so little of me?" He laughed, just as the rain began to drizzle more heavily.

"You're a flirt, you don't even _try_ to hide it."

"It just happens with you. Just tell me to shut up, and I happily will, Elissa. I'm happy for you to do all the talking. Your jokes must surely be better than mine."

"I don't really know any good jokes- ah!" she squealed, as the rain fell down harder. She began to jog, eager to reach her apartment, which was only five more minutes away.

"Wait. Take my coat. No sense in us both suffering."

"You might catch a cold!" Elissa protested.

"Take it," he insisted, and tossed it across to her. Elissa caught it, gratefully accepting it, and held it over her head to shield herself from getting even more soaked. "If you get sick, I'll have to sign you off work for another week," he threatened. "Your ogre of a boss would rupture an artery in rage. Although - is that so bad?"

Laughing, they ran along the street together. By the time they reached Elissa's apartment, the rain was so heavy, the street was saturated with puddles of it.

She fumbled with her key-fob to unlock the building's front door, and glanced back at Cain, biting her lower lip. He was completely drenched, his grey shirt sticking to his lithe, trim torso like second skin. She felt a pang of guilt. She couldn't possibly send him home in this weather, not with the way the rain was now falling, as if the heavens themselves had been angered.

"Come inside," she shouted, over the din of the storm. "You can dry off and wait it out."

"Are you sure?" he squinted, wiping rivulets of water out his face. "The last time I was here, you accused me of making you uncomfortable!" He gave her a grin that bordered on dorky, and Elissa was struck by how friendly he looked in that moment. Had she really thought of him as inappropriate at one point? He clearly had manners - enough to double check that she was fine with inviting him up.

She winced, recalling the awkwardness of that early encounter. "Just come on in!" she dismissed. He gladly followed her, shaking the rain out his hair, dripping water onto the white tiles of the floor.

"I don't know what's up with the weather," Elissa handed him back his soaked coat. "Thanks. The last few days have given us enough rain to last us all winter."

"The Great British summer," he drawled, as they stepped inside the lift. "Ever a disappointment."

"Right?" Elissa agreed. The lift doors closed and carried them up to her floor. They exited the elevator and made the short walk to her apartment door.

"Vetty!" Elissa called, as she unlocked the front door and flicked on the lights. "I'm home!"

As Cain kicked off his shoes, Elissa went to retrieve towels from the towel-rack in the bathroom. Then she went to her bedroom, quickly exchanged her wet clothes for sweatpants and a cozy top, and collected an oversized grey T-shirt for Cain, the biggest one she could find. She returned to the hallway, where he was still lingering, inspecting a painting she had mounted on the wall.

"A lover of cultured items," he observed. "You never fail to intrigue."

"I got that at a jumble sale. It looks more expensive than it is. Here," she offered. "You can dry off with these. Hopefully the storm won't last too long."

"Thank you, Elissa," he said sincerely, his eyes meeting hers. "My heroine, saving me from the rain. I'm forever in your debt."

"Don't be silly," she answered smilingly. "It's nothing." Gesturing to his wet clothing, she added, "If you want, I can dry your shirt and coat for you. I've got a tumble dryer, so you'll have something warm to wear when you head out."

"Thanks. That's kind of you," he said, handing her his coat once more.

"Hey, Vetty," Elissa greeted, as the feline slunk up to her, purring in affection as she rubbed herself against her owner's legs. Elissa bent down to stroke her fur gently. "Look who came home with me. A friend. Remember Cain?"

Vetty's dark eyes lifted to Cain. She blinked lazily in acknowledgement at him - before following Elissa into the kitchen.

"At least she isn't afraid of you anymore," Elissa called. She changed the kettle water and switched it on, then proceeded to dry her wet hair with a towel. "I think she's convinced you're not going to take her away."

"Cats are mercurial creatures," Cain answered.

Elissa peered around the kitchen doorway - only for her eyes to find the slant of a bare masculine back as Cain changed out of his wet shirt in the corridor.

She felt heat creep into her cheeks when her eyes lingered for a moment too long on the clenching muscles of his attractively-toned torso. She then swallowed, dragged her gaze away, and dove right back inside the kitchen.

"Uh…" she began, embarrassed yet relieved beyond measure that he hadn't caught her inappropriate staring. "Do you want a warm drink? Tea? Hot-chocolate?"

"Hot-chocolate would do the trick," Cain replied. Elissa prepared two mugs of it, and grabbed some fresh milk for Vetty, pouring it into her bowl.

"I missed you," she said to her cat, scratching behind her ears.

"Me?" Cain teased, stepping into the kitchen to hand her his wet shirt. "It's only been a few seconds, Elissa."

"No, dork. Vetty," Elissa answered, stroking her purring cat's back one last time, before taking his wet shirt from him and placing it with his coat into the tumble drying machine. She switched it on, then took a tray and put the steaming mugs onto it, along with a selection of hastily grabbed snacks.

"Let me," Cain offered, and took the tray from her hands. They walked into the living room, and sat down on the sofa together. Outside, the rain was lashing down.

"You have a nice place," he complimented. "Very snug."

"It's alright," Elissa replied. "I can just about cover the rent for it. I'd probably save a lot more money if I got a smaller place, but… this felt right."

Cain nodded in understanding, as Vetty plodded into the room. She leapt up onto the couch and settled into Elissa's lap, not taking her eyes off Cain as Elissa stroked her fur again absently.

"It's close to all the local transport links, too," Elissa went on.

"You're sensible," Cain sipped on his steaming drink.

"How is it?" she asked him.

"Sweet. Just how I like it," he replied.

Their gazes met and held. Elissa looked away, feeling fresh heat creep into her cheeks, and a strange flutter in her stomach. Was she flattered by Cain's attention? Did she like it? Or did she just tolerate it more, now that they were getting along and getting to know each other better?

"So uh…" she started, suddenly overly aware that she was alone, in her apartment, with a guy she had only just started becoming better acquainted with. "What made you want to be a doctor, anyway?"

He blinked. "I actually lost a cousin I was very close to, when I was young," he confided, surprising Elissa with how openly and easily the admission left his lips. "It made me want to grow up and work on saving people."

"Oh, I'm sorry…" Elissa said, feeling a deep twinge of sadness as she recalled her own sister's passing. Strangely, she found herself remembering what Itachi had said about her being at peace after death, too. She shoved the thought of him out of her mind. She'd told herself that she wouldn't think of him again. "It's great that you save lives," she told Cain. "I really do admire that."

"Actually," Cain said seriously, "it's a punishing profession. I've seen people die on operating tables. In E.R. rooms. Lots of people go into the job, thinking they're built for it. But not everyone is."

"I can imagine," Elissa nodded. Her self-consciousness began to fade as conversation flowed easily between them.

"Also, many doctors are only in it for the money and reputation," he scoffed. "That's something they won't tell you."

"Are either of your parents doctors?"

"No, actually," Cain leaned back in his seat, regarding her evenly. "I'm the first one in my family."

"Do you like working at hospitals?" she questioned. "Or do you want to specialise in another department, some day?"

"I'd like to set up my own general practitioner surgery, eventually. Maybe after a few more years of experience. I definitely have an interest in cardiology and the nervous system as a whole."

"That's great. Would you want to stay in this town?" Elissa asked, lifting her mug to her lips.

Cain raised a shoulder in a languid half-shrug. "Maybe. I've not yet decided how long I'm staying for. I tend to play things by ear a lot, and am known to make impulsive decisions. I once jumped on a plane to see Austria for a day trip. It was wild."

Elissa smiled. "I wish I could do something like that."

"You can." He met her eyes. "Why don't you?"

She laughed awkwardly. "I'm doing the whole being financially independent and saving up, boring adult-thing. My job pays me just enough to cover rent, food and clothes. Now I have a pet, I really can't afford to splash out on short day-trips."

"I see," he nodded. "That's a shame."

"I tell myself I'll be a famous writer someday, and then I'll travel everywhere," she grinned. "Stupid dream, huh?"

He tilted his head at her. "Why is it stupid, Elissa? If you're skilled at it, I'm sure you can do it."

His words of encouragement were unexpected yet warming. Elissa scratched Vetty's chin. "It's a really competitive field. Sometimes I wonder if I'm aiming too high. I'm working on something right now, but I also get really bad bouts of writer's block. Like, I was meant to work on it the last few days, but..." her sentence trailed. She hadn't really been in the mood since…

Since the day she'd gone to the riverbank last.

"I've just lost inspiration, I guess," she finished.

"What is it about?" Cain questioned curiously.

"Just a story based on an ancient Greek myth," she shrugged. "Nothing special."

"I'm intrigued. Do share."

"Well…" Elissa began. Maybe if she discussed it with someone again, her motivation would return? "It starts with a girl…"

As she told him the summary of her story, Cain's eyes suddenly snagged onto something in her hair. He reached out, causing Elissa's head to turn toward him.

"Cain?" she blinked.

"You have something," he started. "Stuck in your hair-"

"Huh? What?"

Vetty hissed in her owner's lap, as Cain's fingers picked at the piece of popcorn that had somehow landed in Elissa's hair. As he removed his hand, Vetty leapt forward, scratching at him.

"Vetty!" Elissa exclaimed in surprised disapproval. "No! What're you doing?!"

Cain, who had barely managed to evade her claws, chuckled. "She's protective of you."

"I'm sorry," Elissa apologised, glaring down at her cat. "I don't know what's gotten into her. I thought I'd trained that kind of behaviour out of her already."

"Rebounding is common," Cain glanced down at his left arm. An angry red line ran along his skin.

Elissa gasped in dismay. "Cain, I'm so sorry," she apologised again. "I can get you some ointment-"

"It's just a scratch," he dismissed, eyeing Vetty for a moment.

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely." He rubbed at his arm. "Anyway. Carry on with your story, darling."

Elissa put Vetty down onto the carpet, gave her a stern, warning look, and turned back to continue talking with Cain.

An hour later, when the rain had finally lessened in its ferocity, Cain bid Elissa a good night, and exited the apartment block. Elissa slipped through the balcony doors, holding Vetty in her arms, and peered over the railings, watching as he stepped out onto the empty street. It was almost midnight, and there was nobody else around.

Cain then unexpectedly glanced up in her direction, catching sight of her standing upon the balcony. Elissa tensed, feeling foolish and embarrassed to have been caught out in her staring.

He pivoted on his feet, walking backwards as he retreated, his hands stuffed into his coat pockets, and called up to her with a mischievous grin, "You miss me already, Elissa! Parting is such sweet sorrow!" He raised a hand to blow her a kiss.

She laughed despite herself and shook her head at his antics, lifting a palm to wave at him in parting. He chuckled playfully, nodded to her, and turned back around, walking off into the night. Oblivious to the pair of crimson, narrowed eyes that tracked his movements intently in the darkness.


	17. Part XVI: To Love a God

**Part XVI: To Love a God  
  
**

* * *

Crimson eyes narrowed at the back of the well-built blond man leaving Angelissa's residence. He had not seen him before, and knew that although the standards of decorum and moral etiquette had changed over the years, it still implied a certain degree of intimacy for this stranger to be allowed entrance to Angelissa's private quarters at so late an hour.

From the straight-backed posture to the confident gait that bordered on a swagger, the stranger made the impression of someone who knew his place in life, and knew how to attain what he desired. Of all the many conversations that had taken place over the past few months, Angelissa had never mentioned such a character. It would seem they had not been as forthcoming with one another as he had assumed.

Although, he admitted to himself, with all the secrecy surrounding his role and his identity, he could hardly begrudge her a few secrets of her own. Perhaps that lingering affection he had sensed between them had been a misinterpretation on his part.

The lamps were still lit in Angelissa's apartment, and he waited patiently for the opportune moment to summon Vetty once more, to question her on the visions she had shown to Slayte. His gaze was drawn back to the stranger however, as he suddenly called, "You miss me already, Elissa!"

It was an arrogant, presumptuous comment, and Itachi observed the speaker with detached distaste. He knew his like. It was the sound of Angelissa's laughter, ringing from her balcony, expressing her pleasure at the overconfident statement, that gave Itachi pause. Apparently, much had transpired in the course of two short days. He gave the mortal man, who blew Angelissa a shameless kiss, another cursory glance, reevaluating him.

He wasn't the type of person Itachi would usually spare a second glance for, and yet, he seemed to bring her joy. He recalled Angelissa's last words to him, spoken in anger and distress, in stark contrast to her current, amused state and accepted that he had made the right choice. It had been wise to distance himself from her, for the sake of her own safety and sanity. She seemed to be none the worse for it. Indeed, her life was progressing as a mortal's should.

He watched them say their goodbyes unmoved, observing as motionlessly as a jaguar waiting for the right time to strike. The mortal man disappeared down the road, and Angelissa returned to her chambers.

Owls hooted from the nearby forest and the moonlight shining from behind him illuminated the various rooftops of the city, casting his own silhouette into darkness. He watched the lights wink out one by one, and waited still, until at long last, Angelissa, too, turned to slumber.

He reached out for her soul, tentatively, and, finding it disturbed and uneasy, remained patiently perched on the rooftop waiting for her to fall fully into the realm of dreams. At length, he descended onto the balcony below, his gaze scanning the area for the feline of the Underworld.

Vetty's eyes glinted in the darkness, clearly she had been alerted to his presence and awaited the moment he had chosen to show himself. Casting another glance at Angelissa, who was curled up on her side, wrapped into her blankets as if seeking security, he determined that she was asleep.

With a single gesture, the balcony door slid open at his command, and Vetty appeared, bowing her head to him in greeting, hoping for a gesture of affection.

Itachi crouched low, and stroked her fur in acquiescence to her unspoken request. She had chosen to disobey whatever masters she had in order to secure Angelissa's safety and, although she had not revealed the extent of her information, it was still a bold, courageous act.

" _Who is the watcher from the shadows?"_ Itachi voiced to her telepathically.

Vetty paused, suspicions confirmed, _"You have spoken with the nymph. That is wise. She is reliable in Elissa's affairs."_

Itachi said nothing to this, waiting for her to answer his question.

" _My Lord,"_ there was a curious note of affection in those words that did not go unnoticed, _"There is little I can tell you that I have not yet communicated. You must rescue this mortal. You must find those responsible for the suffering of many, those who interfere with your domain."_

" _And you know who these individuals are, is that not so?"_

" _Sadly, yes. I can say no more on this. The one watching Elissa is not to be underestimated. Please, heed my warning. Move with great care, lest you meet a terrible fate."_

Itachi frowned, and his hand stilled in its movements as he considered her words. The events of the surface were a pressing matter, and possibly of graver consequence than he had originally assumed.

" _Many, you say…"_ he glanced at Angelissa, whose brow was furrowed in sleep and whimpered into her pillow as if she were having a nightmare, " _Was she to be the next?"_

" _Yes, Lord Thanatos. I… could not allow it."_ Vetty was filled with regret, acknowledging that she _had_ allowed the previous victims to meet their wretched fates.

Silence hung heavy in the air as Itachi considered what Vetty had said. There was little he did not already know, except for the number of victims that had somehow escaped his notice, and the deadly nature of his opponent. Apparently, it was someone that made Vetty fear for even _his_ life.

"Itachi…" a helpless murmur sounded from the depths of Angelissa's chambers and his onyx eyes were drawn by instinct to the source of the sound.

Angelissa tossed and turned restlessly. Judging by her heart rate, she was in the throes of a nightmare. Was she calling to him for help or was he the terror in her visions? The name was spoken with too much longing to be the latter. If he had Hypnos' talents, he could ease away the night terror. Being as it was, he summoned his control over her mortal soul, to ease her heartbeat and release the tension in her limbs. At last, she fell back into a deep, peaceful slumber.

Vetty, who had watched the exchange silently, smiled to herself. _"You are not unlike your ancestor, my Lord Thanatos."_

Itachi glanced at the black feline, wondering what quality she thought justified a comparison to Cronus.

Vetty seemed to read the displeasure on his face and amended, _"Not Cronus, my Lord,"_ she omitted the respectful prefix when speaking of the Uchiha Patriarch, _"But the deity that preceded him, although… I suppose that was a time before yours."_ Vetty sounded wistful, _"You would not recall that ancient deity, it would seem. But he was gentle and wise, a great leader. As you will be, I can only hope."_

Itachi listened in silence. Vetty was older than she appeared, older than himself, although she carried herself as if she were someone of little significance. _"This is not your true form,"_ he noted.

" _It is not,"_ she agreed, _"But it is the form I have chosen for myself."_

" _Should you recall anything further, inform the nymph,"_ Itachi instructed, rising to leave. He had left the necessary measures in place to ensure Angelissa's safety. Vetty and Slayte would suffice to keep an eye on the developments. The hazel-eyed girl herself seemed to be dealing with the abrupt end to their acquaintance with grace and forbearance and was quickly moving forward in life.

If he only knew why she had chosen to call out to him in the midst of her nightmare, and could reach out and take away even the memory of his name from her lips, her life would be restored to what it once was.

Vetty's eyes followed Itachi, trying to decipher his thoughts as he turned away from the building. He leapt smoothly down from the balcony and disappeared mid fall into a flurry of crows with effortless elegance. Vetty watched the birds rise high into the sky. The god of death reminded her in many ways of another, more ancient deity. One whose kindness and thoughtfulness were unparalleled, despite his great power. Were they similar in appearance as well? Were their voices similar? She couldn't be certain, it had been too long since she had seen him last.

* * *

The stars of the cosmos twinkled in the distance in a silky bed of purples, reds, blacks, and blues. The universe was young, like a bird yet to fall from the nest. The glow of the stars sparkled, glittering against the iridescent backdrop in a rhythm to define the meaning of the word "rhythm"; their beauty unobserved, unappreciated, as no eye had yet been born to behold them.

Indra observed with detached disinterest. A blank canvas to his mind's eye. He could fill it with color, with sound, and life. But was it worth his time? The eons were monotonous - the stars swimming in space, and himself floating along as a patient observer. He frowned. Things unacknowledged by others did not truly exist, did they? Neither the stars… nor himself. With a hum of decision, he focused chakra into his hands, willing for the first time since opening his eyes to the cosmos, to create. His intention had been simple. He wanted a seeing creation, appreciating what had gone unnoticed for all eternity.

A star, he considered. A habitable one. And yet, he found the light unappealing, monochromatic and dull – uninteresting. He considered, instead, shadows offset by light. Blue like the shades of his eyelids, red the color of his eyes, and all the other myriad of colors he could think of. The more he toyed with the idea, the fonder he grew of it. Why not? A habitable star with _everything_ in it. Just for himself.

He set to work, the task alleviating his infinite apathy as he worked with purpose. The orb he channeled grew in size and the first thing he poured onto it was the blue of his energy, cool, soothing – the water of life. He tore from his heart the faintest kernels of his resolve and dusted them over his work – earth. Summoning stardust from the cosmos, he sprinkled their glittering beauty all over the little planet in the form of resplendent jewels and precious metals. He beheld his work with appreciative admiration. He knew he was a god of great talent, and found it pleasing to see the evidence of that fact. Murmuring his own praise, he held the orb up to his eye and watched it mutate, evolve, grow. His eyes lit up in satisfaction. This was a world capable of _change_ and that pleased him greatly.

He waited for life to sprout. Waited to see lifeforms that would behold the beauty of the universe and whisper praise, but for all the eons he had whiled away… the millennia now seemed to drag on. With a frown of decision, he condensed his form, desiring to see for himself the surface of his planet.

Alighting on a patch of green, slender blades of fragrant life, he gazed at the miniscule life form growing in multitudes around him, a field of it, and mulled over a name. It was life and yet... unseeing, unspeaking, unsatisfying.

All at once, Indra sensed something unprecedented and could not name the feeling. A vague sensation of disturbed solitude. He had never felt such a thing. He turned slowly, intending to see what could possibly have surprised his imperturbable self. His lips parted in appreciation – satisfaction – as he spied a pair of eyes, as dark as the shadows he had willed to create, fixed on him. Seeing. The life form was slight, covered in black fur and pointed ears, as well as a long, fluffy tail. Indra smirked. This was the culmination of his efforts and exactly what he had intended. To be seen.

The life-form was wary, maintaining a careful distance. The arrogant and proud god had never entertained the thought of humbling or reducing himself, but he did just that for the intimidated little creature. He knelt in the grass and gestured gently for it to approach, gauging with a challenging eye the courage of the insignificant creature. There was a spark of rebellion, of mischief and arrogance in the dark eyes as the feline smoothly approached. Indra stretched out his hand towards the brave little one. The black cat paused, stunned to see a blossom blooming in the deity's hand. She bounded over to observe the natural wonder more closely and then lowered her head to take in the lovely scent of the sweet smelling flower. Its pale pink blossoms were like nothing she had ever seen before. Indra, seeing her delight, willed into existence trees, creeping all along the fields, sprouting and growing and blooming until they were surrounded by them. An orchard of ever-blooming magnolia flowers. The little feline circled in joyous euphoria, aglow with wonder and awe.

"My gift to you, Vetustissimussa. For you are oldest, after me. These shall be your legacy, little one." Indra's voice, despite the eons of disuse, was smooth and mesmerizing like spiked honey.

He watched, pleased and surprised, as the cat morphed before his very eyes, the black fur falling away to reveal smooth, pale skin. The being had hair as rich and dark as the earth he had dusted this planet with - torn from his own heart – and fell in glorious waves down the creature's bare back. Her eyes seemed to mirror the very universe he had intended for his creation to admire, and he found himself admiring them instead. A reflection of the expanse of existence beyond. Above all else, her eyes were seeing.

"Thank you," she whispered, her expression sparking with delight and a smile upturning the lovely, curved lips. Her voice, the first he had ever heard apart from his own, was melodic and lilting, and he was taken with the desire to further create - beings that might imitate so sweet a sound. They should fly through the heavens and all the world should hear her voice wherever they might go.

For the very first time, Indra's apathy faded, and he was, instead, interested - intrigued.

Before he could fully appreciate her appearance however, she had already risen to her feet, bounding between the trees, climbing their branches and hanging gleefully from them. A bemused smile crossed his face at her antics and his eyes were drawn to her, despite himself.

How amusing. How unusual. How mesmerizing. She was so very full of life and fire, more so than the sprawling cosmos he had come from. She dallied away in the magnolia grove and Indra observed her from the shade of the branches extending overhead.

At length, he rose to his feet. It was time to see how the rest of the creation was faring. The young feline spirit was so taken with the wonders around her, he left the grove unnoticed. By the time she was alerted to his absence, he was miles away and did not see the desperation with which she searched among the trees, or the anguish with which she huddled up on one of its branches, fighting back tears as she took shelter for the night. Grappling with the realization that the chance meeting had come to an end and she might not ever see him again.

* * *

Three days elapsed before Indra was drawn back to the magnolia grove. He had meandered along the planet - finding it mostly barren and covered in large part with water - and returned to the cosmos that seemed more tiresome than ever, before making a reappearance at the flowery field where he had first spied the lovely, albeit mischievous, creature.

When he first stepped back among the flowers, he scanned his surroundings, vaguely aware of the possibility that Vetustissimussa might have moved on from this place, further exploring the young world. Just as he began to abandon the idea of finding her again, he felt a stern gaze boring into his back. Turning, he found a familiar, fluffy black cat peeking out from behind a thick tree trunk at him, eyes narrowed in disapproval. He blinked at her, surprised to see such an expression directed at himself, but his face soon eased into a subtle smirk as he approached the little one.

"Vetustissimussa," he called, beckoning her over with a raised index finger.

When she didn't immediately respond and instead turned her furry, whiskered snout away from him petulantly, he humored her.

"Little one," he called again, "Does my return displease you?"

Her feline eyes snapped back to him, as if appalled at the ridiculousness of that statement. Eyes still narrowed in hurt indignance, she prowled over to the ancient deity and gently placed one black paw into his outstretched hand. She morphed back into the form of a young woman, an irritable glare in her round, brown eyes as she met his, adamant.

"You departed," she accused, "without a word."

Holding her slim hand gently, but firmly, Indra observed her agitation with curious interest. "That poses a problem?"

"I didn't know if you were coming back!"

To that, he had no answer. He hadn't considered whether or not he would return, himself. "And yet, return, I did." His voice, smooth and hypnotic, was the only thing to ever break the silence around her. She was irked with herself, that she had come to crave its sound, in so short a time.

"For a god, you can be so stupid," she pouted.

A beat of silence passed between them at her unprecedented words. "How do you know what I am?" he raised a curious brow, intrigued.

She looked perplexed, as if wondering where the words had come from. Where the knowledge had been gained. She didn't know _how_ she knew, or even what precisely a _god_ was, she just knew that was what was right to call him.

Shaking off the confusion, she pressed on, "Stupid? Of course I know, only someone stupid would leave without a word. Without saying farewell, or when or if you will return." She crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Then I shall take care to do so, in future. But as you have rightly noted, I am a god and have many pressing matters to attend to."

The charming feline nodded in approval and settled by his side. After observing the idyllic flowers around them for a while, she voiced a thought that had plagued her in his absence. "Are there more places like this? With flowers and such?"

"I do not know," he answered honestly, "I have yet to see the expanse of this earth, and that is why I must part your amusing company, little one."

"If you must leave me, then do not return," she hissed, her cheeks red with an emotion he did not recognize, "and if you intend to return…" she met his eyes with bold determination, "then do not leave."

"I am afraid neither of the two are possible." He patted her head gently. "For I must take responsibility for what I have made, and yet… I may be tempted to return and be insulted by you once more." With a wry smile, he removed his hand, trailing a lock of curly, dark-brown hair between his fingers as he did so.

"Excuses." She wrinkled her nose in disdain, clearly unable to comprehend how anything could be more important than the current, pleasant moment.

They sat side by side, observing the nature around them, basking in the light of the sun, and speaking in low, hushed tones until Indra at length, rose to his feet.

Remembering what he had promised her, he spoke offhandedly over his shoulder, "I will take my leave for today and return in a few days' time."

He turned away to do just that but had hardly taken three steps when he was physically held back by the young creature. A glance over his shoulder revealed she had taken a hold of his violet cloak with both hands and, digging her heels into the earth, was pulling him back with all her insignificant strength.

"What…" he met her dark eyes with amusement, "is the meaning of this?"

"Stay," she demanded without hesitation, her grip on his cloak not loosening.

He hesitated, this was an unexpected development. Was the little one not distracted enough by the wonders of the magnolia grove? Turning back towards her, he gently took hold of her hands, and loosened her grip from his cloak.

"Observe," he instructed, and knelt, placing both palms on the grass. A stream flowed from his fingertips, passing through the flowery field, and butterflies, bees, and dragonflies winked into existence, flitting over the blossoms. He had seen enough of the little thing to be certain that she would be ecstatic and distracted, allowing him to leave. Contrary to expectations, however, she stayed by his side, crouching in the grass, her eyes following every slight movement in the world around her intently, with an overpowering curiosity, while her right hand clutched his cloak in an iron grip.

He waited, but the stubborn little creature refused to budge. As the hours dragged on, and the sun began to decline, a chill crept in. He was wholly unaffected by it, but the little one's shoulders soon set to trembling. He unclasped his cloak and placed it around her.

"Would you prefer to accompany me?" he murmured, his fingers gently fastening the cloak's clasp.

She looked up at him, wonder and excitement shimmering in her brown eyes. "Can I?"

He nodded and held out his hand once more. She grasped it firmly, giddy with anticipation. When he stepped out onto thin air, climbing the atmosphere as if there were invisible stairs, she could not contain a giggle of glee as her steps lined up with his, the very air accepting of the ancient deity's companion.

They traversed the skies, and wandered over land and sea. The young feline woman was enthralled by all the sights and sounds, volcanoes and rainbows, waterfalls and avalanches, geysers and caves, mountains and forests. Indra, seeing the world through her eyes, through her joy and awe, found it beautiful as well. They journeyed in companionship, until it felt as natural to be in the other's presence as it was to breathe, to see, to sigh in longing.

They watched the world evolve and grow, barren lands they had visited before, lush with verdant foliage upon another visit and Indra found this to be the most remarkable quality of the new planet. The potential for change - the ability to grow.

When they first stumbled upon life-forms, small animals at first, then larger ones, Vetustissumussa was as ecstatic as Indra was impressed. When they wandered further and found dwellings with intelligent creatures, living together in companionship, walking on two legs, they looked on in muted wonder.

"Vetustissimussa…" Indra remarked, seeing a mortal woman pass by, decked in cotton robes of white and a single golden bangle. His companion's attention had been distracted by a group of young boys wrestling behind a cabin.

"Hm?" she responded absentmindedly.

He tapped her forehead and she felt a weight on her shoulders. Looking down she saw that underneath the cloak Indra had gifted her, she now wore robes reminiscent of those the mortals wore. The fabric was much softer in texture and instead of the usual white, these were a deep, crimson hue, bound at the waist with a belt fashioned to look like golden ivy. The weight of multiple golden bangles hung heavy on her arms.

"How very becoming," Indra smiled at her, his head tilted to one side to take in the image through affectionate, dark eyes. His smiles always seemed to be teasing her, as if he found something about her amusing, even when she was being serious.

"I can't move properly in these," she scowled, and then lifted her hands where the bangles clinked against one another, "Anyone would hear me coming from miles away with this racket."

"Let them hear," Indra responded, unperturbed, "So that they may know Vetustissimussa approaches, and humble themselves in respect."

"That name is a mouthful," she frowned, "Can't you call me something simpler?"

He blinked at her, "What would you prefer to be called?"

"Just make it shorter. Vetty would be fine, for example," she shrugged.

Indra considered the suggestion, "What is the meaning of that title?"

"It doesn't mean anything, it just sounds better." She turned back to the boys' argument and pouted when she saw that the matter had been settled and she did not know who had bested the other.

Turning back to Indra, who had so rudely distracted her from her entertainment, she saw him suppressing that familiar smirk that indicated he found her humorous, when she was being absolutely serious.

"You're laughing at me again! What's so funny?" She crossed her arms petulantly and narrowed her eyes at him.

"I wouldn't dream of it," Indra responded with laughing eyes, ruffling her hair fondly. Then, before she could protest further, he held out an arm, "Shall we continue our journey?"

Ever eager to see new sights, she took a hold of his elbow, appeased, and let him lead her back into the sky.

* * *

It was in the middle of a moonlit forest that their eyes fell on a sight that changed everything.

They drew to a stop in unison, the light of the full moon glowing ominously through the branches, illuminating a prone form sprawled haphazardly over the road. Vetty looked up at Indra uneasily. It was undoubtedly one of the humans, but why was this one not moving? Why were they abandoned in the forest this way?

Indra stepped slowly forward and, crouching low, took hold of the figure's shoulder, turning it face-up. Vetty gasped at the terrible sight. The skin had turned a horrible, livid blue color but the eyes were desperately darting every which way, as if seeking to escape but not knowing how.

Indra sighed, a sound Vetty had never heard from him. He was always either apathetic, amused, or frustratingly solemn and responsible, but this… he sounded conflicted - sympathetic, even.

"An immortal soul… and a mortal shell," he mused, his hand lingering on the too soft flesh, already decaying. "How unfortunate." The woman's eyes caught on him, recognizing him by instinct as her savior in her agony and his lips set into a firm line.

"Come," he commanded, his voice low and compelling, and immediately a thin, wispy _something,_ gently illuminated, rose from the woman's body. It immediately took on the form of the woman, only her features were once more as beautiful as they had been. She lowered her head and mouthed a " _thank you_ " to which Indra responded with a nod.

He turned away from the scene and the ghost of a girl followed the two of them as they wandered through the forest. Vetty stayed close at hand, casting nervous glances over her shoulder, not at all comfortable with the spirit trailing them. She looked towards Indra, but he seemed to have completely forgotten her presence. His gaze was unseeing, turned inward. Vetty did not understand the significance of what they had just witnessed or why it seemed to torment him so.

Feeling lost and invisible, she reached out for his sleeve and his head swiveled to her as if disturbed from a dream.

"Indra," she called out, concerned. "What is the matter?"

His expression softened, and he reached out to stroke her cheek reassuringly. "We must find this one a place to rest. Even more will follow."

She swallowed and was overcome with a sinking feeling she could not explain. He turned back to the road and she continued at his side, silently.

They wandered for days, not stopping for refreshment or entertainment and it made Vetty irritable. She spotted any number of birds flitting through the trees and knew she had not seen them before but could not stop for a closer look as Indra set a relentless pace. The ghost behind them did nothing to lift the gloomy mood. The young woman seemed relieved to have been released from her body and followed Indra with an oddly disembodied smile that made Vetty shiver.

At length, they reached a cave in a mountain face and Indra did not hesitate before entering its looming, yawning mouth. Vetty reached out for his arm again because no sooner had they stepped past the entrance than they were immediately shrouded in darkness. With a snap of his fingers, flames lit up on Indra's fingertips, which grew to a ball of fire as he opened his hand. The flames served effectively as a torchlight, resting peacefully in his palm.

They ventured deeper and deeper into the cave, following winding pathways for what felt like days as Vetty's legs grew ever sorer. She could not see to tell the hour, but her exhaustion made apparent to her that it must have been longer than they had ever walked for one stretch of time before.

When at long last they reached a sprawling cavern with myriad stalactites glowing iridescently from the cave's roof, Vetty wasted no time in claiming a seat on a large, smooth boulder and stretching wearily. Indra had a lot of making up to do for this terribly boring adventure.

She stretched her arms overhead, and squinted at him out of the corner of one eye. He stood and spoke gently to the soul, who was nodding every so often. Grumbling, Vetty inched closer so as to hear him better.

"You may rest here, undisturbed." His voice was, by nature, dark and intimidating, but he spoke in low, soothing tones to the spirit.

The soul glanced all around at the sprawling, empty cavern, and nodded in gratitude before wandering off aimlessly. Indra frowned, this wouldn't do. He glanced at the rock bed beneath their feet and narrowed his eyes in unspoken command. Immediately, grass bloomed and moonflowers rose from the ground to stand at attention - row after row, like uniformed soldiers. An entire moonflower field as far as the eye could see. The spirit watched the flowers bloom with delight and glided back to settle herself among them, genuine joy written on her face.

At long last, Indra's gaze softened, relieved. He looked up then, his eyes searching for Vetty's, and when their gazes locked, he strode toward her purposefully. Settling beside her on the boulder, he reached out and placed his hand over hers.

"They are all mortal. Their bodies will cease to function while their souls live on. As that one did." His explanation was met with silence. Vetty felt irritable, but knew this was neither the time nor the place for it. She hated being stuck underground, away from all the things she loved to see. This talk of death and decay was depressing. She wanted to bound away somewhere vibrant, somewhere colorful… but she couldn't leave Indra's side. She hoped they were done here, that they could return to the surface.

"I should like…" he angled his head to catch her eyes in his own unfathomable onyx eyes, conveying the sincerity of his intentions. "To return to the surface with you, continuing our journey, and after that… to take you with me to the cosmos. Show you the expanse of the universe."

Vetty averted her gaze, her cheeks flushing crimson at this confession. He wanted to keep her at his side, even beyond wandering this world? Wanted to take her with him back where he came from? She pressed her palms to her overheated cheeks, hoping to cool them.

"But I must see to it that their souls have a place to rest, in peace and comfort." His gentle admission drew her gaze back to him, even as he gently tucked a curly lock of dark hair behind her ear tenderly.

"What… what does that mean?" Vetty asked, dumbfounded, "You're not... _staying_ here?" She glanced around at the sprawling, barren cavern and the sole spirit residing in it.

"I am," he nodded. "It is my responsibility as the one who made this world, to see to it that their souls have a soothing place to end their journeys."

"But what about me?" She jumped to her feet, whirling around to face him in dismay, "You made me, too! Don't you feel any responsibility towards me?!"

"No, Vetty…" he reached out, cupping her face gently in the palm of his hand, "I feel nothing for you… but longing." The tender confession was delivered in soft tones that broke her heart.

"Liar," she seethed, her eyes filling with tears. "If you wanted to stay with me… if you were happy with me… you wouldn't do this! Just because they're going to die? I might die, too, before you're done with whatever it is you want to do here!"

Indra's eyes widened, as if he had not ever considered the possibility of her existence coming to an end. Before she could so much as speak another word, his irises swirled crimson, a kaleidoscope pattern forming in them. Those eyes were as awful as they were hauntingly lovely and Vetty could not tear her eyes away as they all but devoured her, piercing straight through her - through the skin, the flesh, the very marrow of her bones.

His lips pressed together in disapproval, "This will not do."

Vetty heard the words, but could not comprehend their meaning, before she felt his hand take a firm grip of the nape of her neck, pulling her towards him and pressing his lips to hers without warning. Her eyes widened in shock. She felt something flooding through her body, light, weightlessness, and a feeling of something sliding into place, like a key turning in a lock, or a clock striking twelve and stopping there forever. Warmth and a golden aura coursed through her, from the tips of her fingers, through every vein, and every strand of her hair. But she could not focus on those sensations, because her wide eyes were drawn to Indra, unable to make sense of what was happening.

His lips felt soft and warm against hers, it was a gesture more intimate than anything that had ever passed between them. It was something she had only ever seen between mortal lovers, but that was far from what they were, wasn't it?

When at length, he drew back from her, a satisfied expression on his face, she flushed crimson nearly from head to toe.

"What was that?!" she demanded, pressing her hand to her mouth and stepping backwards, mortified.

"Immortality," Indra answered simply. "It will not do for you to die."

"That- that…" her mind was still reeling, "That was you giving me immortality?" She did feel lighter, somehow. Relieved of some invisible burden and yet, was that really the most important matter at hand?

"You can't just do that! Just deciding something like that without asking me!" her voice rose in pitch as humiliation and indignance mingled.

"I can," he drawled, amused at her overreaction, "I did."

"You- you…" she struggled for words. "You!" she repeated, angry, touched, and confused all at once. She stormed away from him, not knowing what to do with herself and settled in the center of the moonflower field, beside the spirit.

He drew up close behind her and rested a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "Let me set the affairs of this world in order, Vetty. Then I will take you with me to the cosmos and we will continue our journey together."

"Who says I want to go to the cosmos? It sounds boring," she pouted, tearing out blades of grass in irritation. "I wanted to explore this world with you, like we were doing…"

A moment's silence passed between them. "Give me some time, Vetty… and I will go with you wherever you wish."

She said nothing and picked the moonflowers instead, attempting to weave them into a crown, but growing frustrated when they only ever fell apart before she could so much as add a fourth one. Unwilling to reuse the bent and wilting ones, she picked further flowers, now wholly invested in her distraction.

It was only when she felt a soft weight on her head that she stopped her efforts. Turning around, she saw Indra sitting leisurely behind her, observing her with that small, amused smile of his.

She reached up and lifted the weight from her head, surprised and annoyed to find a perfectly woven moonflower crown. She shot him a look, but sighed and muttered, "Thank you".

"It suits you," Indra commented, taking it from her hands and replacing it on her head.

She frowned, and accepted the offering with a bitter heart. How long would she have to wait, until he got this world "in order?" She glanced up at Indra, who seemed unaffected by it all and sighed. She could wait for him. How long could it possibly take?

* * *

Longer, far longer, than she had dared to fear, it would seem. She watched his magic at work, expanding the realm of the cavern, pushing back the walls until it grew in size to something nearly as expansive as the surface realm. Forests, lakes, and rivers flourished in dark, otherworldly colors the likes of which she had never seen before. Everything seemed to glow with his power, and also, with the concern he held for the mortal souls that would come to live there.

He formed deities, one after the other, to take on duties in the realm. Lined them up and pressed his thumb to their foreheads, granting them life and immortality, compelling his power into their bodies so they might fulfill their duties.

Vetty frowned. Apparently, a touch sufficed to bestow immortality. Why, then, had he kissed her? The implications set her cheeks aflame.

She turned away from Indra and roamed through the Underworld. It was so boring. The colors were boring. The residents were boring. The serenity, haunting beauty, and glowing resplendence were all tiresome. Boring. When, oh, when could they return to the surface? Back to the brilliant light of the sun and the myriad of colors to be found in every nook and cranny she chose to explore. The mosaic of life and mischief, of change and imperfections. The unpredictability of the mortals in all their whims and fancies.

She stumbled as she bumped into Indra's broad chest. Hadn't she just turned away from him? Rubbing her head in surprise and confusion, she looked over her shoulder but sure enough, he was no longer where he was standing only moments before.

"What concerns you, Vetty?" he queried, lifting a hand to her chin to bring her eyes back to himself.

She scowled at him. How long had they been down here? Without the sun to tell the time, she could only guess, but it felt like a century, surely? If not a millennium?

"You're boring," she huffed, crossing her arms.

He only smiled easily in return, "Do I bore you, Vetty? And yet, I never bore _of_ you." His teasing lilt only served to further the blush on her face, as he had assumed it might.

"This place is a drag. I hate it." She felt only slightly guilty, knowing Indra had poured his heart and soul into making it a pleasant place to stay. Designed to soothe the soul and enthrall the senses. Still, she could not bring herself to so easily forgive the project that had diverted all of his attention and effectively made her a prisoner.

"Does it not please you?" He glanced around at the sprawling, lush underworld gardens surrounding them with a critical eye and she knew, she had only to say the word and he would add or remove whatever she desired.

"I want to go back to the surface," she complained, "I want to see sunflowers and ladybugs and festivals and rabbits and - " She felt her eyes fill with tears of desperation. "And horses and meadows and rainbows and dragonflies - "

"You would leave all this…" he interrupted, "For insects?"

"I would!" She turned away from him, annoyed. "This is boring, you're boring! I want to _see_ things!"

He frowned, and Vetty missed the look of longing in his eyes. He could chain her to his side for all of eternity, if he so desired. He had the power to do so. But he did not have the power to make her wish to stay with him. Why should he choose to make her unhappy, if he could, instead, bring her joy?

"Go, then," he answered simply.

"What?"

"Go to the surface, see all you wish to see. I will come find you when I am finished. You also know where to find me, should the need arise." His explanation was delivered in a low, resigned voice.

"You mean, separate?" She looked up at him with wide, disbelieving eyes.

"Why not? Eternity awaits us."

She hesitated, biting down on her lip in indecision. Then, abruptly, reached out to embrace him firmly, almost desperately.

"I'm going," she mumbled against his chest, "I'll see you."

"Take your time," he murmured in return, patting her head comfortingly.

She took one hesitant step backwards, meeting his eyes one last time, before turning away and tearing out of the Underworld like a bird freed from its cage.

* * *

She roamed the mountains, the skies, the forests, and her wonder at her surroundings never ceased. In the time she had been in the underworld, new creatures had evolved, as well as new plants, flowers, herbs, and trees of every sort. The humans had developed better houses, and even medicine to aid in fighting off illness. It was fascinating.

She visited Indra in the underworld whenever she found it difficult to remember the angles of his face, the color of his eyes, or the tone of his voice. Frequently, at first, and then their visits grew to be few and far between.

Her delight in the ever-changing world seemed to be something he no longer shared, for he grew more and more absorbed in the workings of the Underworld. She had heard that he had set up a similar liege of deities on the surface, in a place called Olympus, to tend to surface affairs. When and how that had occurred was lost on her, however, as he had chosen not to visit. She told herself the snub did not hurt.

As she lay on a hillside, flat on her stomach, her feet up in the air swaying to a rhythm that existed only in her mind, she attempted to weave yet another flower crown with as little success as she had had in the underworld, and every time she had attempted it since. She was distracted from her failed endeavour, by a pair of mortals she noticed out of the corner of her eye. She observed the lovers, hidden in the shade of a temple, clearly thinking they were safe from all prying eyes. Her eyes sparkled with curious, mischievous interest at the desperate way they clung to each other. Mortals never failed to entertain.

"How intrusive of you," spoke a familiar voice beside her.

She jumped to her feet immediately. "Indra!" She threw her arms around his neck in delight. How long had it been since they last saw each other?

Looking into his face, she saw that the years had worn him down, somehow. He seemed conflicted and resigned. Weary, almost.

"You can't always be in that miserable place," she chided, stepping back, "you should come to the surface more often." She intertwined her fingers through his, hoping some of her genuine joy would seep into him and chase away the shadows on his face.

"Is it a miserable place?" he asked in return, his voice far-off.

She averted her gaze, recalling that Indra had intended to make it a place more pleasant even than the surface.

"It's alright, I guess," she shrugged. "But isn't this better?" She gestured toward the village where the two mortals had grown considerably more bold in their affections.

"So, this is what you've been up to lately, Vetty?" he remarked, his expression one of amusement that faintly mirrored his usual playfulness.

"Eh?" she looked back at the mortals before laughing, "The woman is married to the butcher, but the butcher is old and fat. So, she spends her time with the young apprentice." She confided to him in a low voice, as if she found it hilarious.

Indra frowned, "That isn't right."

"So what? It's interesting," Vetty returned with a shrug.

"Mortals…" Indra sighed, "Manipulative, selfish, scheming, greedy…"

"Nyehehe…" Vetty was unfazed, "Isn't it great?"

Indra blinked at his companion. He always knew Vetty to have a mischievous nature, and yet, she seemed to love mischief more than he remembered.

"That is an unusual sound," he smiled wryly.

"Hm?" she looked away from the clandestine lovers, "What do you mean?"

He weighed the possibility that she might not repeat the ridiculous laugh if he teased her about it, and chose to remain silent.

"Never mind." He reached out for her hand, "Let's leave these two to their privacy, shall we?"

Vetty nodded, ecstatic to finally be roaming the surface again with Indra at her side. They wandered the fields, taking to the sky when the sun began to set, reconnecting in the moonlight after their long separation.

"You finally came to see me," Vetty teased, "That's a first."

Indra returned her gaze, a look of disappointment on his features, "When do you think we saw each other last, Vetty?"

She paused, considering. How many summers had it been? She recalled visiting the underworld, and yet… How long ago was that?

"Nearly a century, little one," he answered for her.

"Oh," she was surprised, to say the least. Apparently, it was easier to lose track of time when you had so much of it.

"Well, it's better this way," she threw back, unaffected, "You need to come to the surface sometimes, too."

He watched the moonlight glinting off of her dark brown hair, illuminating her smooth skin. Regarded the way her thick lashes veiled her lovely brown eyes. She had exchanged her scarlet chiton for other garments she had found in the mortal realm, green and gold, but still wore his cloak, he noted. "It would seem so," he purred in agreement.

Before he could say so much as another word, however, her eyes had caught on something on the surface and she pushed away from him, free falling to the ground below. It took him only a moment to follow. On the plains he saw a young girl, not yet fully grown, surrounded by four mortal men.

Vetty resumed her feline form and tore into the bulky men fearlessly. Scratching at their limbs and biting down on whatever bit of flesh came into her reach.

"What the devil!" a large, hulking man cursed. With a kick, he sent Vetty flying over the clearing, just as Indra alighted in the center of them.

Uneasy and terrified by instinct, they slowly backed away. The man who had attacked Vetty, however, remained firmly rooted in place, his eyes caught in the spinning crimson wheels in Indra's own. The other mortals took advantage of Indra's occupied state to make haste in their escapes. Only moments passed before Indra released the man, whose lips immediately parted to scream.

He wandered away, stumbling, perplexed. Muttering to himself as one possessed. Indra knew, as a consequence of the illusion he had just been forced to endure, the man's psyche had been broken beyond repair. He would be insane until death.

He turned back towards Vetty and saw she had returned to her human form and clung to the young girl, whose clothes were in tatters. She was injured in too many places to count and the life had seeped out of her but her green eyes were still open, unseeing, glazed over. Vetty's shoulders shook with the force of her tears and she wailed aloud. Approaching slowly, Indra gently lay a warm hand on her shoulder, a comfort in her distress.

"She- she shared her bread with the other kids, but she was starving. She kept going back to work, even though the master beat her," she wiped away her tears, furiously, even as the sobs were unabating, "She took care of her mother, even though the ungrateful, sick woman only ever complained. This girl was the stupidest…" Vetty choked back another sob, "The stupidest in the whole village!"

"Do even bastards like that get to spend eternity in your world?!" she turned to glare at him, her eyes brimming with tears, as if he were to blame for what had just taken place.

He was silent for a long moment, seeing with clarity, the evil these mortals were capable of. "I will see to it that they are punished, Vetty. In a manner that pleases you." There was something ominous and foreboding in his eyes, and she nodded, knowing he would be true to his word. They stood there in muted anguish for a few moments, until the girl's soul slipped from her body and at a single gesture, followed Indra back into the underworld submissively.

* * *

It was a crow that summoned Vetty to the Underworld the next time. She needed only to look into its eyes to know that he was Indra's messenger. She had been attempting to weave straw into a basket as she had seen mortals do, but dropped the craft into the grass without a further thought as she rose to follow the raven.

No sooner had she arrived at the entrance of the Underworld than she morphed into a cat, more at ease in the form the Underworld dwellers took little notice of. She prowled along the pathways, avoiding the Styx to make her way into the heart of the Underworld through a path hidden in the undergrowth further up ahead. She skirted the various deities, far more than she recalled, and found Indra speaking in low tones to three beautiful young women. Each of them had long wavy hair in shades of blonde, ginger, and black and eyes that were nearly silver, unfocused, and permanently settled on some point in the distance.

Catching sight of Vetty, Indra dismissed the three women with a wave of his hand. He nodded towards the little feline, indicating for her to follow him, and she fell in step with him happily. As soon as they were out of sight of the others, she transformed back into her human form. He took her left hand in his and wrapped his right arm around her waist, taking her into the air to travel more quickly and away from prying eyes.

"Is everything alright?" Vetty asked, "You sent a raven?"

"Yes," Indra agreed, "They are most agreeable servants. There are a few things I wanted to show you."

They flew over the moonflower field and found it to be full of spirits, sitting in a circle and chatting happily, then crossed over a wide river.

"The river of Lethe," Indra commented, "Mortals may drink from it, if they wish to forget their painful pasts."

Vetty nodded, it was a very wise choice. Some mortals spent their whole lives knowing nothing but suffering.

"Who were those silver-eyed women?"

"The Fates," Indra answered easily, the wind blowing his hair away from his face as he picked up the pace while holding firmly onto Vetty. "They will implement my will in my absence."

Absence? Did that mean - ? Had they finally reached a point where they could leave the Underworld together? Would they resume their journey in the other's company at long last?

Before she could reflect further on it, he was showing her other novelties in the Underworld. Various rivers and lakes, forests and valleys, each with its own purpose. He took her through the Asphodel fields, showed her the wonders of Elysium. She had to admit, the Underworld was a place of supreme wonder and was proving to be magical at every turn. It was not a place she wished to stay, but it was awe-inspiring nonetheless.

At last, he hesitated, and the wind whirled around them, tugging at their hair and cloaks, as he slid his piercing gaze onto her own curious, amber eyes once more.

"The next place I wish to show you… is not so pleasant."

She hesitated, the purpose of the Underworld had been to create a comforting resting place for mortal souls, wasn't it? What could the next destination be?

At a loss for words, she merely nodded.

In the blink of an eye, they were transported to a sweltering, stifling terrain. The very ground beneath their feet was split in deep cracks, parched from the incessant heat consuming the surrounding area. The sky overheard was an ashen crimson, hazy with the smoke and fumes streaming endlessly upwards. Vetty coughed, as she struggled to breathe in the ungodly atmosphere and looked around for the source of the flames.

A yawning chasm met her eyes, and a vast river of molten lava poured ceaselessly into its depths. She was both horrified and spellbound, and found herself approaching it, despite the danger. He took her hand and walked forwards with her until they came to a stop at the edge of the pit.

An earthen stairway coiled around its edge, leading down into the flaming cavern. Cages of some otherworldly metal were embedded into the rock wall, as well as hanging from chains over the surface of the lava. The thick, angry, magma bubbled and furious sparks of flame erupted where it boiled and burst, a steady stream of smoke and ash howling upwards as it did so.

Indra raised his cloak by reflex, to protect Vetty and she tore her gaze away from the frightful vision to meet his eyes, confused and concerned. What was such a horrific place doing in Indra's Underworld? What could the purpose of those cages be?

His eyes were set in determination, merciless and unforgiving as he stared down into the molten pit. "For those who commit injustice to others... for the killers, and the criminals… a painful torment awaits."

Vetty gasped and immediately raised a hand to cover her mouth as the sound reached her own ears. Had she played a part in the building of so terrifying a place, where mortal souls would be tormented for eternity? She looked back down into the furious furnace and thought of those four men who had so cruelly slaughtered an innocent girl. Her eyes narrowed in grim approval. They were deserving of such a place. Indra was just, kind, and wise, he would see to it that only the truly cruel mortals would be punished thus.

Indra glanced at Vetty and, seeing the approval in her eyes, had no further need for words. He transported them away from the fiery abyss, back into the cool forests of the Underworld. He still held firmly onto her hand, seeing that the experience had shaken her. She said nothing, still consumed by her own thoughts, and by the magnitude of the concept of _eternal punishment._ By the time they returned to the moonflower field, however, and she saw the young girl, the same one they had found murdered, playing cheerfully with another spirit, the very first they had brought to the Underworld, she knew. Men like the four on the surface needed to pay for their crimes.

She glanced up at Indra and saw that he had been watching her intently all the while. "Thank you." The words felt cruel, and bitter, but they were sincere.

* * *

"Lord Chronos, they are _everywhere_." The exasperated complaint fell on apathetic ears.

"As they should be," was the unperturbed answer, "This place belongs to them."

Indra reclined on a marble lounge, watching nymphs and other Underworld dwellers bustle to and fro in the gardens, as he leisurely stroked the fur of the black cat curled up in his lap.

"We are gods. They are naught but mortals. They should fear us, bow before our power and worship us. We can not be expected to live in the same place as them. Send the truly good ones,the heroic ones, the loyal worshippers - to Elysium, the rest to Tartarus." Cronus held out his hands in exasperation as he attempted to reason with the ancient Deity.

Indra narrowed his eyes in disapproval, an expression the black cat in his lap mirrored. "Elysium is not a trophy to be fought over and hard-gained. It is a part of the underworld for mortal souls to enjoy, and Tartarus… is for the truly evil."

"But consider how uncomfortable the deities are, dwelling side by side with the ones they are meant to rule over," the young deity with the unruly hair was adamant in his standpoint.

"You have the palace, stay there if you're so uncomfortable." Indra's patience with the conversation was quickly dwindling, as was his tolerance for the young god. Frankly, he was bored.

"You will lose standing with the other gods if you continue in this manner," the impudent young god spoke in a low, earnest voice and Indra raised a brow at his arrogance.

"Cronus, you think I care for my standing in the eyes of insects?" he sneered, "You may be the most powerful of the deities of the Underworld and indeed, I have gifted you many talents, but you have a ways to go yet before you can take over my position."

"For what did you create all this? And all of us? If you will allow it to be overrun by these meaningless mortals?" Cronus' questions fell on deaf ears, as Indra frowned at him.

"For what, indeed…" he murmured, distaste apparent in his voice, "You need not concern yourself with the intentions behind my actions. You have potential, if you can learn to temper your emotions… and your greed."

"The mortals," Indra continued, "lead temporary lives, and must then wander on as intangible spirits. The Underworld is a place for them to come to peace. You will never know illness, Cronus. Will never learn the true meaning of separation. You will never experience the loss of a loved one, knowing you will never see them again. You will never know what it is to look death in the face, to be confronted with the end of your life. That should be reason enough for you to be compassionate with the mortals. Consider their plight, and be kind to them."

"Kind?" Cronus huffed, "What need have they for meaningless kindness? They are not even conscious entities. I sometimes think your power is wasted on you." With a frown of disapproval, Cronus turned heel and stalked away from the elder deity.

At his departure, Vetty morphed back into her human form, reclining easily on Indra's lap with her arms wrapped around his neck. She glared at the spot Cronus had been standing moments before.

"Who was that brat?" she queried, without bothering to hide her irritation, "I don't like him."

"Cronus is…" Indra sighed, "Very gifted, and highly respected among the underworld dwellers. I hope to make him my successor, but he has much to learn until then."

"You're going to make _him_ your successor?" Vetty glanced at him in dismay. "He doesn't understand the first thing about your world!"

"He isn't wrong," Indra defended automatically, "When I made all this, I hadn't considered the consequences carefully enough. A lot of pain and suffering came into being because of me. Why did I make all this…?" Indra's gaze had turned introspective again and Vetty could not stand to see his self doubt.

Taking his face in both her hands, she turned his attention back towards herself. "Isn't it obvious? How could you forget?"

He took hold of one of her thin wrists, and gently pulled her hand away, "Then, are you claiming to know the reason, Vetty?"

"Of course I do!" she shot back, adamant. "You made it because it is _beautiful._ Every blade of grass, every flower, every hummingbird, every insect. All the living creatures, all the myriad colors of a thousand types of rock. Every single thing on this planet - the joy, the love, the laughter, even the tears and pain and sorrow.. _all of it_ is beautiful."

He met her eyes in wonder, and remembered. He had wanted someone to see. To see and appreciate all that existence had to offer, and no one seemed to do that more than Vetty.

Still holding onto her hand, he held her gaze sincerely, "Stay with me, Vetty. Stay with me forever. I will delegate my duties… and my powers. We can return to the cosmos. Will you stay by my side?"

Vetty hesitated. The cosmos. Indra had spoked of that place many times before and yet, she knew she had not yet seen all that she wished to see of this world. The mortals were growing cleverer day by day, with new inventions, new contraptions, new laws and new ideas. Even the landscape of the earth was ever-changing. She could wander this planet for eternity and still not have had enough of it.

She was very fond of Indra. He was certainly dear to her. But why did he suddenly need to speak of forever? And why the cosmos? Hadn't they wanted to journey over the planet together when his tiresome tasks finally came to an end?

"Why…" she began weakly, "Why the cosmos? Why not the surface?"

"This world…" Indra began, "I grow weary of it. Do you not?"

Vetty's eyes widened in horrified disappointment. The world… and everything in it… they were the most incredible, fascinating things! How could anyone tire of it? To never see the mortals again, with all their curious aspirations. To never see another rainbow, or a waterfall, or anything of the like… it was a nightmare to consider.

"You… you wear yourself out, it's always duty and responsibility with you! You don't take the time to find joy in your surroundings. Why do I have to leave here, just because you do?!"

Indra blinked at her. He had not been expecting that reaction. "Vetty…" he tried to reach out for her hand, but she jumped out of his lap.

"I'm not like you. Old and boring and responsible to a fault. I _love_ this world. I want to see everything in it. I want to watch it change and grow. I explore it every day and I never run out of things to see and you… you just stay holed up down here, or holed up out there, in space, and bore yourself to tears and want to force _me_ to live like that, too?!"

"You wanted to come with me, back to the surface, you said," she continued, visibly upset, "But you were just stringing me along this whole time weren't you? You were never going to journey across the world with me again, you just wanted to set things in order so you could leave! Back to wherever you came from! Well, no, Indra! I'm not coming with you! I'm a creature of this world and I like it here! There's a lot to see and I'm going to see it all."

"Vetty," Indra tried again, "Delegating my powers to another deity…"

"Figure it out yourself, Indra," she shot back, furious, "Clearly the two of us don't have the same goals in mind. Maybe we never did."

Her eyes were filled with tears as she turned away from him, morphing back into cat-form to make haste on her escape. She tore through the forests, past bushes and undergrowth, leaving through paths he likely did not even know existed.

She ran and ran until her legs could carry her no longer, and when she reached the clearing of the forest that bordered on the mortal village, she collapsed into a heap and allowed herself to cry.

"Stupid Indra. Stupid, stupid Indra."

* * *

She held out two summers, telling herself that he was in the wrong, and he could be the one to seek her out for once. She journeyed as far as her feet would take her, but the beauty of the nature she so adored seemed somehow faded in her eyes, as their argument replayed ceaselessly in her mind. His disappointed expression overshadowed everything she laid eyes on. She busied herself, instead, with the mortals, with the wildlife of the forests, with perfecting the art of crafting flower crowns. It was on a summer solstice that she finally got the hang of it. She found herself admiring the nearly perfect crown of wildflowers and grinned. Who needs Indra?

He never came. He never sent a raven. Two years were not a long time, for the two of them, she knew and yet, she had hoped he would come after her. Had hoped he would follow on her heels immediately, but who was she fooling? At the end of the day, he was a grand, ancient deity and she was nothing more than an immortal cat spirit. Immortal only on account of his gift. She thought back to the circumstances under which she had received immortality and buried her face in her hands as a furious blush overcame her.

She glanced down at the flower crown in her hands with newfound determination. She had been hasty in her judgment. She hadn't even allowed him to say his piece. Perhaps, they could work it out yet. At the very least, he should see the masterful crown she had crafted out of the wildflowers.

Tucking the flower crown under her belt, she made her way to the entrance of the Underworld. Perhaps, the cosmos _with_ Indra, would be better than the surface without him. Who knew? The first thing she noted upon entering the Underworld was the absence of human spirits - a rather odd circumstance. She shook her head and thought nothing of it, searching for the usual places she might find her beloved.

But Indra was nowhere to be found.

Panic rising in her now, she searched more frantically. Had he gone without her? Returned to the cosmos never to be seen again? As she bounded along the paths of the Underworld, each destination as fruitless as the one before it, she felt tears stinging her eyes and constricting her throat. Was he gone?

A crowd of Underworld dwellers approached from the opposite direction and Vetty swiftly sought shelter in a bordering tree.

"Make haste!" a woman called to her adolescent son, "Lord Cronus has summoned us!"

 _Lord Cronus?_ Vetty thought to herself. Had Indra truly chosen him as his successor? But he had said the boy still had much to learn? She followed closely behind the crowd, saw them assemble around Cronus who stood at attention on top of a tall boulder.

It was unmistakable, he bore some of Indra's aura. Indra's power of chaos seemed to reside within the deity she so disliked, and it horrified her. Had he truly chosen to give Cronus his powers and left her behind? Or had Cronus, somehow, taken them from Indra? Could there have been foul play involved here? But it was inconceivable, the thought of someone overpowering Indra himself.

No matter how much she thought on it, no matter how her heart ached, the fact remained - Indra was gone, and she was alone.

* * *

She wandered aimlessly, mindlessly over the surface with eyes unseeing. The colors all blurred into each other like a watercolor painting that was more water than paint - an unsightly brownish-black. She climbed snowy mountains but the cold that stung her skin could not physically harm her. Even when she wandered the deserts, denying herself food and drink, there were no signs of dehydration or starvation. Indeed, when she spied her reflection in the next human settlement, she looked as healthy and lovely as ever, despite the sand that had settled nearly everywhere on her body.

The forests held no allure, the plains were boring, the loveliest gardens were an eyesore. She felt some ease standing at the ocean's shore. The sound of the waves crashing on the beach seemed to be saying, "Hush, hush…" Everything will be alright. Indra's memory was everywhere.

At long last, nearly a millennium after Indra's mysterious disappearance, when Vetty could not escape his eyes, his voice, the touch of his hands anywhere she went, she chose to return to the Underworld. If she could not forget him, then she would return to the place where his memory was strongest. The place he had poured his heart and soul into.

She remained mostly in feline form these days. There was no one she trusted as much as Indra to allow them to see her true self. Besides, the hidden pathways into the Underworld were far easier to traverse as a cat. She roamed the sprawling area, nearly as large as the entirety of the surface, and saw the beauty in the little things.

She saw Indra's gentle touch in a grassy field, illuminated by iridescent-blue, glowing butterflies. Saw his kindness in an orchard of dark-green trees bearing golden fruit. His concern in the broad, sure-footed paths that led from one place to another, and his love for the mortals in the gardens of Elysium.

He was everywhere here, in the place she so hated, with its muted hues and gloomy atmosphere. Regret swamped her heart, where bitterness had taken root, and she determined to stay. She would stay in this desolate place… if he was watching, from anywhere, he would know why. Would see her regret. Would he come back? The thought brought tears to her eyes so she banished it.

She wandered the Underworld, making it her home. She sought to understand the meaning, the intention, behind every detail of the dark world. She saw that the mortals had indeed been banished to either Tartarus, or Elysium, or a third place, the Asphodel fields if they had lived lives unremarkable enough for either destination. She thought it a shame that they could not experience the wonders of the Underworld as Indra had hoped they would. That he had made all of this for nothing.

' _Well, not for nothing,'_ she thought to herself, _'I'm here. I'm seeing it, and it's beautiful, Indra. If that means anything to you."_

The underworld dwellers had indeed taken Cronus as their lord and master. They did not seem to recall Indra's existence at all, save a precious few. She idled among the underworld cats - there were many, to her surprise - and observed the events of the Underworld with a discerning, disapproving eye. These so-called deities, preening their young feathers and swelling up with pride as if their powers gave them some superiority. Not a one of them could hold a candle to Indra. He knew what it truly meant to be a god. He was the epitome of kindness, compassion and wisdom.

"You mourn his loss most deeply, little one," a voice called out behind her.

Vetty turned to find Hecate looking down on her with a kind expression. Vetty scowled. She didn't want anyone's kindness. ' _Go away,_ ' Vetty willed at her telepathically, _'you pompous child'._

Hecate only chuckled, and settled on a nearby tree stump, laying her cane gently by her side. As a goddess, she had free rein over her appearance and could morph into whatever form she wished, but preferred this aged self to reflect her wisdom. It felt most true to her person.

"I am one of the first deities Lord Chronos called into being, surely I am no child, and yet…. you are even older than I, are you not… Vetustissimussa?"

Being called by her full name, by this crone, made Vetty wary and she narrowed her eyes at the old goddess. She saw that she was dressed very simply, in robes of grey and white cotton, bound with a simple, white waistband of burlap cloth. She wondered if the goddess had the same simplicity of intentions.

' _You remember Indra?'_ she asked, giving the deity her full attention now.

"I do," she agreed with a nod, "As do a few others. He was well known for his love of cats." She gestured to the surrounding felines. "Often surrounded himself with them in his free time. They have become an unofficial symbol of the Uchiha clan."

Vetty blinked at her in confusion. Indra had appreciated the company of cats? Was it because he missed her when he was alone in the underworld? She was filled with guilt and longing, wishing she had chosen to visit him more often while she still could.

"Ah, yes, that is the name the Underworld dwellers have given themselves. Uchiha." Hecate clarified. "One day, Indra suddenly disappeared and Cronus was left as his successor. Bearing Chronos' powers of chaos, we had no right to contest the succession. Many believe there was only ever one, Cronus, to begin with."

Vetty scowled at the name of the hated deity. She could not think of a deity more ill-suited to be Indra's successor.

"And yet, whatever became of Chronos' powers of time? They have not carried over. Most curious, indeed."

Vetty's head was spinning. She knew Hecate would not be telling her all this if it wasn't important, but she was struggling to make sense of it. Cronus had only received a part of Indra's powers? Then, was Indra still alive somewhere controlling time? But of course he was. After all, he had returned to the cosmos, hadn't he?

Hecate was already leaving, and Vetty was too stubborn to voice her questions, knowing the old crone had likely already said all she intended to say.

"Come visit my hut, if ever you're lonely. I can promise you privacy, at the least."

Vetty watched her go, certain she would do no such thing.

* * *

Years passed, followed by centuries, she occasionally visited Hecate's hut where she would always find a warm bowl of milk waiting. Hecate did not pose further questions or provoke unwanted conversation and for that, Vetty was grateful.

She found mischief to be one of the only ways to alleviate her boredom, and delighted in it. She loved provoking the nymphs into fights, stealing a bit of jewelry away, relishing the way they all accused one another. She snickered to herself as she watched them tear at the other's hair shouting curse words unbecoming of them.

She found ways to provoke nearly all the Underworld dwellers, the satyrs, the nymphs, even the Erinyes on occasion, although that was a dangerous game - if not all the more satisfying for it. She could not die. Indra had robbed her of that. So, she was doomed to go on for all of eternity without him. That being the case, she was determined to spend that time doing whatever she damn well pleased.

When she tired of the Underworld's oppressive atmosphere, made even worse, if possible, by the absence of the mortal spirits that once roamed it, she would return to the surface for brief spans of time. Looking out at the ocean despondently, bitterly, nearly angrily. It was there that she had first met the mercurial god of the sea. Poseidon. Finding him to be of a similar nature as herself, the two often paired up to carry out their mischief. Neither had a care for whether their victims were deities, mortals, or some other creature. Vetty relished the chaotic friendship.

Some time passed before the next deity to catch her eye was born. Mikoto. She was a girl of fair skin, hair black as night, and features as lovely as the moon. The Fates determined her deity name to be Nyx and her role - the guardian of the night sky. She was… innocent, in contrast to the world around her. The birth of a deity was a rare occurrence, so Vetty took to watching her with interest. There was little mischief one could practice on a babe, so she guarded the infant instead.

Nyx grew, and unlike the other Underworld dwellers, she always took notice of Vetty. Whether she was toddling after her, or pouring her own milk into a bowl for her, or later, when she had grown into a young maiden, sharing her bed, and her covers, and her dreams with Vetty. Vetty determined that the young one was too innocent for politics. Too pure for the games that were played in the underworld. It was for the best that Vetty stayed by her side. Nyx was endearing - charming and precious. She needed someone to take care of her.

When it was determined that Nyx would be betrothed to Erebus, Vetty approved. Erebus was a solemn man, far too studious and responsible for Vetty's liking, but he was deeply enamored by Nyx and would treat her well, that was certain. The alternative, the far-worse alternative, would likely be for Cronus to claim the young goddess as his own. The leering way his eyes had fallen on her ward more than once did not escape Vetty's notice.

It was with relief, then, that Vetty observed the wedding preparations, and even Nyx's apparent joy. She riled up mischief as usual, and was pleased when she caused a servant to spill the entirety of a gargantuan decanter of ambrosia that had been meant to serve the wedding party. She laughed to herself at his despair and skipped lithely away from the scene.

She saw signs, in the days proceeding, but ignored them, not wanting them to be true. The way Cronus took hold of Nyx's elbow. The way he led her into secluded areas of the gardens when Erebus was no more than a few feet away, his back turned. The way she appeared, disheveled, from Cronus' chambers, her lipstick smeared and her clothing in disarray. At first, she returned shaking and terrified, jumping at every sound, and then, as the years dragged on, she went confidently and returned demurely.

Vetty despised Cronus for it. She wished Indra were there, to put him in his place, to rescue Nyx, and chided herself for entertaining such foolish wishes, even after all this time.

* * *

She stalked the Underworld, deprived of purpose, unable to protect Nyx - who no longer seemed to wish for protection - and returned to mischief. When Nyx's first child was born, Vetty thought nothing of it. Not wanting to grow attached to yet another deity who would doubtless be lost to the schemes of the Underworld as well. Her lingering affection for Nyx, however, drew her back to the palace, curious. Nyx would always be dear to her heart and could not be blamed for Cronus' crimes.

She found that the young lord had grown quickly, that she had put off the visit for longer than she had thought. He was nearing five years of mortal age. His sable eyes were wise and distant. His features, fair and elegant. He moved with a certain grace and was kind and thoughtful. Vetty frowned. He was, much like Nyx, too kind and perfect to be a part of Cronus' world.

Nearly a century later, when the young Lord Itachi was still a child, seven in mortal years, the previous Thanatos passed on to the pure realm unexpectedly. He was a known drunkard, always visiting the river of Lethe to forget the ills he had seen on the surface. Unexpectedly, he one day refused to reap the soul of a mortal maiden, and succumbed to the denial of his role - a certain death for the deities who Indra had each created for a set purpose. The old Thanatos passed on and the young Itachi was granted his deity name. A decision the Fates, in consultation with Cronus, had announced unanimously

No sooner was the decision announced, than Itachi fell to his knees, clinging to his head. His mother rushed to his side, drawing him into her embrace with horror. Her son was resolute, and stronger than deities far older than him. What could possibly have driven him to his knees?

"What is the meaning of this? What is happening to him?" she threw her questions at Cronus like knives, and he narrowed his eyes at her.

She swallowed, realizing that her words bordered on disrespect, and attempted more calmly, "Lord Cronus, please…"

"It is likely the voices of the dead and dying that plague him. In time, he will learn to control them, or he will prove useless and die. It remains to be seen." Cronus' voice was cold and indifferent, but low enough that none but Nyx and Itachi could hear him.

"Get you back to your quarters, boy. Don't make a show of your weakness."

The brusque command was unfeeling and Itachi rose to his feet resolutely, determined to still the trembling of his limbs at the unabating howls and wails of anguish that filled his head. Terrifying sounds, screams of sheer agony that never seemed to stop for tore at his very bones.

Vetty was old enough to see what was happening. Cronus had found Nyx's weakness and did not hesitate to exploit it. It was also likely that he, like Vetty herself, saw some semblance of Indra in Itachi's gentle nature. She hissed into the darkness. If only she had the power to do away with him. If only Indra had listened to her.

The first time Itachi journeyed to the surface to reap the souls of the mortals, Vetty followed him from a distance. She saw the way the mortals clung to the robes of the young god - in turns, begging, threatening, and screaming. She saw the way Itachi regarded them helplessly, and knew what torment it must be for him. The young boy who could not deny anyone aid, was now duty-bound to turn a deaf ear to their cries, a blind eye to their misery.

By the time he returned to the surface, he was a changed deity. He looked up at the palace, but did not enter, wandering the Underworld's landscape instead, returning only hours later. His gaze was walled off and his bearing aloof, indifferent, as he had learned he needed to be. He had proven to be a most intelligent, insightful child.

Vetty could not bring herself to follow him to the surface the next day, watching instead as the walls he built around himself grew ever higher. A century passed before Cronus released Hypnos of some errands he had assigned to him. Their nature was dubious to Vetty and she suspected Cronus' sole intentions had been to keep him away from Itachi, to ensure he had to face this tribulation alone.

With Hypnos at his side, Nyx's son seemed to relax somewhat and Vetty was grateful. She found herself watching his kind nature, so at odds with the cruelty of his role, and her heart broke for him as she recalled another gentle and tender god who was bound to suffer under the weight of his responsibility. Indra had had the freedom to abandon the mortal world if he so chose, but his sense of duty towards the frail humans of the surface had bound him as surely as Itachi was bound by his divine calling, even if the consequence of death had not been looming for Indra.

Eons passed where Nyx fell more willingly into Cronus' arms, even seeking him out herself, on occasion. Itachi grew ever more solemn, and Erebus, Nyx's well-meaning, unsuspecting husband was lost in an ocean of duty - endless tasks assigned to him by Cronus so that he might never surface from their waves to see how his betrothed occupied herself in his absence.

Vetty resented them. She resented Indra most of all, for cursing her with immortality, compelling her to witness all manner of things she would have preferred to remain ignorant of.

She did not care for Nyx's second son, born millennia after Thanatos. She had determined that long before he was born. Caring for the royal Uchiha family was asking for heartache, and Vetty had more than enough of that as it was. Curiosity drew her to the edge of the garden, however, to see the scene play out as the babe was introduced to his family.

It was the sight of a smile on Thanatos' face, the first time she could ever remember seeing one, that had her bounding over to the cradle. What could that crib possibly contain that had miraculously cast a smile on Thanatos' face? Crawling up onto Nyx's lap she peered inside at the little deity wrapped in velvet blankets.

A most handsome baby met her eyes. His skin was fairer than that of Itachi, his hair the same midnight blue as his mother's. His round cheeks and button nose were reminiscent of a cherub's and his eyes - dark and deep and lovely, as if they contained all manner of secrets. Her heart swelled despite herself. He was sweet. Precious. She glanced up at Thanatos and saw similar emotions flickering in his eyes, his walls cast down for this brief moment, as he beheld his brother.

Nyx was glad to see Vetty, who had kept her distance for a while, and stroked her fur pleasantly, chatting with her about how lovely the newborn "Sasuke" was, how very much like his brother he would grow to be, and Vetty could almost forget that the young girl she had so cherished had chosen to lie with the despicable Cronus.

She remained near the Uchiha palace after that, watching over the royal family. She watched approvingly as Itachi took Sasuke's training into his own hands. Teaching him patiently, with kindness rather than firmness, and keeping him decidedly away from the inner workings of the Uchiha hierarchy. Nyx was ever wrapped in her liaisons with Cronus, the secrets she bore from Erebus and Vetty had come to begrudgingly accept that, as well. Hypnos was Itachi's sole companion, and seemed to provide him enough solace to bear his burden with the grace that was characteristic for him. It was far from perfect, but it would have to do.

Nyx did not seem to think so.

"It has been millennia since Hypnos has taken Pasithea for a wife. She is a lovely goddess, olive skinned, fair of face, and that beautiful, curly dark hair is certainly most admirable. Hypnos is absolutely smitten, and of course, that is charming, as well," she confided to Vetty, stroking her fur absentmindedly, "Many thought he would not be able to find a companion, by nature of his role, but he has."

Vetty could see, without even looking, that Nyx was biting down on her lip, torn. "So, why has my Itachi not yet taken up a female companion? A wife would be preferable, but I have no qualms against even a temporary consort. _Anything,_ to ease his loneliness. How can he go on and on this way without knowing the touch of a goddess?"

Vetty did not answer. She could think of a number of reasons Itachi avoided the _female companionship_ his mother was so adamant about. In the realm of immortals, love was very transient. Very few could claim to truly love one another for _eternity._ It was a claim mortals often made but deities were more sparing with, knowing the deadening dullness that eternity entailed.

Itachi had certainly grown more and more powerful with time and was greatly admired by both the gods and goddesses of the surface and the underworld, but he paid them no heed. He was not one for superficial arrangements, superficial relations. She knew that he could not, like Nyx, marry someone and give them less than all of himself. He was sincere in that manner, straightforward and honest. He preferred truthful solitude over false affections. She kept this opinion to herself, however, not knowing if Nyx would be able to understand this, given her own very complicated romantic situation.

Nyx's concerned musings led her to the Fates themselves, and it was centuries before Vetty saw her again. When she returned, wrapped in a white velvet cloak that had been gifted to her, her eyes were alight with glee.

She had received a prophecy. A prophecy that declared her son would, indeed, find love. Reading between the lines, it seemed, it would be a mortal blessed with the light of the stars and the one who claimed her would rule over the Underworld. Vetty was unimpressed. It sounded like very suspicious business, but Nyx was ecstatic.

"It is time, Vetty. There is something we can do for him. It is regrettable that it has to be a mortal, but the two of us will find her, and my son need never be alone again. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

Vetty squinted at the goddess. It was almost ironic, that she did not see her own loneliness, that she had not asked the Fates for a way out of the entanglements she had found herself in and instead, had asked for love for a Thanatos who could not care less. The entire endeavor seemed like a waste of time, to her, but it was Nyx - the cherished young girl who had suffered enough - who was asking, and Vetty humored her.

Nyx laid out her plans, asking Vetty's aid, and Vetty reluctantly agreed. It meant returning to the surface, something she had been loath to do since Indra's departure but she assumed it was a necessary evil. The first girl was a flirtatious blonde, lovely and alluring. Vetty liked her confident manner and the way she turned her nose up at the insults her community hurled at her even as men sought her attention. She did not like her for Thanatos, however, and hoped Nyx would not find this one to be the child of prophecy.

Luring the girl away from the village was a manner of small deception, an easier task than she had suspected, and by the entrance of the underworld Nyx awaited, cloaked in darkness and the hooded cape she wore, shadowing the features of her face. Nyx spirited the two of them away into the night, to a cavern hidden in a mountain face overlooking the ocean.

Vetty watched as Nyx's hands trembled. The goddess wasn't certain of her actions. With a wave of her unsteady hand, black whip-like tendrils wrapped around the lovely young mortal, the girl awoke and opened her mouth to scream but another black wisp entered her open mouth, settling there and stealing away her voice.

"Do be quiet, my dear, I need to think," Nyx paced back and forth before withdrawing a drawstring bag. "There are a number of ways to test this… Endangering her to see if she draws from the power of the stars, exposing her to a star fragment, which I sadly, do not possess, or this," she withdrew a small, glass flask containing a shimmering silver liquid.

"I cannot have her dying and passing through Thanatos' hands," she glanced at Vetty helplessly. "If she is the child of prophecy, nothing at all will happen to her, and if she isn't…" she glanced at the young woman in question who looked on horrified, still struggling to free herself and screaming soundlessly.

"That's a risk I must be willing to take," Nyx approached the young mortal, clutching the flask between both hands to steady her nerves. Vetty glanced uneasily between the two of them. What exactly would happen if the young girl failed the test?

Nyx frowned resolutely, banishing the indecision from her eyes. She gripped the mortal's face firmly in one hand, tilting her head upwards so she had no choice but to swallow when Nyx poured the contents of the flask into her mouth. The effect was immediate, a layer of hard, gray stone covered the girl's form beginning from her mouth to the tips of her hands and fingers. Nyx stumbled backwards in alarm, looking on horrified at the petrified young woman. The indentations of Nyx's fingers on her cheeks could still be clearly seen.

"Good gods…" Nyx gasped, "What have I done?" She drew her quivering hands to her face in shock and regret as she stumbled backwards to the stone wall, sinking to the floor. "What… what have I become?" she whispered faintly, trembling from head to toe.

Vetty's eyes darted back and forth from the stone-faced mortal girl, so alive and vibrant and alluring only moments before, to Nyx, ashen-faced and stricken. The girl was a mortal, if she passed through Thanatos' hands he would be alerted to the disturbance in his domain, and the tests Nyx intended to carry out were not ones that would leave the girl wholly intact so as to send her back to the surface, but to cast her in stone? Leaving her in perpetual limbo, unable to return to her loved ones or pass on to the Underworld was a fate too cruel for words.

Vetty blinked at Nyx in disbelief. She knew how strongly Indra would disapprove of her actions. But Indra was gone, his ideals were gone, even his reasons for creating the Underworld were gone. Nyx was here, Vetty was here, and in that moment, Nyx needed comfort. There was nothing that could be done for the mortal girl anymore, anyway.

She crawled up to Nyx, nuzzling against her, offering her the warmth of her presence as a sign of comfort. Nyx held her tightly, choking on a sob as tears spilled from her eyes.

"What have you done, Nyx?" A low, booming voice spoke from the shadows.

Nyx looked up in anguish, terrified to see none other than Cronus looking down on her in disapproval.

"Your actions are not befitting of a goddess. You realize you would be taken before the council for this?" his tone was harsh and unforgiving. Nyx pushed Vetty aside as she rushed to her feet.

"Wait, Lord Cronus, hear me, I beg of you," she clung to him desperately, hoping his chaos could make sense of this chaos.

"There's a prophecy, a prophecy I must see fulfilled," she stammered helplessly, hoping to persuade him.

Her words tumbled over one another as she told him everything, her service to the fates, their prophecy for Itachi's future, the necessity of her search for the mortal blessed with the power of the stars. In her helpless anguish, she missed the way his eyes lit up, the way the corner of his lips curved subtly, in a smug smirk, but Vetty did not, and she narrowed her eyes in the darkness.

"Be at ease, Nyx," he crowed, brushing her hair back from her face, "Why are you so agitated? As long as you have me, you need not fear."

The manipulating shift from threatening to comforting made Vetty feel sick to her stomach, but Nyx did not seem to notice. He approached the mortal bound to a chair at the edge of the mouth's cave that directly overlooked the ocean hundreds of feet below.

"I take it, this was not the girl of prophecy, then?" he mused darkly.

"No," Nyx agreed, "We need to restore her somehow, back to her people and - " But before she could speak another word, Cronus had placed a leather-clad foot onto the petrified mortal's knee and kicked her backwards off the cave mouth. A sickening splash met their ears as she tumbled into the waters below.

"We do not leave evidence, Nyx," he glanced at her over his shoulder, even as a red aura rose from his body and followed the girl down, to form some kind of barrier, Vetty assumed.

"Carry on with your search, and keep me informed of your progress. I will see to it there are no loose threads left behind." He approached Nyx slowly, and lifted her chin, bringing her eyes to his own. "So long as you serve me, Nyx. You have nothing to fear. You are a goddess, powerful and divine. What are the lives of a few mortals to us? Surely, Thanatos' future matters more to you than the lives of a few human girls?"

Her eyes darted between his, she was at a loss for words. What he said was true, and yet…

His lips met hers and all rational thought disappeared from her mind like the light of the sun vanished at the onset of night. Vetty frowned, realizing the direction Nyx's plans would take. Her distaste at Cronus' treatment of Nyx went unnoticed, as she herself went unnoticed in the shadows of the cave.

* * *

It was not, however, simply a few mortal girls. There were hundreds, thousands, that she led into Nyx's waiting grasp and still they had not found the chosen one. Nyx had no further qualms at their fates and Vetty, though she found the affair distasteful, did what she could to help Nyx. Rumors spread among the mortals that black cats brought bad luck, and she could not help but agree.

How did Nyx choose the girls that were meant to be brought to the Underworld, she wondered. The goddess retreated to the temples of the Fates, or to her gardens, and returned to telepathically provide Vetty with a face and an estimated location. It was a mysterious affair.

As Vetty roamed the mortal world on her latest assignment, she saw that the village she had once visited with Indra was the home of their latest target. Mortals had built houses large enough for hundreds. Entertainment had become nearly more vital to them than food, it seemed, a need Vetty could sympathize with. The mortals had grown considerably in talent and invention in the time she had been in the Underworld, and she faintly resented the fact that she had missed it.

Rain began pouring long before she had reached her destination, but there was nothing for it. She allowed it to soak her to her bones, wishing it would wash her away. She wanted to protect Nyx and her sons. It was the one thing that had given her some sense of meaning after Indra, but the more she struggled to do so, the emptier she felt. At first, she had hoped he was watching over her from somewhere, but these days, she wished he was dead, so he would not be disappointed at her actions. She scowled. As if he had the right to be disappointed in her after abandoning her that way.

She noticed a bus stop just up ahead but sighed and sat by a lamppost. She was tired, cold, and miserable, and stupid Indra had deprived her of the relief of death. How many times would she have died already if he had not been so impulsive?

She knew that mortals feared her appearance. She was most decidedly an underworld cat and looked the part. No doubt, she was even more unsightly now, with the way her long, fluffy fur was weighed down by the rain. What if she didn't return to the Underworld? What if she stayed here, unmoving, until the world ended?

She hissed in irritation, angry at the world itself, but the sound came out as something of a dreadful yowl, despite herself.

"Huh?" a voice caught her attention and she turned to its source.

"What're you doing out here in this weather, all by yourself?" The voice was filled with sympathy and tenderness. No sooner had the girl spoken than she crouched down low, using her jacket to shield Vetty from the rain.

Irony of all ironies, it was the mortal girl that would soon be set to stone. She recognized the chestnut hair and hazel eyes.

She watched, dumbfounded, as the girl argued with her _friend._ Clearly, an underworld nymph masquerading as a human for reasons unknown. To her great surprise, the girl lifted her soaking, shivering form and tucked her into her own jacket, keeping her warm despite the fact that she herself was getting drenched through Vetty's soaked fur.

She was used to being cursed and having stones thrown at her. That was the norm in the mortal world. She did not know how to react to the gentle way the mortal carried her inside, dried her off with a towel, and poured her a warm bowl of milk. Chattering pleasantly all the while. Vetty stared numbly down at the offering of milk, feeling warmth seep back into her body. She lapped up the bowl of milk hungrily, and it was emptied faster than she knew surface cats could drink, but the mortal did not seem alarmed. She poured out three more bowls, affectionately noting that Vetty must have been starving. The chestnut-haired girl then disappeared into her chambers.

What was wrong with this mortal girl? Normal humans gave her a wide berth on account of her frightening appearance. And yet, this… _Elissa_ was her name, kept company of an underworld nymph and took in demonic cats oblivious to the danger she so gladly surrounded herself with. For the first time in ages, Vetty did not know what to think. Guilt plagued her at the thought that she would be responsible for the inevitable doom of the one mortal who showed her kindness. The girl was cursed. The girl was destined to wind up petrified, her scream frozen for all eternity at the bottom of the ocean.

Staring into the bowl of milk, Vetty saw magnolia flowers. She saw dragonflies and bumblebees. She saw a kind and loving touch. Elissa had taken pity on her, the way Indra had taken pity on all of humanity. Not in a domineering, arrogant way, but with the kindness of nature that was inherent to the two of them. She didn't want this mortal to end that way. This had gone on long enough. There was only one way to put an end to the madness and it was to draw Thanatos' attention to the entire affair. That meant betraying Nyx, she knew, but noted with grim determination that Nyx and Cronus had become too entangled. She could not keep them apart, and could not support the one without inadvertently aiding the other.

With a stroke of determination, she pushed the porcelain bowl resolutely off of the countertop, and moved to drop the other two onto the tiled kitchen floor as well, feeling satisfaction as she heard the porcelain shatter.

When the mortal girl returned, she was understandably upset, but patient with her. Kneeling to pick up the shards without so much as raising her voice at Vetty. Vetty felt another wave of affection fill her heart for the young woman and was emboldened in her decision.

When she cut her finger, as Vetty had hoped she would, Elissa disappeared to treat the wound. Vetty leapt smoothly from the countertop, looking down at the splatters of blood on the white kitchen floor and made her decision in a split-second. She lapped up the flecks of blood, feeling the bond form immediately. There was no way Nyx could condemn the girl to an eternity at the bottom of the ocean, now, without resigning Vetty to the same fate. Elissa could lay her eyes on death itself, without fearing any consequences, and Vetty could protect her if the situation called for it.

All that remained was to bring Elissa to Death, and catch his notice.

* * *

" _Oi,"_ a disembodied voice called through the otherwise empty living room, jolting Vetty from her thoughts. Had she been so lost in her recollections? She cast a distrustful glance at her water bowl, and turned her head decidedly away from it. She was not in the mood to deal with him at the moment, she had enough on her mind.

" _You bratty cat. Do you see where this is going? All your plans are going up in smoke and you're just lazing about like everything's fucking dandy."_

Vetty cast a glare in his general direction but remained silent.

" _I'm tired of waiting around. That guy's never going to open his eyes and take care of things, so I AM. We're doing things my way from now on."_

Vetty turned to the irritated voice, " _Wait,"_ she walked slowly over to the bowl of water, but saw only her reflection. _"Listen, you bloated, blurry, impatient god-child!"_

When only silence met her ears, she hissed in annoyance. Things were falling into place. Itachi had taken notice of Elissa. There were hiccups in their relationship certainly, but Vetty noted the longing and mutual concern between them. It was only a matter of time before one or the other of them acted on their suppressed feelings. Cain posed a wrench in the gears of her plans, but he was only a harmless mortal. Nothing they couldn't deal with.

Slayte was there to guard Elissa, as well. The underworld nymph was notoriously reckless, which happened to be one of Vetty's favorite qualities. She was reckless enough to escape the underworld, reckless enough to begin a doomed relationship with a mortal man, reckless enough to make an attempt on even _her_ life. And it was just that kind of recklessness that Vetty relied on to protect Elissa in the face of daunting circumstances.

She trusted reckless, passionate fools more than calculating strategists. A strategist will run when his calculations conclude that failure is inevitable. Whereas running, itself, is the only outcome that a fool would deem a failure.

If only that impatient, insufferable god would take the time to listen before he took actions that only made things decidedly worse. They were often partners in mischief, but supported one another only as long as it served their interests. Their friendship was as mercurial as the two themselves were in nature.

With an irritated hiss, she upended the water bowl, spilling the contents onto the tiled floor, but the action gave her no satisfaction. Just when things were falling into place, complications arose from unlikely places.

Indra & Vetty by Vetty (https://vettyart.tumblr.com/)


	18. Part XVII: The Power to Protect

* * *

**Part XVII: The Power to Protect**

* * *

Angelissa Caelum made her way to the Wings of Freedom tea shop that had become something of a second home to her. She felt a chill in her bones despite the pale rays of early dawn but marched determinedly onward seeking the comfort of that pleasantly-lit building full of the warmth of tea and baked-goods and the loving company of her two closest friends.

She needed that comfort now more than ever, it seemed. Despite her firm resolve to put everything related to Itachi behind her, to banish him from her thoughts, she knew she had dreamt of him the previous night. She could not remember what precisely had happened in her dream, not a thing he had said, or even the image of his face, but she knew he had been there by the feeling that engulfed her the next morning. She felt empty. Bereft, even, as she stared blankly at the ceiling trying in vain to summon the strength to lift her weary limbs from the bed. She felt as if she had just seen him, as if he had just slipped through her grasp and, despite having had a full night's sleep, felt exhausted down to her soul. It took longer than it should have for her mind to recall why she had put distance between herself and Itachi, and that there was no loss for her to mourn.

She didn't have work, courtesy of Cain's sick note, and could think of no better way to banish these senseless blues than to spend the morning with her best friend. If she got a slice of cake out of it, it could be considered an altogether successful morning, indeed.

The bell jingled as she pushed open the door to the tea shop and Levi, who stood alone at the counter, looked up from his book briefly to acknowledge her presence.

"Morning, Levi." Elissa called pleasantly.

His answer was a distracted nod. "Morning," he returned, reaching for his bookmark as he read on.

A quick glance across the empty shop revealed that the reason Elissa had made the trip so early in the morning was nowhere to be seen. "Where's Slayte?" she questioned.

"Supplies," was the one word answer as Levi scanned the bottom of the page, slowly lifting the bookmark. With a frown, clearly dissatisfied with the book's developments, he placed the bookmark between its pages and pressed it shut, laying it gently on the counter. He glanced at Elissa once more, then to the clock hanging on the wall, before turning to prepare their coffee machines for the day's customers. He didn't much like coffee, and felt somewhat insulted that customers would visit a tea shop and ask for coffee, but it was simply good business sense to supply what was in demand.

"You're early," he commented, pouring fresh coffee beans into the machine.

"Yeah," Elissa agreed, sidling into a bar stool at the counter, "I thought I'd hang out with you guys, since I don't have work at the moment." She hesitated before adding, "and I didn't sleep too well."

Levi's perceptive gaze passed over Elissa once more, noting the tension in her shoulders and the strain in her friendly smile. She always seemed to be wrapped up in trouble, these days, and Levi could not help but be concerned for her. Was Slayte's overprotectiveness rubbing off on him? He adjusted the settings on the coffee machines before moving to the display window, setting the baked goods in an artful arrangement.

"Something on your mind?" he asked, as his eye fell on a tray of blueberry muffins.

"Oh, nothing, really..." she trailed off, it was difficult to talk about it, even to Slayte, but Levi? She wouldn't even know where to begin. She blinked as a plate with a blueberry muffin was wordlessly set in front of her. Surprised, she turned toward Levi, but he had already returned to the coffee station.

"Iced latte, right?" he called over his shoulder, already setting to work on preparing her preferred drink. Her throat constricted at the uncharacteristic kindness.

"Yeah, thanks," she answered, touched. When he had set her caffeinated drink beside her muffin, he took the seat next to her and lifted his book, continuing his reading.

Elissa glanced at the cover as she peeled the paper lining from the muffin, "A Tale of Two Cities?" she questioned, "That's not exactly light reading, is it?"

"Slayte's recommendation," Levi answered absentmindedly, "Favorite book or something."

"Are you enjoying it?"

"It's alright," he answered, turning the page.

It had to be more than alright, seeing as he was three quarters of the way through and clearly engrossed in it.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…" Elissa quoted, feeling oddly like that was an accurate description of her life at the moment as well.

Levi looked up from the print to the young woman sitting beside him and, seeing the unhappy expression on her face, closed the book and reached for his tea instead. "Have you read it?"

"Yeah, mandatory school reading," she answered, taking a bite out of the muffin. _Delicious, as always,_ she thought to herself.

Levi gave Elissa a cursory glance. She seemed intently focused on her breakfast, as if she were trying to shut out all other thoughts.

"What's eating you?"

"Just… stuff. Lot going on lately." She frowned into her latte, "Actually, things I shouldn't even be thinking about anymore."

Levi leaned back and draped an arm casually over the backrest of his chair. "Whatever happened to your serial killer friend?" he asked, uncannily hitting the nail on the head.

Elissa glanced up at him, surprise written in her hazel eyes, "Slayte told you about that?"

"Some."

When Elissa didn't immediately answer, falling into silence instead, Levi pressed on. "You were both freaking out about him like the damn world was about to end and then - nothing. What happened?"

"Yeah, I decided to stop meeting him." Elissa answered with grim determination. "He… turns out Slayte was right about him. He's done some terrible things and I… I just can't…"

Levi lifted his tea to his lips and observed Elissa over the brim of his teacup. Hadn't Slayte herself just recently said the exact opposite? What had her words been? _"Guess I didn't know him as well as I thought…"_ Something wasn't adding up here.

"What do you mean, terrible things?"

"He…" Elissa glanced up at Levi, torn. She found it difficult to give voice to the words, but, seeing that her friend's grey eyes were absolutely devoid of judgment, she took a deep breath and pushed on. "Levi, he's…" Her voice faded to a low whisper, "He's _killed_ people."

"Can you imagine?" she carried on, emboldened by having finally said the words, "Sitting next to someone? Just talking casually with them, knowing they've actually _killed someone_ with… with those very hands?" There was a note of anguish in her voice and Levi said nothing as he glanced down at the countertop. Her iced latte rested next to his steaming black tea as they sat companionably beside one another. The irony of it all was not lost on him.

"These things aren't as easy as you're making them out to be."

Elissa could only gape at him as he took a long sip of his black tea. He met her eyes, and seeing her bewildered expression, continued, "Everyone dies, sooner or later. Sometimes people have a hand in it, whether they want to or not. Some people kill intentionally, some by accident... But people can't kill people and come away unscathed. It's a shitty situation no matter how you think about it."

"Levi…" Elissa countered in disbelief, "This is not the first time you're defending something that's unjustifiable."

He stared into his teacup, watching the tea leaves slowly sink to the murky depths, "It's the funny thing about death. The one it touches becomes a saint, and the one who deals it is a devil. But is that always true?"

Elissa felt a sharp retort at the tip of her tongue, but knew it was uncalled for. She couldn't explain why his words irked her so strongly, but they did. She sighed, restraining herself. "Let's just agree to disagree on this."

Elissa's expression was closed off, and Levi relented. "How do you know he's what Slayte says he is?" he asked, instead.

Elissa drained the last of her latte, the coffee bitterer than she remembered, and answered, "Because he said so himself. 'Duty-bound to end lives.'" She shuddered at the memory, at having spoken those words from her own tongue.

"Why didn't he lie to you?" Levi raised a curious brow.

"What? Why should he lie?"

"Would have been the smart thing to do. He didn't have to tell you the truth."

"But- but that would have been _wrong."_

Levi gave her a stern look, "You think a guy who kills people cares about what's wrong?"

Elissa floundered, realizing that he was calling her out on her double standards, and threw her hands into the air in exasperation, "You don't even know him, Levi! Why are you defending him?"

Levi was unmoved. "I know you. And I know you're not happy."

She sighed, and stared glumly into her empty glass. "Look… that guy wasn't a good person. I… was in over my head. In contrast, _Cain_ is…"

Levi rolled his eyes, "Dr. Jekyll, god forbid we forget about him for two minutes."

"Yes, _Cain_ ," Elissa repeated indignantly, "He's smart, he's funny, he's a doctor _saving_ lives, not taking them. He makes so much more sense. It's obviously the right direction to go in."

Levi regarded Elissa evenly, before answering with a sigh, "Who's to say? No one can really tell you what the right thing to do is. I certainly can't. No matter what kind of wisdom tells you what choice to make, you won't really know if it was right or wrong until you arrive at some sort of outcome from that choice." Levi's expression was resigned, his words soft-spoken and weary. Draining his tea, he set the empty teacup on its saucer and turned to meet her eye, "Just make the choice that you will regret the least." He reached out and ruffled her hair, his stoic expression unchanging.

"Ew, gross, Levi, stop." Elissa protested, rearranging her carefully styled hair. "But thanks."

"Isn't Slayte taking an awful long time?" she added suddenly, catching sight of the wall clock. As if on cue, Levi's cell phone chimed, notifying them of an incoming message.

"Is that Slayte? Is she almost here?" Elissa asked, leaning over to see better, as Levi unlocked his phone.

Slayte - [07:15 AM]

_Hey, Love! I'm running late, someone snatched up the last of the ginger from right under my nose. I'm heading a little further into town to get it._

"Oohh," Elissa teased, "I didn't know she calls you that."

Levi stared blankly at the phone. Neither, apparently, did he. The word had been something of a taboo between them. They skirted around the word itself, and, by extension, the associated phrase. On his side, because the expression made him deeply uncomfortable and on Slayte's side… most likely she avoided saying the words outright out of consideration for him. Staring at the four letter word now glaring up at him from his screen however, he failed to comprehend how such a simple word could both take his breath away and make him feel sick to his stomach.

A second chime sounded just as another message from Slayte appeared.

Slayte - (07:16 AM]

_Hey, Levi* Sorry, stupid autocorrect._

Which made him more uneasy? The unprecedented term of endearment or its hasty withdrawal? Shaking off such useless thoughts, he typed out a quick reply.

" _Oi. Forget the ginger. Just come home."_

Slayte - [07:18 AM]

_Like hell we're going to take our herbal teas off the menu just because some asshole couldn't wait his shitty turn. Give me 15 minutes._

Elissa and Levi glanced at the wall clock in unison, and Levi, knowing Slayte's complete inability to accurately estimate any length of time, concluded it would be closer to half an hour before she returned.

"She's not going to make it back in time," he muttered, rising and taking their dishes with him. He pulled out freshly baked bread and some vegetables to prepare sandwiches "to-go" for customers who would be stopping in on their morning commutes to work. It was a task that usually fell to Slayte, but she clearly prioritized the stupid ginger this morning.

Elissa rolled up her sleeves and followed Levi into the kitchen. "Anything I can do to help?"

Levi swept a glance her way before tossing over a tomato without warning. "Slice these up." Pulling out a chopping board, he added, " _Thinly,_ if you can."

As he passed Elissa, he noted with approval the confident way she handled the knife and that the tomato slices were thin and even.

"You know what's funny?" Elissa said suddenly, as Levi began delicately putting the sandwiches together. He didn't answer, knowing she would continue unprompted.

"Slayte talks just like you, when she's upset." She smiled to herself, " _Couldn't wait his shitty turn._ "

Having finished with the tomatoes, she turned to rinse off the board and knife. "Was she always like that or have you been rubbing off on her?"

"Yeah," Levi acknowledged, "She picked up a lot of things from me." He arranged the sandwiches on the tray, cocking his head to the side to make sure they were aesthetically pleasing from every angle.

His mind wandered back to their first meeting, to the Slayte from five years ago. "Should have heard how she used to talk," he added dimly, "Like she was on some kind of third-rate stage play. All the damn time."

Elissa's eyes widened and she stilled in her movements as Levi's words dawned on her. The water poured from the faucet into the empty sink as Elissa recalled someone _else_ whose manner of speaking could have been described much the same way.

"Oi." Levi snapped, "Stop wasting water."

"Right." Elissa amended, shutting off the faucet, "Sorry."

She wiped her hands on a nearby dishcloth and followed Levi back into the tea shop where he set the sandwiches on display.

"So, I don't think I've ever heard the story of how you guys met before. Ever since I've known Slayte, you and the tea shop were always part of her life."

Levi raised a brow at Elissa, defensive, as he was in all matters related to Slayte. "Why does it matter?"

"Just curious," Elissa shrugged.

Satisfied with the wares on display he slid the glass doors shut and sighed. "It was around October, with the shittiest weather we'd had in a while. Just pouring cats and dogs. I came back from a grocery trip and there she was, looking like a drowned cat, standing outside the tea shop." He fell silent, adding to himself, _'Almost like she was waiting for me.'_

"That's how you met?" Elissa was genuinely curious and found the story surprisingly sweet for two such seemingly cold people, "And then you brought her home? Got her number? Invited her in for tea? What happened?"

Levi snorted at the thought. Slayte had been nowhere near that normal. "I offered her a job," he said pointedly, "And gave her a place to stay. Life isn't a rom-com, Elissa."

"You let her stay at your tea shop? Even though you just met her?" Elissa blinked at him, "That's so … nice. And out of character, for you."

"She didn't have anywhere to go," Levi countered dismissively, "What was I supposed to do?"

"But that's not your problem." Elissa returned, and she was right. What had driven him to take Slayte in when he had seen how lost and helpless she was? Her posture had been determined and her expression arrogant, even as she trembled, even as despair lurked in her eyes. She had reminded him too much of himself in a not-so-distant past.

"Who knows? I wanted to take her in, so I did." He dismissed the topic and leaned back against the service counter, crossing his arms.

Elissa found that oddly romantic, in its own way. So it had been something of a love at first sight, even if Levi failed to see it.

"But what about before that?" she pressed on, curious, "Why was she standing there? Where did she come from?"

Levi remained silent, asking himself the same questions.

"Haven't you guys ever talked about it?" Elissa asked, seeing the expression on his face.

"Didn't feel the need," Levi returned, "If she wants to talk about it, she will. And if she doesn't, why should I bother her about it? Not like it makes a difference." Then, as an afterthought, he added, "Has she ever told _you_ where she's from?"

Elissa shook her head no. For all the many nights they had stayed up laughing and chatting away, they had never truly spoken on Slayte's past or her origins. Slayte had countered with questions on Elissa's past instead and had always been eager and excited to listen. The two of them fell silent, reflecting on the secretive nature of their mutual friend when the tinkling of a bell signaled Slayte's entrance.

"I'm back!" she called, bursting through the front door, her arms laden with two large parchment bags full of groceries. She shut the door behind her with her foot, and blew a stray strand of black hair out of her face as she made her way to the counter. Levi glanced at the wall clock. Twenty-five minutes had elapsed since she had asked for fifteen.

"Oi. You're late."

"I know, I'm sorry," she apologized, setting the bags down. She turned to Levi to make further explanations when her eye caught on the person standing just behind him.

"Elissa!" she squealed in excitement, sprinting to the other side of the counter to catch her friend in a firm embrace. "What brings you here so early?"

"Just thought I'd drop by," Elissa smiled back.

"If I had known I wouldn't have gone shopping," Slayte moaned in regret, "Poor you, stuck with no one but this old man for company the whole time. I know how it feels."

"Hey," Levi cut in, but just at that moment the bell signaled the entrance of a customer. He shot her a look, but turned to the counter to take the order.

Slayte giggled to herself before turning to Elissa. "Can I get you anything to eat?"

"Oh, I just ate. Blueberry muffins. The best." She smiled at Slayte reassuringly.

Slayte's company was refreshing and easy after the serious conversations she had just had with Levi. She listened to her friend chatter away about the audacity of the man who had taken the ginger nearly out of her hands with a small smile. Slayte was intense in her emotions, lovable in her quirks, and… mysterious. Why had Elissa never noticed it before? She wasn't like any of Elissa's other friends. She was… odd. Different. Like a piece of a puzzle that didn't quite fit where it had been forced into the image.

The things Levi had said set the gears of Elissa's mind turning. Suddenly, she saw the unsettling similarity between Itachi, Shisui, and Slayte. Their secretive ways, their odd manners of speaking, their guarded, veiled dialogue… even their appearances. How much like Itachi was Slayte, truly? Where had she come from, what else did she know?

The front doorbell rang and they looked up to see Cain swagger in, his gait unhurried and relaxed, as if he possessed all the time in the world. Slayte noted, in distaste, how Elissa's face lit up as soon as her eyes fell on the young doctor, and felt a pang of irritation. What was he doing here at this hour? Didn't he have a job? Hadn't she and Levi already made it obvious enough that they didn't like him? Evidently, he didn't care. She knew all too well who he had visited to see.

"Cain," Elissa smiled. "Hey. What're you doing here?"

"I took the day off," he replied smoothly. "Perks of working out of contract. So I decided to stop by my favourite tea-shop."

Slayte regarded him with suspicion. He had signed Elissa off work for a week - and chosen to take time off himself? If that didn't scream slimy and obvious, she didn't know what else did.

Levi shot him a disparaging glance at what he knew to be an insincere compliment, thoroughly unimpressed with his custom, but said nothing to that as he wiped over the work-top, mindful of the other customers who were seated at their tables.

"I'm glad you did," Elissa said. "Levi and Slayte have an end of week special going. You have to try the omelette. Oh, and the pistachio cake. Both are delicious."

"How intriguing," Cain sauntered over to the counter to inspect the limited edition items on display.

"Elissa," Slayte called to her friend, gesturing to the bags she had set down. "Help me unpack these supplies?"

"Sure," Elissa agreed, and the two girls disappeared into the kitchen.

"I'll take the omelette and a slice of that cake, with a Cortado coffee," Cain nodded to Levi, taking out his wallet to pay. As Levi took the transaction and turned to see to his order, Cain leaned an elbow casually against the counter, and began conversationally, "So. How long have you had this tea-shop for?"

"Long enough," Levi answered evasively, not particularly wishing to engage in conversation with Cain.

"And, it's yours? Or hers?" The doctor went on.

Levi paused at the coffee machine. What was it to Cain? He was nosy and irritating. "Ours," he answered pointedly, as he set about preparing the drink.

"Ah, a joint business venture," Cain remarked. "I had a friend who started a business with his significant other. It was all peachy - until they broke up. I heard the legal proceedings then became really unpleasant. I hope you and your Slayte don't ever get caught out like my friend did. She ended up having to leave when they broke up, and took absolutely none of the share of-"

Levi, who had turned back to retrieve a tray, slammed it down on the counter in front of Cain, causing the doctor to blink in surprise. He then lifted stormy eyes to meet Cain's, and there was an open, warning look within them, and a dangerous edge to his voice when he next spoke.

"We're not breaking up," he said, his voice quiet, every word laced with heavy intent. "And even if anything _were_ to happen, why should she go anywhere? If anyone's going, I'll go. She can have the fucking tea shop. Now shut your goddamned mouth or I'll throw you out."

Cain held up his hands defensively. "I didn't mean any disrespect. I was just saying-"

"Are you deaf?" Levi snapped, glaring at him. "I said shut your mouth. Why's it still moving?"

"Alright. Alright. I'm sorry for the offence. I'll stop."

"Like hell you are," Levi muttered beneath his breath, as he finished preparing the order and placed the items onto the plates on the tray. He pushed the tray disgustedly toward Cain, before turning his attention onto the customer who had just joined the queue behind him. But his mood had soured significantly at the mere idea of splitting up with Slayte. Not having her annoying, dramatic self around? He'd sooner abandon the shop himself, than spend all his days alone in it.

His eyes shifted to his girlfriend as she exited the kitchen, laughing with Elissa about something, and a fierce resolve and possessiveness gripped him. No. They weren't breaking up. He would never throw in the towel so easily, not when they'd made it as far as they had, and not when he'd taken such pains to be so patient and understanding with her. Cain was clearly a fool who didn't know the slightest thing about relationships. He didn't understand how well Slayte and Levi worked together. But a troubling thought suddenly entered his mind, one he had never really stopped to consider before. What if Slayte one day _wanted_ to leave?

Irked, Levi turned his gaze back to the tea he was preparing, but the thought remained lodged in his mind for the remainder of the day.

* * *

Nyx set the jeweled hair-brush down upon the vanity table and stared at her reflection in the ornately framed mirror. She saw a lovely face wrought with worry, betraying the inner turbulence of her troubled thoughts. Alone in the privacy of her chambers, she could let down her guard for a time, could breathe, could afford to be herself without having to masquerade as the righteous, honourable Queen to everyone around her.

It was exhausting, pretending to be everything she knew she wasn't. Her honour had been corrupted long ago. And yet she had become so adept at charading others, that sometimes she had come frighteningly close to fooling even _herself._

Her mind turned anxiously. Not much time remained until Cronus would return from his trip to Olympus. She had discovered nothing else over the days of their separation, and knew that he would ask her of her progress, expecting news upon his return. She couldn't meet him without any new knowledge to offer. The very thought filled her with trepidation over the prospect of risking his displeasure. She had to contain his chaos. Not encourage his anger.

Nyx rose from her seat and paced restlessly about the lavishly-furnished room. Vetty still would not respond to her calls. What other options did she have left? Could she slip to the surface herself, unnoticed? For an hour, at least? If she selected a time when she knew all her kin were occupied, it was possible for her departure to go unawares.

But head to the surface and do what, exactly? At the very minimum, she could locate Vetty, and discover why the feline had spurned her summons so often. Or-

Another idea presented itself to Nyx. A way to speed up proceedings, which would surely please Cronus greatly. She could use her abilities to track the girl Vetty had marked with a blood-contract. She could find out if she was indeed special, and the Child of Prophecy - or if she were nothing but another useless mortal. If the latter, then Nyx needed to act quickly to move onto the next. Time was of the essence. Itachi grew ever more isolated and she could not bear to watch his burdens intensify any longer.

She wished, more than anything, for the Underworld to be ruled by one just and fair, who imposed wisdom and respect - not fear. Her firstborn was the answer - but he could not rule without securing the Child of Prophecy's powers.

She nodded resolutely to herself, her mind made up. She would go to the surface, and she would see the girl with her own eyes.

* * *

Elissa returned to the tea-shop later that evening. To Slayte's great relief, Cain was nowhere to be found. Elissa informed her that he'd received a call and had had to cut their day exploring town short in order to meet up with one of his colleagues to discuss a complex medical case they'd be treating in his next shift. Elissa had suggested getting some ice-cream and a walk to the park. Slayte, eager to spend time with her friend, helped Levi shut up shop before stepping outside with Elissa.

They purchased some ice-cream from a nearby ice-cream parlour, and then, chatting away, made their way over to the fields, deciding to head toward the swings in the play-area to talk. The route to the swings took them past the river, and Elissa tried not to think about the last time she'd visited it. Despite herself, her eyes still shifted to regard the familiar trail. She felt a pang of dissatisfaction within her chest, and promptly snuffed it out. She hadn't been the one in the wrong. She'd made the right decision in avoiding it.

A few children still lingered in the play-area, but as the sun had started its slow descent in the sky, even the stragglers soon left, leaving Slayte and Elissa to enjoy the space alone. They settled onto the swings, surrounded by bushes and trees, and ate their ice-cream, content in each other's company as they swayed leisurely back and forth in their seats.

"Have you worked any more on your story?" Slayte questioned, taking a bite of her cookies and cream flavoured treat.

Elissa sighed. "Not really…" she confessed, through a mouthful of pistachio ice-cream.

"How come?"

"I don't know," Elissa shrugged, turning her eyes up to the sky. The sun had started to set with the first tinges of soft pink appearing in the horizon. "I just haven't been feeling it."

"You were so fired up lately, though," Slayte tilted her head.

"I know. Maybe I just need some time out to get my inspiration back."

"Well, can I help? Did you want any more information about the Underworld?" Slayte offered.

"No, I'm good for now. I'll try and pick it up again in a few days," Elissa replied, then cast a sidelong look at her friend. She recalled her conversation with Levi earlier that day. How they'd both come to the realisation that they didn't know much about Slayte's past at all. Where Levi chose to give his girlfriend privacy, Elissa couldn't help but feel a nagging doubt in her mind over her best friend's origins. Surely Slayte could share it with her at least, if she didn't feel like she could elaborate with Levi? Maybe she felt she couldn't tell him, because of the crush she'd had on Itachi in the past?

Finishing off her ice-cream, she resolved to talk to her about it. They were best friends. She had a right to ask, didn't she?

"Hey, Slayte…" she began, twisting to face her friend so that her legs straddled either side of the swing seat. "When we first met, you said you were from Essex. But you don't have the accent." She gripped onto the chain that held the swing seat suspended from its frame. "Where are you from, really? I mean, originally? Your family?"

Slayte swallowed down the last piece of biscuit cone, her heart skipping within her chest. The conversation had been sprung upon her so suddenly, and she recognised that look in Elissa's eyes. A look that communicated that she wanted answers.

"What makes you ask all of a sudden?" she tried to keep her tone casual, unaffected, even as a sense of anxiety trickled through her.

"You said you served in Itachi's household, right?" Elissa regarded her like she was a puzzle she was absolutely determined to piece together. "Well, he told me that he's originally from Greece. That's how he knows the language. He told me he relocated here - so did you work for his family back in Greece? Is that how you know so much about mythology and Greek names for things, too? Because I always thought you learnt about it from your college days?"

Slayte's mind raced. She was surprised to hear that Thanatos had shared such information with her friend. It was as close to the truth as she supposed he had been able to get.

"Levi told me when he first met you, you spoke completely differently. Like you were an actress who performed in some old archaic play. That's… that kind of formal language is how Itachi and Shisui speak, too, so…" Elissa's voice trailed off. She didn't need to finish her words. The implications were already loud and clear.

She had two options; either to pretend not to know a thing about it, or to accept it. Given that Elissa had already been told of Itachi's land of origin, Slayte supposed it was useless to deny it, not unless she wished to dig an even deeper hole for herself. She didn't want to mislead her best friend. She wanted to be as honest as possible - provided that it was safe for her to do so.

"Slayte," Elissa entreated. "We're best friends. I don't want you to feel like you can't be fully open with me."

Slayte searched her friend's warm hazel eyes for a moment - then made up her mind.

"Yeah," she answered. "It _was_ back in Greece."

"So why didn't you ever just tell us that?" Elissa questioned gently. She'd already had her suspicions, of course, ever since Slayte had started helping her on her project. But she'd always brushed off any questions about how she knew so much about the lore and language, stating that she'd 'read' into it a lot.

"I-" Slayte turned her eyes up to the sky, and took a deep breath. "I'm not proud of my roots," she replied sincerely. "I was born into servitude, like I told you."

"You mean your entire family were servants for his household, too?" Elissa listened closely, eager to understand.

"Something like that," Slayte clasped her hands in her lap uncomfortably.

"And you said you had no brothers or sisters?" Elissa pressed.

"No," Slayte shook her head. "None."

"And your parents? You never talk about them, either…?"

Slayte shook her head. Parents? What could she possibly say to that? "I've been alone from a young age," she chose her words carefully. "No parents around."

"I'm sorry," Elissa said apologetically. "I didn't know you were an orphan."

"I was raised to serve that household," Slayte clarified.

"Did they treat you unkindly? Is that the real reason why you left?"

Slayte was silent for a long moment. The deity she had served had belonged to a noble and prestigious royal family. Had they treated her badly? No. She had left because she'd become tired of being invisible. Of having no purpose in life other than being shackled to a duty she'd had no say in bearing. Every single day had been monotonous. She hadn't felt alive, like she did now with Elissa and Levi, thriving in the mortal realm.

"No," she answered quietly. "I left because I didn't want to be a servant any more. I didn't want to be in an environment where I was invisible to my superiors, where my only value was in the job I did. I... wanted to live my own life, to make my own decisions."

"I get that," Elissa emphasised. She'd moved away from her home for the similar reasons. "And that's why you left."

"Yeah. I ran away. And I was afraid that if I ever said anything, or told anyone, they'd find me and force me to go back. I didn't want to go back. So I just kept it all to myself..."

"You mean nobody can ever leave if they serve in that household?" Elissa's eyes widened in alarm. It sounded like a shady cult, and certainly aligned with the warning Slayte had given to her about Itachi belonging to a dangerous background.

"Not the way I did. They're a wealthy family and it… I guess it harms their reputation, if people just go missing and run away?"

Elissa nodded in understanding. "What was this family's name, anyway?"

Slayte hesitated. Could she tell Elissa the name of that exalted Underworld clan? She supposed it would do no harm. She already knew Thanatos' true name, and it wasn't like there was any danger of her ever discovering anything more about the Underworld if she chose to look the name up. It was just a name.

"They're called the Uchiha," she disclosed, murmuring it as if wary that she would somehow be overheard sharing a scandalous secret.

"Uchiha," Elissa repeated. Was that Itachi's full name? _Itachi Uchiha_ . It seemed to fit him, somehow. It sounded affluent, almost regal. It sounded _right_. If she ran a search on him, would she be able to find anything out about him online, she wondered? She stored the name and thought in her mind for later, turning her full attention back to Slayte, who was looking woefully down at her hands.

"I didn't tell you and Levi because my past isn't something I like to remember. It makes me uncomfortable to talk about. I wanted to turn a new page for myself, and so I escaped and I did. I had to remove myself from that dark environment. From what they were involved in."

She read the concerned look in Elissa's eyes, and anticipated her unspoken question. "I'm sorry, Elissa. I can't talk any more about them. It's for your own safety, but also, I got lucky that Tha- _Thane_ didn't recognise me, or choose to take me back. I don't want to draw any more attention to myself, and the less you guys know about that family, the better. Can you just trust me on that?"

"Okay…" Elissa relented, though Slayte could see the reluctance in her gaze. "So long as they're not some threat to your happiness."

"They aren't. They're in the past," Slayte assured her. "But I don't want to talk about it in detail. I don't like to remember things that made me feel…" she paused, as if searching for the right word, before finishing, "worthless."

Elissa reached out to her, covering her hands with one of her own. "Hey. You're _not_ worthless. Our pasts don't define us, right? I knew you had to have a good reason for not sharing it all. I'm sorry that you felt you couldn't tell us, though. I think you did a very brave thing, coming all this way on your own to start out fresh."

"Thanks," Slayte offered her a watery smile.

"And I'm glad you did," Elissa added. "I'm glad we met. I can't imagine my life without your weirdness in it."

"Really?" Slayte felt tears sting her eyes. "You mean that? I know I can be so unbearable-"

"Yeah," Elissa laughed. "You can, that's true." She then caught sight of the look Slayte gave her. Oddly emotional, as if her throat was clogging up. "Hey?" She peered at her in concern. "What's wrong? You look so sad all of a sudden?"

Slayte shook her head. "Sorry. I just... sometimes, I can't believe I got so lucky. With Levi. With you… you two mean everything to me. Everything."

"Oh, geeze…" Elissa smiled at her fondly. "You're such a sappy mess, you know that?"

"I know, and you guys just accept me for it, despite everything. Sometimes I just think it's too good to be true. Like, if I blink, you might just vanish, and I'll lose you."

Elissa blinked at her in surprise. "Huh? Why?"

Slayte regarded her. Elissa was like a bird at the peak of its youth, eager to spread her wings and fly. Slayte wanted to be the safety net that caught her in case she ever plummeted from that sky. But how could she communicate that to her best friend, without sounding crazy and weird?

She shrugged lamely in response. "I guess I worry and overthink things," she offered a sheepish smile, even as her eyes blurred with tears.

"Just a bit...?" Elissa teased, but her eyebrows drew together upon witnessing her friend's strange sadness. She leaned over to wrap her arms around her comfortingly. "Oh, Slayte," she mumbled. "You're so over-dramatic. I'm not going anywhere."

Slayte slipped her arms around her friend and hugged her tightly back, praying to whichever higher power that cared to listen, that this time, Elissa was right.

* * *

Nyx's eyes widened at the sight of the two young women who were embracing on the swings. One forged of shadows, the other marked by them. At last, she had tracked the girl down. Her gaze completely bypassed the dark-haired Underworld nymph that kept company with the mortal as they pulled away from one another, too overcome by the realisation that she was finally looking upon the human girl with whom Vetty had forged a blood-contract.

She caught her breath. The young mortal was slender and small-boned in build. She possessed a warm-ivory complexion and beautiful long hair that tumbled around her oval-shaped face in soft waves. The silky tresses appeared a golden mid-brown in hue under the waning sun's light. Her bright hazel irises sparkled with vibrancy and life even at the distance from which Nyx stood. She possessed sweet features; large, enchanting eyes, a small nose, rosy lips and a smile that was both warming and endearing.

Nyx felt her heart quicken. Was this the one she had been searching a millenia for? The answer to all of her prayers and deepest wishes? The one who would end her son's solitary existence and loneliness? Could it truly be her? She dared to hope. The girl was young; Nyx gauged her to be not much older than one and twenty at most, but was certainly pretty enough to warrant a second glance at the very least, surely? Perhaps she could even be considered a beauty, by mortal standards?

Did her first-born find this one pleasing to look upon, she wondered? Was that playful, dimpled smile truly capable of ensnaring the heavily-guarded, gentle heart of the stoic God of Death himself?

What was the girl like? Was she kind? Was she patient? Was she vain? Was she selfish? Was she shallow and spoiled?

Looking upon her beaming face, Nyx instinctively knew that she could not possibly be anything other than good.

What had been the nature of her interactions with Itachi? How much and how often had they spoken? Why had Vetty kept her hidden from Nyx? And why was this girl in the presence of a nymph belonging to their world? Nyx knew nothing. The lack of knowing frustrated her.

"Elissa!" The nymph exclaimed. "It's not like that at all!"

Elissa? Was that the lovely little creature's name? Nyx shook her head, feeling desperate, hungry to know more. She wanted to speak with her. But the girl wasn't alone. And there was really only one way available to her right then, to find out if she truly _was_ the Child of Prophecy.

Nyx whispered her command into the air, and melted back into the shadows to watch.

* * *

The sun had almost completely set, allowing night to close in on the sky. Elissa glanced down at her phone, finding that it was half past nine already.

"We'd better head back," she suggested to her best friend. "Levi'll be wondering where you are."

Slayte smiled faintly. Her boyfriend knew better than to question how long she would be when she went out with Elissa. As Elissa got off her swing and turned away, something caught the corner of Slayte's field of vision, prompting all amusement to rapidly fade from her lips. She turned her head toward the bushes, wondering if she'd imagined it - only for her eyes to pick up the faint remnants of a rippling aura she had never expected to ever encounter on the surface. Her gaze widened, and immediately her blood turned to ice as the implications of what that had to mean hit her full force.

Something was there. Something lingered within those shadows. Something was watching them.

She knew, categorically, that whatever it was, was there for Elissa. She felt it in her bones. Her instinct was screaming it at her, that at last, something was about to show itself.

Elissa, whose phone had just rang, was talking into her cell, oblivious to what Slayte's eyes had spied in the dimness around them.

"Hi, Cain. How was your meeting?" Her friend began conversationally. "That's good. I'm just at the park with Slayte. We're about to head home."

Slayte stayed rooted in place, staring hard at the bushes, her heart pounding sickeningly in her chest. Her eyes darted back to Elissa, who glanced back behind her questioningly.

"Slayte? You coming?"

Slayte swallowed. "You go on ahead," she urged with a tight smile, trying to keep her voice as calm and casual as possible. "I'll be right behind you. Just… want a few minutes to admire the sky some more. I'll catch up to you, okay?"

Elissa gave her an odd look, then shrugged, and continued to walk away, chatting animatedly to Cain about what other cool places she could show him when they next went to town.

As Slayte watched her best friend drift beyond ear-shot, a fierce wave of over-protectiveness washed over her. Whatever it was, whatever came out of those bushes, she wouldn't let it harm a single hair on Elissa's head.

The rippling in the air intensified and out of a swirling portal of darkness slunk four, feral-looking creatures with bright golden eyes. They possessed the heads and upper torsos of wild-haired women and the feathered bodies of birds beneath the waist. The tips of their clawed hands and feet were razor-sharp, curved talons that could easily slice through flesh and puncture bone. Hissing as they crawled onto the ground, they eyed Slayte with open malice.

Harpies, Slayte instantly recognised, and immediately drew from the source of power Thanatos had lended to her, summoning dark shadows into being along the length of her arm. She inwardly berated herself for not taking the time to practice wielding the element better; she had admittedly not expected for a threat to make itself apparent so soon after Thanatos had entrusted her with her newfound abilities.

Shadows pulsed along her arm as the monsters launched themselves into the air with a mighty flap of their wings. They circled her, before one of them shot outward, heading in the direction that Elissa had walked away in. Slayte's heart lurched in her chest, eyes darting to her friend's retreating form, too far away now for her to turn back and see clearly what was going on in the play-area behind her. She lifted her arm and commanded the shadows to assault the harpy, drawing on a huge, uncontrolled surge of power that shot out as a swarming, unrefined mass of darkness. It slammed into the harpy, tearing at her feathers, causing her to release a piercing, angry shriek. She batted her wings furiously, attempting to shake off the shades. They dissipated quickly, weak and uncontrolled.

Slayte threw herself aside as another of the monsters dove down toward her, and drew her arm back, channelling another wave of elemental energy that took the form of a clumsily-prepared shield around her. An attacking harpy's claws slammed into it, causing the unsturdy barrier to quiver and dissolve upon contact, leaving her open to danger once more.

Slayte gasped, frustrated, her command of Thanatos's element faltering for a moment, unfamiliar with how to strengthen and fortify her defense - when she recalled the dark sword she had formed on the rooftop, and it suddenly occurred to her that she could fashion anything her mind willed from the shades. She had only to envisage what it was she wished to bring into being - yes! That was it! She just needed to concentrate, and stop panic attacking with no clear sense of aim or direction.

She glanced down at her arm and focused intently, watching as a slender, rippling black blade formed at her command. She pumped wave after wave of rolling dark mist into it. The wisps joined together, fusing to create a sturdy, solid weapon which she immediately slashed at a descending harpy, catching her across the chest. The monster screamed and retreated back into the air.

"You won't touch her!" Slayte screamed, holding up her free hand to summon freezing chains of darkness which flew upwards, winding around another of the monsters that had hastily pulled away from her sisters in a renewed attempt to fly after Elissa. Yanking on the chains with all her might, Slayte hauled the creature backwards down to her, and wedged her blade ruthlessly straight through the harpy's back. The harpy wailed, writhing - before bursting into shadows, as if Slayte's blade had sucked the very life from her.

There was no time for exhilaration over her first kill. Slayte side-stepped to avoid the shredding talons of another harpy, sending the chains whipping outward to strike the next. The creatures zig-zagged to avoid her attack, circling viciously above her. Slayte flung the chains up and lassoed them above her head, warding the monsters back. When another harpy ducked to evade and a second followed suit to fly off toward the fields after their mortal target, Slayte gave chase, running after them, discarding the sword and chains which vanished into plumes of black smoke into the air. She lifted both palms, envisaging a cage, and sure enough black bars surrounded the harpies in aerial flight.

But Slayte's control wasn't perfect, and she didn't have the skill-level required to complete a larger creation. The rods instead shot down toward the creatures, impaling them in their wings. One of the harpies screeched and plummeted from the sky. Slayte dashed toward it, a sword materialising at her hand again, and wasted no time in stabbing her through the chest.

Another harpy was down. Only two remained. Panting with exertion, she chased after the second monster that had managed to evade the black rods, lifting her hand once more to summon a swarm of black mist to blind the creature in flight.

Pain exploded in her left shoulder-blade when she felt sharp claws scratch against her flesh, drawing blood. She released a cry and reacted instinctively, spinning to drive her blade angrily upwards into the underbelly of the winged woman that hovered above her. The harpy hissed and her talons fell away, but the damage had already been done. Slayte sagged, gasping for air. The injury to her back felt like it was on fire.

She dimly heard her phone ringing. Elissa, she was certain, calling to find out just what had become of her. Her heart pounded fearfully, her stomach knotting with dread. If Elissa decided to walk back over the fields, she would surely see these creatures, and there was no way Slayte could allow that. She had to protect her at all costs.

Fiery resolve gave her the strength to ignore the throbbing, burning pain in her shoulder and she hurtled the sword into the air. It clipped another harpy's wing, causing the monster to wobble precariously. Slayte had no time to waste. She dashed forward and fashioned twin chains that shot out toward her target. The harpy evaded the first few attempts, but was then ensnared and yanked down to the ground. Slayte slashed at her neck, and the creature hadn't even finished dissolving into a plume of smoke when she turned desperate eyes onto the last one left.

The harpy shrieked, enraged at the fall of her sisters, and swooped down at her with epic speed. Slayte was knocked bodily backwards by the force of the attack as the harpy collided into her like a bullet, sending her sprawling onto her back. Blinking in a daze, she looked up, heart leaping into her throat, as the harpy descended upon her, eyes blazing, the epitome of demonic rage. Slayte dragged out as much power as she could from the arm-cuff, and succeeded in forming a barrier at the final moment. The harpy's claws crashed through it, but it brought Slayte just enough time to roll out of harm's way.

The hissing creature shook her legs, trying to free her talons from where they were embedded into the shield. Slayte used the moment of distraction to forge a spear which she threw at the winged-woman with all her strength. It clipped the monster's shoulder, and as she fell into descent, Slayte was waiting with another spear that she jabbed up and into the monster's belly. The harpy's mouth opened in a silent scream - before she exploded into black smoke.

Slayte collapsed to her knees on the floor, shaking violently, her air-starved lungs heaving to restore her supply of depleted oxygen. Her entire body had broken out into a cold sweat, as adrenaline surged through her veins. She blinked numbly into the darkness, the realisation of what had just happened - and what she had just succeeded in doing - hitting her full force.

Her phone rang incessantly. When she had finally caught her breath enough to form a coherent sentence, Slayte lifted the cell to her ear, and took Elissa's call.

" _Slayte! What the hell are you doing?! I'm almost back at the tea-shop and I've been waiting for you for ages!"_ She admonished. _"Where are you? I called you like ten times already!"_

"Sorry, Elissa," Slayte breathed. "I didn't hear it."

" _What? Well what're you doing? I was starting to worry and almost called Levi. He would've killed me if I told him you disappeared on me!"_

Slayte felt her heart constrict with love at Elissa's displeased voice. Tears blurred her eyes. She'd done it. She'd protected her dear friend - thanks to Thanatos and the invaluable ability he had given her to wield his powerful element.

"I'm sorry I made you worry," she answered, biting back a hiss of pain as she dragged herself up to her feet. "I'll be right there."

As a grumbling Elissa hung up, a wincing Slayte shrugged on the jacket she'd left on the swing to hide the wound at her shoulder. It hurt. It hurt _a lot_. She needed to tend to it as quickly as possible once she returned home - preferably without Levi realising. A frown settled over her features. There was no way she could feasibly explain the injury, and so she had no choice but to try to keep it hidden until it healed. She'd flush all bloodied dressings down the toilet, she told herself, and stash her stained clothing in the trash once Levi went up to bed.

Trying to smooth down her appearance as much as possible, she exited the play-area at last.

* * *

Nyx watched from the darkness, cloaked in her element of night, invisible to all watching eyes. The harpies had failed in their attempt to acquire the girl. Displeasure and concern painted itself upon her lovely features. She had been so close to finding out what she had needed to know. But she had not discovered whether the child was indeed the Chosen One. Instead she had unexpectedly been foiled by a meddling nymph.

How was it possible that a lowly Lampad possessed the esteemed power to wield shadows as she had? How did she command enough power at her fingertips to take down the very savage creatures Nyx had summoned? She watched, bewildered and displeased, as the nymph walked away.

She couldn't afford to spend any more time on the surface without her absence being noted. Nyx had no choice but to retreat, replan and share her newfound knowledge with Cronus upon his return.

Silently, she melted into the shadows to return to her dark Kingdom.

* * *

" _There_ you are," Elissa exclaimed, as Slayte finally joined her at the park entrance. "Did you fall asleep on the swings or something?"

"Sorry." Her friend replied sheepishly. "Guess I lost track of time. Hey," she suggested. "Let me walk you to your apartment?"

"Shouldn't you be heading straight to the shop?" Elissa gave her a look. "It's fine, really. I can walk with you there."

"No, it's okay. I've already texted Levi. I'll walk you back, and then head on home." Slayte insisted. The thought of leaving Elissa alone, when she had now witnessed for herself that something _was_ indeed commanding monsters to hunt her friend down, filled Slayte with an unspeakable sense of anxiety. She didn't want to leave her alone wherever she could help it. At least once she was back inside her apartment, she had Vetty with her.

Elissa shrugged in agreement. They began the short walk back toward her place. Slayte was grateful for the cover of nightfall, which made it harder for Elissa's mortal eyes to discern anything amiss about her somewhat more dishevelled appearance. All that was left to do was for her to get back home, jump straight into the shower before Levi could take a good look at her, and then clean her injury up. She listened to Elissa talk on, distracted by her worries. Harpies were creatures that were not free to roam the mortal world. The King of Olympus kept all monsters in check and away from harming humans. How, then, had four of them slipped free and been set upon Elissa?

Who was after her, and _why?_ Slayte thought about relaying the concerning development to Thanatos, but knew not how to communicate with him. Would he find her, instead? Should she wait? She hadn't thought to ask at the time, and in his infuriating enigmatic way, he hadn't deigned to offer an explanation or elaboration as to when or _how_ , exactly, he would contact her again. Perhaps he wouldn't? Perhaps leaving her with remnants of his powers had meant that he would have no further interaction with her, that he had no further intentions of dealing with anything pertaining to Elissa?

Troubled, she walked slowly on, hearing only fragments of what her best friend was saying. At length they arrived at Elissa's block, and Slayte turned to her, offering her a sincere, warm smile.

"Thanks for the ice-cream," she said.

"Anytime. I'll see you tomorrow." She stepped forward and gave Slayte a hug. "Have a goodnight."

It took all of Slayte's willpower to keep in the whimper of pain that threatened to escape her throat when Elissa's hands unknowingly brushed over her wound. She willed herself not to flinch or tense, and breathed out a slow, controlled breath as Elissa pulled back.

"Goodnight," she waved, and watched her best friend enter safely through the front door, before turning away and to begin her trek back to the tea-shop.

* * *

As Slayte made her way down the moonlit pavement, she was relieved to see the darkness in the tea shop windows. With any luck, Levi would be fast asleep. She could feel blood seeping into her jacket from her open wound and needed to tend to it as soon as possible. Her moist shirt clung to her skin all the way down her back and she couldn't be certain if blood or sweat was the cause. She hoped it was the latter. Blood would be harder to explain.

She slipped in through the side door to avoid the tinkling of the bell that might awaken Levi. He was ever the light sleeper, even more so when she wasn't around, and Slayte wasn't about to take any chances. She padded carefully across the polished, hardwood floors of the tea shop and up the stairs, as silent as her element. Snatching up the first aid kit and a change of clothes, she disappeared into the bathroom.

The raven-haired nymph carefully tugged off her clothing, wincing as the fabric brushed against her wounds and every movement only seemed to further agitate the injury. Mud, grass, and blood stained her clothes in more places than she cared to count, and she was grateful Elissa had not noticed it under the cover of darkness. She stepped into the shower and let the gentle spray of warm water wash away the blood and grime. Slayte did her best to keep her shoulder away from the pressure of the water, but nothing she did seemed to alleviate the pain.

At last, she stepped out of the shower, tugged on a loose pair of navy pajama shorts and a black racerback tank top. Her movements were slow and careful. With a sigh, she propped open the first aid kit on the bathroom counter and removed a roll of bandages. Twisting to get a better look at the wound, she winced as she saw the four jagged gashes running over the top of her left shoulder down across the shoulder blade - the middle two were even deeper than the outer two.

She felt slightly queasy at the sight of her own exposed flesh but bit her lip and set to work. Carefully unrolling the bandages, she attempted to wrap her shoulder but, working with one hand, was terribly clumsy and the result was unconvincing. Her wounds burned from her awkward movements. She had not been completely able to avoid using her left hand, and she suspected she had worsened the situation, only further tearing the wounds open with her efforts. She cursed under her breath in frustration.

Just then, the door handle turned and Slayte, realizing she had been fool enough to leave it unlocked, hastily tugged off the bandages - they had only been loosely wrapped to begin with - and stepped in front of the first aid kit to hide it from view. Levi pushed open the door, a characteristic frown on his face as he leaned against the doorframe.

"Oi, were you planning on sleeping in the bathroom tonight? What are you doing in here?"

"Levi," she greeted with a smile she hoped didn't appear as strained as it felt. "I thought you were asleep."

"Tch," he dismissed with a scowl, "Without you?"

Her face grew warm. She knew the words were only meant to state the obvious and not to flatter her or be sentimental, but she only found that all the more touching.

"Well, I mean, your insomnia has gotten much better…" She rambled, still gripping the roll of bandages behind her back.

But Levi wasn't listening. His gaze had caught on something over her shoulder, and his expression grew dark, even as his eyes widened in concern.

"Oi, what the hell is that?"

Slayte followed his gaze and saw that her injuries were plainly visible to him through the mirror just behind her. She groaned inwardly. Hiding the first aid kit and forgetting about the mirror, how foolish could she be?

Levi stalked towards her and grabbed her right arm, roughly spinning her around, holding onto her more tightly than was comfortable. The roll of bandages fell out of her grasp and rolled down the length of the floor, unraveling as it went. With an angry utterance, his eyes fell on the first aid kit she had tried to shield from view and back to the weeping wound on her back. His fingers on the injury were as gentle as the hand on her wrist was harsh.

"What the hell, Slayte?" he demanded, releasing her hand.

"I, um… got attacked by some alley cats on the way back," she lied uneasily.

She glanced up at him and the disapproving glare he returned her gaze with was cold as ice. He didn't believe a word out of her mouth.

"It was on the way back, I came in through the side alley – "

"Shut up," Levi interjected, not wanting to hear any more of her lies. He removed a fresh roll of bandages from the first aid kit. "Sit on the counter," he instructed, taking out a salve as well.

"I'm fine, Levi, I can - " she protested, but he interrupted her again.

"Shut up and sit down. You clearly don't know what the fuck you're doing."

She fell silent and did as she was told. Pulling her wet hair over her right shoulder, she turned away from him, allowing him a better look at the injury. A warmth against the skin of her back confirmed her suspicions that she had aggravated the wound and it was bleeding again.

"Tch." Levi's concern hung in the air as he tore a fluffy white towel off the rack and, rinsing it with warm water, began cleaning the wound. Blood poured over his hand and his frustration towards Slayte crested. She had said she wasn't in any danger! That things were starting to look up. Clearly, she had no idea what the hell she was talking about. He pressed the towel against her wound, waiting for the bleeding to stop. Glancing at his blood-stained hand, he paused.

Levi had seen a lot of blood in his life, but he had never seen blood quite like this. It was a red so dark, it was nearly black and had an ink-like consistency on his hands. Slowly withdrawing the towel, he observed the injury more closely. It seemed, to him, as if the raw edges were very, very slowly sealing themselves back up, millimeter by millimeter. He blinked. Was he imagining it?

"Levi?" Slayte questioned, unnerved by his lengthy silence. "Is everything okay?"

He glanced at his girlfriend. If he mentioned what he was seeing, she would panic and lie about it. She was apprehensive and skittish, having gone to lengths to hide this injury from his eyes. He determined to keep it to himself that he had noticed anything out of the ordinary. If she ever wanted to talk about it, to tell him what she really was, she would. He muttered under his breath and tossed the soiled towel into the sink. Unrolling the bandages expertly, he began to wrap her wound with surprising dexterity.

"Wow," Slayte breathed, "Are you a doctor or something?"

"I've seen a lot of injuries," he countered, as if offended by the suggestion, "And shut up. I still don't want to hear a word from you."

As he worked in silence, Slayte fidgeted nervously with her hair.

"Are we going to be seeing more of these _cats_?" he questioned finally, his voice dripping with sarcasm at her blatant dishonesty.

She paused and after a beat, answered, "Not _these_ cats."

Levi's hands stilled and his steel grey eyes sought hers. She angled her head to meet his gaze and her wide amber eyes were solemn with implication. Whatever had attacked her, wasn't alive anymore. Good.

He tore his gaze away from her, continuing in his work.

"They were after Elissa," she continued, "I had to stop them. She doesn't know."

Levi's mouth set into a grim line even as he narrowed his eyes at her back. Hiding behind the ridiculous lie of the alley cats, she was trying to tell him _something_ about the truth of the situation.

"Is this something I'm going to have to keep worrying about?" he growled at her, his anger unabating.

"I was careless. If it happens again, I will do better next time."

Levi tied up the ends of the bandages with slightly more pressure than necessary, causing Slayte to wince. "There had better not _be_ a next time."

"Someone is working on solving all this. It's a temporary situation, but I need to guard Elissa. Like I said, I was inexperienced and carelessly allowed myself to be injured. It won't happen again…" she swallowed, knowing it was foolish to provide a guarantee for something she had no control over, but continued anyway, "I promise."

"Don't make me bullshit promises you can't keep. If there ever is another shitty situation like this again, you'll call me, promise me _that_." He folded his arms, looking down at her through narrowed eyes, waiting for her to give her word.

"I will…" she hesitated, knowing he would not take no for an answer, and, averting her eyes, added, "… if time allows." Time allowed for nothing in the midst of battle, and she would not be breaking her promise.

"Oi," he took hold of her thick, black hair and pulled her head back, turning her face upwards towards him, "You think you're pretty smart, don't you?" His voice was low with anger, his grey eyes stormy and punishing.

"Levi…" she pleaded, "What do you expect from me? I can't promise to call you every time something happens, that just isn't realistic. But I have the means to protect myself now, I was just careless today. Trust me. You said to let people make their own choices, even if that means death. Well, I choose to protect Elissa, and I won't even die. Let me make my choice and trust me. Please."

"Trust is a two-way street, Slayte," he answered with a frown, "You need to trust me enough to call on me if you need my help. No matter what the situation is, no matter what you think I might see. You need to trust that I will be able to handle it."

She blinked up at him, not at all disturbed by his unforgiving grip on her hair. She leaned into his touch, despite herself, and held his gaze, trying to read the emotions simmering behind those smoky irises - stern and confident -, and nodded. "I promise. I will ask for your help when I need it."

He was just a mortal. Frail and easily broken. So why did he make her feel like he could take on the Titans themselves?

With a nod, Levi released her. She watched him dump the soiled towels into the hamper and replace the salves and bandages in the first aid kit. He stowed the container in one of the cabinets before reaching for her hand and helping her off the counter.

"Let's get you to bed," he muttered, leading her out of the bathroom.

* * *

Elissa kicked off her shoes as she closed and locked her front door behind her, relieved to be back in the privacy of her own home.

"Vetty," she sang, as she entered the living room, and threw herself tiredly onto the couch. "I'm back."

She heard her cat meow in greeting, and then a familiar, soft warmth settle onto her belly as Vetty leapt up onto her. Stroking her fur absently for a few minutes, Elissa then lifted her phone to her face, and pulled up the browser search engine.

She sank her teeth into her lower lip anxiously, finally typing out the name that had been stuck in her mind despite herself, ever since Slayte had revealed it to her.

_Itachi Uchiha._

The name was imposing, commanded attention. It was as haunting and darkly enigmatic as the very man it belonged to. She hesitated, her thumb hovering over the magnifying glass that would pull up everything the web had to offer about anyone in existence who matched the name. How many _Uchihas_ were there in the world, she wondered? Would she find images of him? His biography somewhere? Would she find a list of the people he had killed? Was he perhaps a wanted felon? Was that why he insisted on concealing half of his face? Would she finally have her answers?

Was she ready to _know_?

Why did she feel so nervous, like she was doing something she shouldn't, by looking his name up? He had stubbornly refused to tell her a thing. It wasn't stalking if she was just doing a bit of her own digging around - was it? It was harmless research. It wasn't like he would ever know she had searched his name - not unless she told him.

Taking a deep breath, she hit search, her eyes eagerly scanning the immediate results that came up - only to frown in confusion. She scrolled down the page, searching for his name. She selected image search - finding random images bearing vaguely similar words - but no familiar, handsome profile belonging to the mysterious man she had met by the river.

She shook her head, undeterred. She wouldn't give up so easily.

 _Uchiha family, Greece,_ she tried next.

To her astonishment, there were no matching results. There was _uchiwa_ , denoting a traditional type of Japanese fan, and other similarly spelled words - but nothing about an Uchiha family from that country.

 _Wealthy Uchiha family,_ she input next, growing ever more frustrated when the search engine showed her nothing relevant.

 _Rich uchiha fans for sale,_ she read despairingly.

"What the hell?" she muttered to herself. Slayte had told her they were a well-off family from Greece. Surely a search result would pull up _something_ about them, if they were so renowned and affluent? Wouldn't it? Something about at least one member of their family?

An increasing sense of something not being _right_ began to creep up on her. The same dreadful, sinking feeling, the same whisper of alarm she'd experienced when Itachi had refused to answer her questions.

Had Slayte told her the truth? Hadn't she opened up to her honestly, truthfully?

_Uchiha mafia family_

_Greek Uchiha_

_Wealthy families from Greece_

_Uchiha murder cases_

_Shisui Uchiha,_ she guessed his cousin would be called.

What was his brother's name, again? She racked her brain trying to remember. _Sasuke_ , was it? She tried _Sasuke Uchiha_ , too.

Her searches grew more and more desperate and vague. To her utter dismay, any keywords she tried were reported as 'not found'. Instead, the search engine offered her suggested words that were wholly unrelated to _Uchiha_ . Maybe she was spelling it wrong? She tried other variants - _uchia, ucheeha, ucheha_ \- but the only one that worked was _uchiwa._

"Ugh!" she groaned to herself, at a loss to explain the lack of information she had found. "How can there be _nothing_ about Itachi or his family anywhere on the net?" she complained aloud to a mewling Vetty, who had sensed the tension in her body. "This is unbelievable. Not a single thing!"

Slayte had said they were a shady family. Maybe that was why there was nothing on record on them? Was that possible? It wasn't completely _impossible,_ Elissa supposed to herself. Slayte had been sincere. She'd seen it in her friend's face and heard it in her voice. The fact that there were no search results on him or his family had nothing to do with Slayte. It had everything to do with the shroud of secrecy that surrounded everything to do with Itachi Uchiha.

A bitter sense of disappointment burned in Elissa's chest as she tossed her phone aside, covered her face with her hands and unhappily accepted that it clearly wasn't just Itachi who didn't want her knowing any more about him. It seemed, incredibly, to her that the whole universe didn't want her to find anything out about hin, either.

This wasn't right. This wasn't okay. She had only allowed herself to think of him again because she'd hoped that knowing his full name would allow her to finally shed light upon his true identity and put everything relating to him to rest. But nothing had changed. He had lied to her, he had killed people, and there was nothing that could excuse such callous, heartless behaviour.

 _No more_ , she told herself firmly once again, frowning into her hands. She would think about him no more.


	19. Part XVIII: Hell or High Water

* * *

**Part XVIII: Hell or High Water**

* * *

Nyx stood on the balcony of her private quarters, gazing out into the beautiful, well-tended palace gardens below, her heart fluttering in anticipation. He had returned, she had heard the servants whispering earlier, and had almost immediately summoned Erebus and his other most trusted advisors to a private meeting. That had been several hours past, and Nyx had grown ever more agitated since. How much longer would the meeting go on for? What was its nature? Would he visit her after? Why had he not sought her out instantly, as she had expected? An inexplicable sense of dread filled her. A restlessness she could not understand.

She knew it was not her place to question Cronus's actions. It was only her place to obey them - and attempt to sway them, where she could. She thought about how successful she had been in doing so over the many centuries of their secret affair. Cronus had left her Sasuke to wander freely thus far, which pleased her, but still he burdened Itachi with tiresome responsibilities, always finding ways to occupy her eldest with endless duties. Nyx's lips tilted downwards unhappily. Once more she lamented her precious first-born's troubles, and yet, he bore them with such admirable grace, such regal patience and forbearance.

Her thoughts turned to the event she'd witnessed upon the surface two days prior. She had been able to slip back to the palace unnoticed then, but knew she had to be cautious and choose an opportune moment to return to the surface. She couldn't afford to be caught out. It would surely lead to too many questions, and her son - her dear, sweet Itachi - had already been alerted to the disruption in his domain of death. She knew him to be intelligent and shrewd enough to find great suspicion in her choosing to venture to the overworld.

Her breath caught in her throat when her body gave her a split-second's warning in the form of goosebumps prickling all over her skin, as a familiar, dark aura surrounded her. Large hands slipped onto her hips, and she was pulled backward to press against a strong chest. Her heart thundered, a shaky exhale escaping her lips. She hadn't even heard him enter her quarters.

"A week," Cronus's deep voice rumbled into her left ear, sending a shiver down her spine. Nyx closed her eyes as his warmth and strength surrounded her, feeling his chaotic aura envelop her like a dark caress. "What is a week in the eyes of the gods, and yet, how long its days drag for those who wait for its passing…" His palm slid up to cup her left breast, squeezing firmly, possessively.

"My Lord," Nyx murmured demurely, her blood immediately strewn alight. His voice and proximity were like a detonation, setting off a catalyst reaction in her body. The yearning for him, which had strangely and gradually grown easier to endure the more time that had passed apart between them, returned to hit her full force, leaving her to believe that she had surely been bereft of his touch for far too long. She could scarcely think out of want for him.

"Sweet Nyx," he hissed, his lips ghosting along the column of her slender, pale throat. "Tell me. What news?"

She swallowed trying to focus, but it was difficult to do so with his hands roaming greedily all over her fameshed body. Her lips were all at once tingling for his kiss, craving it the way a parched desert wanderer ached for the sanity-restoring touch of water.

She opened her mouth, but no sound left her, when his palm slid between her legs, cupping her most intimate of places.

"Speak, woman," he exhaled against her neck.

"I-" she stammered. "I ventured to the surface, to see the girl for myself." Her voice quivered, as the palm between her legs began to rub tantalisingly against her.

"Go on," Cronus growled commandingly, his lips haunting the lines of her bare shoulders.

"I- found the girl, and- her name seems to be… Elissa. I summoned harpies to seize her and yet…" she got out with effort, "...she was able to escape-!"

A gasp flew from her lips, as the teasing touch fell away and strong hands gripped her upper arms, spinning her around so abruptly, it caused her head to spin. Cronus's dark eyes glowered down at her in displeased disapproval.

"You failed to acquire her?" he demanded, his gaze boring into hers, glinting with anger.

Nyx winced. His hold on her arms was tight - uncomfortably so. "She was protected," she rushed to supply, desperate to soothe his discontent. "By a nymph, who slayed the harpies with the power of shadow. I did not anticipate this. I will be sure not to miscalculate again, I-"

"You had better not, woman," his eyes narrowed at her. "Time is of the essence. We cannot afford to waste it." His grip loosened, and fell away. Nyx immediately found herself missing it. "A nymph, you say?" he said grimly. "Describe her likeness."

"A willowy, slender thing, with dark hair. She is a Lampad, and yet somehow, she is able to wield our element. I could not make sense of it."

Cronus seemed to consider this. "A thorn in our side, it seems," he murmured ominously. "No matter. You will try again," he instructed. "When this _Elissa_ is alone. Find out if she is the Child of Prophecy for me, Nyx."

"Yes," Nyx nodded in obedience. "I will not fail you, my Lord."

The hardness in his eyes softened marginally, as he lifted a hand to her face, running the back of his index finger along the gentle curve of her cheek.

"I know you will not. Sweet Night."

He lowered his head to hers, and Nyx tilted her face up, willingly submitting to his ravenous kiss, allowing his chaos to seep into her mind and body once more.

* * *

Slayte anxiously checked the contents of the picnic box once more. She'd packed napkins, cutlery, plates, plastic cups, an assortment of fruits, sandwiches, pastries and cakes, sandwich dips, salad, mini-quiches, crackers, cheese and crisps. The beach day that Slayte had been looking forward to with Elissa had finally arrived. The sun was shining gloriously outside, and Slayte had eagerly awoken at the crack of dawn to make preparations for her road-trip with her cherished best friend.

"Do you think this is enough?" she worried aloud to Levi. "Maybe I should add some more cold drinks?"

Levi rolled his eyes, eying the stash of chilled bottles of juice and water already neatly arranged in the zip-up box. "Don't be stupid. It's just the two of you. You've packed enough to feed the whole goddamned beach."

"It's a day trip," Slayte answered defensively. "I don't want Elissa to go hungry."

Levi shook his head. In all the years he had known Elissa, he'd never seen her eating _that_ much. Still, he humoured his girlfriend, and sighed, "It's fine, if you want her in a food coma."

"And my outfit? Is this appropriate?" Slayte gestured to the dark grey, ripped-detail denim shorts she'd selected for the day trip, combined with a plain, black flutter-sleeved T-shirt that grazed just above her elbows in length. Underneath, she wore a simple black one-piece swimsuit. Her hair was drawn back in a high ponytail, and she wore black crossover slider sandals on her feet.

Levi's eyes trailed from her head, down to her slender legs. It was more than just appropriate. She looked great. But in his fashion, he intoned, "You forgot something."

"What?" she blinked warm brown eyes at him.

Levi reached behind his back and produced a switchblade. Slayte stared down at it in surprise, then looked up at him questioningly.

"Levi? What's this?"

"You ran into some trouble last week. I don't want you getting caught out again."

Slayte's eyes flicked back down to the inconspicuous weapon. She possessed the power of shadows themselves, courtesy of Thanatos' divine gifts. What use would a measly, humble pocket-blade be to her?

"We're going to a public beach; I really don't think I'll need to-" she began automatically.

"Oi. Just shut up and take it, will you?" Levi's eyebrows drew together. "Better to be prepared than sorry."

Slayte read the seriousness of his intent gaze, recognising that there was no talking him out of it. Since she couldn't tell him about the abilities she had, she supposed she had no choice but to accept the knife. It was discreet enough to keep hidden away, and she reasoned that it wouldn't do any harm in taking it along, just in case.

"Right," Slayte relented, accepting the switch-blade, which she immediately slipped into her short-pocket. Her heart swelled with love. Leave it to Levi to consider every small detail, and to plan ahead.

He then stepped toward her, and placed the sunglasses she had left on the counter over her eyes.

"You're all set," he remarked, fingers lingering by her ears.

Slayte's lips curved into a smile, and he watched as a charming blush bloomed across her cheeks.

The doorbell chimed, and Elissa stepped in, dressed for the beach in a summery, matching combo of a cinched, off-shoulder, mustard-yellow top and flirty shorts. Pretty green vines and red flowers were printed onto the light fabric. Her brown hair was worn loose, pushed back by the sunglasses resting atop her head. The halter neck stings of the deep red bikini top she wore were visible underneath. Comfortable, strappy brown sandals adorned her feet.

Hooked onto her arm was a spacious beach bag containing towels, her sun-hat and sun-lotion, as well as extra snacks and drinks.

"Hey, morning!" she beamed brightly. To Slayte and Levi's surprise, she was carrying a fluffy, mewling Vetty in her arms.

"Elissa?" Slayte glanced at the cat in confusion. "Why's Vetty here?"

Her best friend winced and cast an apologetic look at Levi. "Hey, Levi? I'm really sorry this is such short notice but…"

Levi glared at her, eying Vetty dubiously. She couldn't be serious. And yet he knew that expression on her face all too well, and resigned himself to what he was absolutely certain she was about to say next.

"...Would it be okay if I left Vetty with you for the day?" Elissa gave him a pleading look. "It's just, we might be back late, and I really didn't want her to be lonely."

"Sure," Slayte offered, nodding her head. For a minute, she'd been worried that Vetty would be joining them. "I'm sure she'll be fine here. Right, Levi?"

Levi shot her a sharp glance.

"Thanks so much," Elissa gushed in relief. "Let me unpack her food, I've brought some toys to keep her occupied, too."

"Oi," Levi hissed to Slayte, as Elissa turned away to set her cat down, and proceeded to rummage in her bag for Vetty's provisions. "You want to leave me alone with the cat from hell?"

"She's fine," Slayte whispered back. "Help Elissa out? Anyway, she isn't dangerous - for you."

Levi snorted at that. "Oh, so it's fine if _I_ die," he quipped sarcastically. Then his eyes narrowed at his girlfriend. "That cat better not be a brat. She'd better be trained in not making a mess."

"Vetty will be tidy, I promise," Elissa called, as if anticipating his concerns. "I've warned her to be on her best behaviour. You'll be good," she cupped her pet's cheeks and stroked her affectionately. "Won't you? Yes, you will. You're a good, good girl," she cooed.

Slayte and Levi exchanged helpless glances - then Levi gripped his girlfriend's wrist, and leaned in toward her to whisper pointedly into her ear, "You _owe_ me one, Slayte."

"Right," Slayte agreed. "I totally do. Thanks." She kissed his cheek quickly, causing him to grumble beneath his breath, and then picked up her picnic box.

"Ready, Elissa?" she smiled, as Vetty padded over to a scowling Levi, meowing up at him, hopeful for affection. Levi's eyes narrowed dubiously at the cat.

"Ready," Elissa lifted a fist into the air excitedly. "Sun, sand and sea, here we come!"

* * *

Slayte pressed the key on her remote control to unlock the dark blue Audi sportback waiting for them in the driveway. The roof of her car glistened black in contrast and she pulled open the hatchback so they could pack their belongings. The girls set their luggage and food into the trunk of Slayte's car, discussing their trip animatedly.

"Bye, Vetty! I'll see you tonight!" Elissa called back to her cat as Slayte opened the door to the driver's seat.

Slayte set the car into reverse, carefully backing out of the driveway as Elissa turned to fasten her seat belt. She glanced out the side window, seeing Levi watching them leave from the doorway with Vetty by his feet, swishing her tail back and forth. She double-checked her mirrors to be sure she didn't hit anything on her way out, nervous under the scrutiny of her ex-driving instructor.

"Alright, let's hit the road!" Elissa grinned with excitement as they pulled onto the main road. Slayte relaxed considerably leaving the imagined criticism of her boyfriend behind and smiled back at her friend. "This is going to be so much fun! You always come up with the best ideas, Elissa."

"I do, don't I?" Elissa agreed cheekily as she rolled down the window. A loud rock song blared over the speakers as a masculine voice belted out lyrics about the futility of life and the permanence of pain in accompaniment of angry drums and intense guitar solos. "Wow, Slayte…" Elissa frowned, "Your taste in music is…" she trailed off.

"The lyrics are really good!" Slayte defended, embarrassed. "You have to really listen!"

Elissa looked out the window, forcing herself to tolerate the angry ballad as she watched the buildings and trees pass by in a blur. Just as the man sang the words, _"Meet you in the darkness, stifling and deep; we'll lay us down forever, into a gentle sleep."_ Elissa shot forward, reaching for the radio dial. "Okay, that's enough, Slayte. We've gotta get you into some better music."

"I like this song!" Slayte protested with a laugh, but relented, knowing those lyrics were likely too much for Elissa.

"Shotgun gets DJ rights," Elissa insisted, "I don't make the rules."

Connecting her phone to the bluetooth radio, Elissa went through one song after another that was each shot down for various reasons. "Ugh… too sappy." "Is she trying to break glass?" "This sounds like something a group of kindergarteners would sing."

As the strumming of a guitar sounded, however, Slayte suddenly called, "Oh, wait- I know this one!"

"You're kidding me, right?" Elissa laughed, "this is practically a country song."

"What? No, it's really good, I love the lyrics!" Slayte glanced at her friend, not understanding the terminology of music genres.

Elissa tapped her fingers to the beat of the song as the girls pulled onto the highway, and just as the chorus sounded the girls found themselves singing along, _'Cause I'd move mountains if you asked me to, I would swim the seven seas. I'll be the one to hold your torch again, I'll do anything you ask of me..._

Slayte dedicated the lyrics to Elissa in her heart of hearts but did not voice that intention, knowing Elissa would probably laugh it off, or worse, feel uncomfortable. Instead, she grinned at her friend as the singer moved on to the next verse and the girls mumbled along, neither of them really knowing the words, before they devolved into a round of laughter.

* * *

The drive to the beach was nearly an hour long and the girls were in high spirits by the time they saw the signs pointing towards Tankerton Beach.

"Do we want to park here? Or further up the road?" Slayte asked, slowing down as she surveyed the street for an appropriate place to stop. When Elissa didn't immediately answer, Slayte looked back at her friend and saw her smiling as she typed out something on her phone. Who was Elissa talking to when Slayte was right here with her?

"Elissa," Slayte chided, feeling left out, "Come on, this is supposed to be our day."

"Right, right…" Elissa acknowledged, stowing her phone away. She was usually not one to allow herself to be sidetracked by her phone when she was out with friends. "Drive a little further up the road, there should be a sign for reserved parking."

"Reserved parking? Did you reserve us a parking spot?"

"Well, let's just say there is a little surprise waiting for us," Elissa promised with an air of secrecy.

As they pulled into the designated parking area, Slayte was surprised to see that it consisted of only four free spaces directly behind a luxurious beach cabin, painted in white.

"Um, are you sure we're allowed to park here?" Slayte asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, of course." Elissa reassured her, already unfastening her seat belt. "Just take that spot right there."

Pulling into the parking spot that Elissa pointed out, Slayte set the car into park and turned off the engine. Elissa waited until the car was safely parked before announcing, "Okay, Slayte, now don't freak out, but this place is rented under our names for the day."

"Oh my goodness, Elissa, what?! Seriously?!" Slayte exclaimed in surprise, reconfirming to Elissa that it had been the right call to wait until she was done driving.

"Yeah, come on!" Elissa called over her shoulder, giddy with excitement as she exited the car, "Let's go check it out!"

The girls carried the picnic boxes into the cabin that Elissa unlocked with a key she had fished out of her pocket. Stepping inside, they saw gleaming hardwood pine floors and rafters crossing high overhead. The wall facing the ocean was made entirely out of glass and soft, translucent white curtains hung in the ceiling to floor windows that interspersed the walls. A kitchenette was set in one corner of the space, accompanied by a well-stocked bar. In the center of the area a generous sofa curved in a U - shape around a glass table. A large area rug of knotted jute decorated with blue geometric patterns lay spread nearby.

"Wow," the girls breathed in unison, looking around at the impressive interior.

They set their picnic boxes down in the kitchen and Slayte ran a finger underneath the counter and held it up for inspection. "I mean, this is Levi-standard clean. This place must have cost you a fortune, Elissa. Let's split it."

"Don't be ridiculous," Elissa dismissed with a wave of her hand. "Let's go get the rest of the stuff."

"No, I'm serious, Elissa, how much did it cost?" Slayte insisted, following Elissa back out to the car.

"And I'm _seriously_ telling you not to worry about it. You don't look a gift horse in the mouth, Slayte. Come on, we deserve a treat."

Slayte frowned, wondering why Elissa was suddenly talking about farm animals that had nothing to do with their beach trip, but gave in. "Okaaay…" she said hesitantly. "If you say so."

After setting the food up in the kitchen, the girls opened up the large, glass double doors leading straight out onto the seaside. Tossing off their shoes, they sprinted down the beach, enjoying the feeling of the warm sand between their toes. Slayte released a gasp of surprise as they ran straight into the cold, ocean water and Elissa laughed at her reaction.

"When was the last time you were at the beach, Slayte?" she teased.

Slayte responded with an embarrassed laugh, "Too long, apparently." She looked around at the glorious golden sand spread in every direction, the cloudless azure sky spanning overhead, and the endless expanse of pristine, rich cerulean water stretching out before her eyes unto the horizon. The surface had wonders the underworld simply could not compare to. She watched the clear, brilliant water lap around her ankles and thought of the Styx. It was an impossible comparison.

"How nice that we get our own stretch of the beach," Elissa commented, holding her hand up against her forehead, shielding her eyes from the glare of the sun as she looked up at the people crowded together just a few hundred meters further on. "We don't have to deal with any annoying guys, either."

"Oh, yeah," Slayte agreed instantly, thinking of how frustrating men could be in Elissa's presence. One Cain was bad enough, but if guys like those she saw just a little ways up the beach, crowding around a poor young woman sunbathing, in their backwards caps and oversized sunglasses and fake tans and ugly shorts dared to come close to Elissa… "Yeah, that's really convenient," She hummed in agreement.

"C'mon Slayte, I can't wait to hit the water! Let's go get changed," Elissa enthused, leading the way back to the cabin.

"What about the food?" Slayte replied, somewhat deflated at the thought of all her early-morning efforts going to waste.

"Later!"

The girls spread their beach towels out on the sand, and set a cooler of drinks nearby. Slayte hesitated, taking her time to fold her clothes neatly and set them near the towel as Elissa began making her way to the water. She was a shadow nymph by nature and felt oddly out of her element when surrounded by water, but she shook off the feeling. After all, she had decided to live as a mortal now, hadn't she?

Elissa thoroughly enjoyed the weightless sensation of floating in the sparkling ocean water, nothing but blue sky overhead. Looking around for her friend, she found her just barely toeing along the water's edge.

"What are you doing, Slayte? The water's great, come on!" She grinned.

"Um… I'm not a very good swimmer," Slayte confessed, hesitantly extending a single foot into the water carefully.

"Well, lucky for you I am. You'll be _fine._ If anything happens, I'll haul you out." Elissa reassured her.

Slayte blinked up at her friend, taking a deep breath for courage. "Promise?"

"Yeah, I promise. Now, come on!" Elissa grabbed Slayte's hand and without warning, tugged her into deeper water.

Slayte shrieked in surprise but quickly adjusted to the cold temperature. When she found that she could hold her head above water with relative ease, she laughed awkwardly. "Okay, maybe I was worrying too much over nothing."

Elissa smiled at her friend, "Really, Slayte? When have you ever done _that_ before?" The note of sarcasm was unmistakable.

"Hey!" Slayte splashed water in Elissa's direction with a laugh, "My worry isn't _always_ for no reason!"

"Oh, is this a splashing contest?" Elissa shot back and wasted no time in proving that she would win at that game.

The sun continued its trek across the clear sky as the girls laughed, ate, and enjoyed their well-deserved day off in ideal summer weather. They joked, reminisced, and philosophized in turn and could almost forget the worries they had left behind them. The secrecy, fear, and danger of the past few weeks faded away in the dazzling rays of glorious summer sunshine.

"I think we've waited long enough after eating, right?" Elissa asked, "Ready to head back in the water?"

"What, again?" Slayte looked crestfallen.

"Yeah, we still have a couple hours left," Elissa replied, checking the time on her phone, "We didn't come here just to look at it, right?"

"I'm stuffed, I don't want to go back in the water," Slayte complained.

"Spoilsport," Elissa pouted at her friend in mock disappointment. "Stay here, then, if you want."

"Wait," Slayte called after her, "Can't we just sit and talk? We were having so much fun!"

But Elissa had already reached the shore where the waves were lapping against her ankles, "Stop being such a spoilsport and just come on, Slayte!" she cried, turning towards her friend and walking backwards into the water.

"Alright, alright," Slayte relented, getting to her feet.

"Yes!" Elissa beamed, glad to have been able to convince the sullen Slayte. Slayte trudged dejectedly towards her friend, still uneasy with the element of water when her eyes caught on a movement near Elissa's feet. Water didn't _move_ like that.

"Elissa…" she breathed, pointing towards the waves, "What's - " But before she could so much as speak the words, something wrapped itself around Elissa's ankle.

Elissa saw the concern in her friend's eyes and when she felt something cold and slimy grasp her ankle, she froze in alarm, but before she could move, or breathe, or even _think,_ she was hauled backwards like the tail end of a whip. The breath left her lungs just as she hit the water and before she could gasp for air she was dragged down, down, down…

Terror gripped her and the instinct to scream was overwhelming. She pressed her lips stubbornly together, knowing she had no air to waste. She turned towards whatever was pulling her down and saw a vine wrapped around her foot. No matter how she tugged at it, it only tightened its vice-like grip until she could feel the pain of it digging into her flesh.

The surrounding water grew ever darker and she could only guess how far down this _thing_ had already managed to drag her. The mounting water pressure and the fading glint of sunlight above only reaffirmed that she was being weighed down into a watery grave, from the likes of which she would never resurface. The realization filled her with a sheer terror so gripping and painful, she thought she might die from fear alone. A preferable death to gasping for breath and swallowing water, she reminded herself as her lungs burned for oxygen. But the natural instinct to _breathe_ that her body was screaming for, demanding from her - was the very thing that would kill her if she gave in to it.

Slayte had seen the way _something_ had torn Elissa away like she was little more than a child's plaything. It had taken less than a second for her to disappear completely from Slayte's horrified eyes.

By reflex, Slayte had summoned shadow chains to take hold of Elissa and pull her back out, but the instant they came in contact with the water, they dissipated into nothingness. She raced forward towards where she had seen Elissa disappear but the closer she drew to the water, the further the water seemed to ebb away, without ever coming back in to meet her. Fury overcame her. This was no coincidence. Someone with power over the oceans was targeting Elissa.

She summoned further shadows, this time fashioning them into tendrils that wrapped around herself on one end and pushed against the sand of the beach with the other, launching her through the air, faster than the water could ebb away. She dove down with all her strength as soon as she hit the water, not allowing herself to think about whether or not she would be able to swim back to the surface. Through the darkness of the deeper water below, she caught a glimpse of Elissa's upturned face, all but paralyzed with horror.

She kicked harder against the water, diving deeper down, racing against those demonic vines tearing her dearest friend away. At last, she reached out, and grabbed a hold of Elissa's wrist. Relief flooded through her as her eyes met Elissa's, even as Elissa's eyes were already falling closed from lack of oxygen. She reached for the vines, but they held fast. She struggled to form any sort of shadow weapon that might cut through the deadly plant but nothing more than a dark shimmer, bubbling and fading, erupted from her hands. Her eyes stung with bitter tears. Elissa was running out of air, and Slayte was going to lose her.

To her horror, Slayte saw yet _another_ vine shoot out from the darkness below and wrap itself around her. Was it going to drag her to the depths with Elissa? If she couldn't save her friend, the least she could do was to die with her. But to her dismay, she found herself being torn away from Elissa and thrown back all the way through the water rushing past her, bodily flung through the air and onto the beach.

She hit the ground hard and gasped in horror and fear, feeling the hot sand between her fingers. No, no, no… this wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening! She had received divine powers from Thanatos himself! If that wasn't enough to protect Elissa… a choked sob escaped her throat and she lifted a hand to stifle it. It was too soon for despair. She needed to go back into the water.

Her back still stung from the impact and as Slayte rose to her feet once more, she realized dully that she had landed on a hard, foreign object. She glanced down and saw her own clothing, folded neatly.

Every second was precious, she had no time to waste. A single second could mean the difference between life and death for Elissa and yet… she blinked at her own clothing, as if there were something she was failing to see.

She sucked in a cold breath with sudden realization and made a mad dash to retrieve Levi's switchblade from her pocket. Slayte sped back towards the water. Diving down, she strained her eyes for any sight of her friend, refusing to give up hope. When a vine shot out towards her, she dodged nimbly to the side, grabbing hold of it instead. With grim determination, she raised the knife and cut it through in one clean stroke. Half the vine fell away and the other half, held firm in her grip, seemed to recoil in pain, pulling Slayte along with it.

The water rushed past her face as she allowed the vine to drag her down, holding on with dogged determination. The sight of chestnut waves floating through the water before her eyes filled her with immense relief. Slayte wasted no time in rushing towards her friend. Holding firmly onto Elissa, she began hacking away at the vine at her feet, recognizing with concern that even more vines had taken hold of her at this depth.

At last, the vines fell away and Slayte wrapped her arm around her unconscious friend's waist, pushing back up to the surface. It was an arduous climb through the water and Slayte's lungs were at the extent of their ability.

 _You're a nymph._ She reminded herself, _a nymph doesn't need air._ She didn't know if the statement was true, but it gave her strength to push forward. The water lightened, and the sunlight could be seen shimmering through. Slayte dared to hope that they might make it after all when, without warning, yet another vine, thorned and snapping like a terrifying mutation of a venus flytrap whipped forwards, clearly aiming straight for Elissa.

Slayte pushed her friend up towards the surface and out of the way, turning to guard against the attack with her right arm but it was too little, too late... The vine cut straight through Slayte's extended arm, filling her with a piercing, blinding pain, the likes of which she had never experienced before. Having passed Slayte, it lost some of its momentum as it whipped against Elissa's back, leaving a gaping gash that immediately dyed the water before Slayte's very eyes a sickening red.

With a cry of anger, not caring that she was giving up the last of her air, she hurtled forward and sliced through the murderous plant. She caught Elissa with her left arm and swam to the surface as quickly as she was able. Chancing a glance backwards, she watched her own arm fall away to the depths. It was a surreal, disembodied feeling… but she had Elissa. She had Elissa and that was all that mattered. Who cared about an arm?

When she finally felt solid ground under her feet, she choked and coughed for air. Her arm wrapped firmly around Elissa's waist, she wasted no time in getting them as far away from the water as possible. She stumbled towards the cabin and lay Elissa gently on the wooden planks of the deck before sinking to her knees and coughing out water.

She wiped her mouth with the back of her left hand, ignoring the searing pain at her right shoulder as she turned hopeful eyes onto the precious mortal friend who held such a firm hold on her heart.

Elissa was unmoving. Slayte swallowed thickly. She, herself, had come very close to drowning and she had only been underwater for a fraction of the time that Elissa had. She lifted a hand to Elissa's face, hoping against hope to feel the faint brush of gentle breath against her skin, but there was nothing. Her eyes flooded with tears. This couldn't be happening.

Slayte rose to her feet, her mind racing, desperately, for anything that might help Elissa, but came up blank. It was then that she saw the blood pooling on the wooden planks, dripping down between them. It was more blood than she had ever seen and her heart was near to bursting with fear. She turned Elissa onto her front, to try and hinder gravity in draining away anymore of Elissa's precious life force and when the extent of the gruesome injury met Slayte's eyes she clamped her remaining hand over her mouth, to stifle the miserable wail that threatened to sound from her.

Slayte fell to her knees at Elissa's side. "No, Elissa, come on, please…"

She had been taught to fight. Had been given the power to protect Elissa, but for what? She had failed utterly, miserably, and Elissa was wounded beyond recovery, or perhaps already dead. Why couldn't she have been given any powers of healing to try and help her?

"Elissa, please, say something…" Slayte begged. It couldn't be ending like this. Slayte reached for Elissa's wrist and felt a pulse, but it was faint… and fading. Slayte knew it would only faint ever further the more that wound would be permitted to bleed out. She dashed inside the cabin for towels and returned to press them against Elissa's wound, sobbing outright as she felt Elissa's blood flow over her fingers, as she watched the towels go from white to scarlet until their original color was unidentifiable.

"No…" she whispered. "No, no, no… Elissa, please no, don't do this to me. I can't… without you, Elissa. Please, try and hang on. I beg of you. Elissa, I would do anything if you'll just- if you'll just…" her voice broke and her words were hardly decipherable. "Please don't leave me, Elissa. Please… please…" She sobbed outright, her tears falling onto her bloodstained hand. She saw that the flow of blood was slowing, not because she had stemmed it, but because Elissa's heart was slowing. Because there wasn't much more blood left to lose.

Slayte despaired. She pressed her bloodied palm to her mouth as she curled in on herself. All was lost. She had lost Elissa. She had lost the best, purest thing there was in this world. Elissa, who least deserved to die. Elissa, who she most wished would live… forever, if possible. Tears blurred her vision, mercifully taking away the sight of her most precious, most cherished friend bleeding out and dying.

She choked out a sob, and wailed in desperation, her voice raising into the sky as she covered her face in agony. She crawled backwards away from the horrible sight, clinging to the wall of the cabin as her shoulders shook with the force of her grief.

Elissa was dead. Oh, if only…. If only she could die as well. If only the gods could be so merciful. But they took mercy on none. They were cruel and pitiless deities who never understood the pain and despair of those around them. They would not ease her agony with death, not even if she begged for it.

Her sobs slowed suddenly, and her eyes widened as a thought struck her. She clambered back to Elissa awkwardly and felt, once more, for a pulse… her blood ran cold in fear until, finally, she felt the faintest trace of life. There was hope yet.

"Thanatos," she whispered, her eyes filling anew with tears of anguish. She concentrated on the power of the shadows, "Thanatos, can you hear me?" Her voice trembled. "Please… It's Elissa…" When still nothing occurred, Slayte dropped Elissa's wrist in despondent resignation. All hope was lost.

"You're a god!" she cried, wiping at her eyes, "You're supposed to be able to hear me! Please! I'll do anything! Please, I beg of you, you're the only one who can save us now. I was wrong. I couldn't do anything. I can't protect her without you, please…"

"Please…" She sobbed over Elissa's prone form; her body had already gone cold. Was it the blood loss or was she now, truly, dead?

Slayte felt a shadow fall over her, blocking out the sun overhead. It was at once comforting and familiar, attuned to her very own element. When she raised her eyes she saw none other than her lord and master, Thanatos.

His crimson eyes were narrowed in something akin to anger, his posture regal and erect as he stood over the two of them, both judge and executioner. His hair flowed gently in the ocean breeze and his aristocratic features were harsh and unforgiving and yet, Slayte's heart flooded with relief at the mere sight of him. Before she could begin to voice words to describe the agony of the situation however, a frightening thought occurred to her. Was he here at Slayte's plea or had he come to take Elissa's soul?

Both terror and hope exploded in Slayte's chest, she stumbled towards him without a care for her past, or her pride, or the hurt she had imagined he had caused. She reached out helplessly and her hand caught on the hem of his cloak. "L- Lord Thanatos," she sobbed, reclaiming the old epithet that etiquette demanded between them.

"Please don't take her soul. I'm sorry, it's all my fault. I failed. Please, you're a kind god. You're a wise and merciful god. You're so much more than your function," she was rambling mindless praise, hopeful, desperate for mercy. "Please save her, Lord Thanatos, please! There is nothing a meaningless nymph like myself can offer, but I'll do anything… if you would take mercy on her."

He did not immediately answer and stood instead, frozen in place, taking in with disbelief Angelissa's mangled body, the wound weeping across the length of her back stained the wooden deck a terrible shade of scarlet. The ever slowing beat of her heart thudded dully in his ears, fading like a dream. Her very soul cried out in pain at being captured within a broken body. His perceptive onyx eyes narrowed. Her injuries were severe, dangerously so, but the shadows of death had not yet been summoned. He would be spared the anguish of taking her soul, for now.

What could possibly have happened that such an unassuming, innocent mortal ended up in such a state? His gaze fell irate on the shadow nymph clinging desperately to his cloak. The very one he had assigned to prevent precisely such an incident from taking place. Her face was awash with tears and she had lost an arm in whatever battle had taken place and yet, Angelissa's bruised and injured form still burning into his mind's eye, he frowned at the nymph. A miserable performance and poor use of his gifts.

"What delayed you in summoning me?" the voice was low, the tones measured but unmistakably angry.

Slayte looked up from where she clung to the hem of his cloak, and saw the displeasure in his features, even as tears streamed down her face.

"I could not…" she began. Summon him? How was that possible? How was she meant to summon him?

"Aside," was the one-word command that had Slayte scrambling out of the way. He stepped past her without another glance and knelt at Elissa's side. Slayte looked on in wonder. She could not explain how she knew, with certainty, that Thanatos would not take her friend's soul.

His all-seeing scarlet eyes roamed her form, taking in the bleeding circlet around her ankle, the pale, almost bluish-pallor of her skin, the disheveled chestnut hair and the resigned, lifeless expression. Itachi supposed she would look something like this when the terrible moment came that he was called upon to take her soul. At that moment, there would be no secrets between them. It would be an instant of understanding - and an eternity of separation.

Itachi raised the long, ruby-ringed fingers of his right hand, gently brushing them against her cheek in a feather-light touch. Slayte saw the bluish tint fade away and a rosy color return where Thanatos' touch had lingered. She hastily wiped the tears from her face, ignorant of the blood she smeared across her face with the action, distracted from the pain burning at her shoulder. She looked on, spellbound and mesmerized, as Death, himself, chose to heal a mortal girl.

His hand moved away from her face and trailed across her back before coming to rest on the wound she had received in the ocean. Shadows unfurled from the point of contact, filling the gaping wound in her flesh, sealing it, and binding it back together. It took only a few moments for those fatal wounds to fade into nothing more than faint, black wisps as a reminder of the ordeal she had survived.

Itachi's hand rested against her smooth, pale skin for a few moments more, compelling her body to heal itself, inspiring the process with his own divine energy. Her complexion brightened, color and warmth returned to her pale skin and the bleeding injury circling her ankle faded and vanished without a trace.

His gaze fell on Elissa's fair countenance. Her thick lashes that hid curious, wise hazel eyes from the world. Her rosy lips, always demanding answers she most certainly could not bear. He paused as Angelissa's eyes suddenly opened, blearily, half-lidded - but conscious. Her eyes that were the myriad colors of life, ever hopeful, curious, forgiving - fixed on him, and he held her gaze as if it were the most natural thing in the world. The weight of it felt easy to him, comforting and familiar. Something flickered in her eyes - recognition? Her expression relaxed, as if comforted. It was only an instant, the span of the beating of a crow's wings, before her eyes fell closed again, unconsciousness claiming her.

She was unlikely to remember that moment. She was sure to consign it to a dream, should she recall anything of the sort. At length, he stood, and his gaze fell on the nymph huddled beside him, looking on in teary-eyed wonder. She reached out to touch Elissa, as if afraid she would shatter or disappear the moment her fingers made contact. Slayte choked out a sob of relief when her fingertips met warm skin. Even Elissa's scarred back was now as smooth as it had been before, if one disregarded the faint wisps of shadow that remained.

"Oh, thank you," she sobbed, clutching a hand to her chest, "You have my eternal gratitude. Thank you." She fell forwards, clutching to Elissa with one hand, crying over her friend in relief - swamped with emotion, unable to speak. But speak, she must, for what had happened was unacceptable.

"Explain yourself," the displeased tone of his voice brought Slayte back to her senses. She hiccupped, wiping her tears away, and struggled to calm down enough to hold a conversation. Slayte turned to him as she slipped her hand into Elissa's, holding firmly as if she were afraid Elissa would float away if she let go.

"Elissa wanted to go for a swim, but there was something in the water. A snapping vine, of sorts. It- it-" Slayte faltered, she felt like a child as tears stung her eyes simply recalling what had happened. She took a deep breath and pushed on. "It dragged Elissa down, and the shadows couldn't follow. I don't know if it's some sort of water nymph or something else, but…"

Itachi's eyes flicked over the indications of the nymph's apparent distress. With an indication of his right hand, shadows gathered at her shoulder where the stump remained of what should have been her arm. She fell into stunned silence as the mass of inky black tendrils seemed to glow and settle into place, revealing a fully functioning right arm attached at her shoulder. She lifted her hand and closed the fingers into a fist experimentally, unable to believe her eyes; she had already resigned herself to a life without her right arm. With the sudden disappearance of her pain, came a serenity of mind, a calmness. Elissa was alive. Thanatos had saved her. All would be well.

"You are no mortal." His voice was smooth in its darkness, but gentle in its wisdom. "It is time you stop thinking like one."

Slayte nodded and exhaled slowly. She was a creature of the underworld, she couldn't allow herself to be so overcome with fear. As long as they had Thanatos, everything would be alright - somehow. She looked down at her hands trembling in her lap and clenched them into fists to control their shaking.

"I - I can't do this, Lord Thanatos," she argued, her voice still shaky, "I'm just a nymph. You gifted me the greatest of powers and yet, I - I _still_ failed. Twice. I almost lost against the harpies and today - "

"Harpies?" The incensed tone of his voice set the skin at the back of her neck prickling.

"I meant to tell you as soon as I saw you, but you never came. Harpies suddenly appeared out of the darkness as Elissa and I were out. She was none the wiser, but - "

"Why did you fail to inform me?" She thought she saw flecks of crimson in his obsidian eyes and her mind raced, trying to understand what he expected of her.

"I wanted to, but I have no way to reach you and you didn't reappear until today!"

"The link," he stated mildly, as if disappointed by her simple-mindedness.

"The… ?" she stared at her left arm, where the metallic cuff was tightly bound. With neither an indication or a warning, Thanatos initiated a telepathic contact. There was a faint ringing in her ears as all other sound seemed to fade away. An unsettling sensation of not being quite _alone_ within her very own mind crept into her consciousness. She blinked in surprise, so he _had_ left her a way to contact him. Why hadn't he explained it in the first place?

"How am I supposed to know that?" she bristled, "I barely had a clue how to use these powers at all! Elissa nearly…" But it was too soon to put into words the horrifying event that had been averted by a hair's breadth.

"I can't do this," she repeated instead, "she needs better protection. More _reliable_ protection. You have to stay by her side, please, Lord Thanatos."

"I have chosen you for this task. Do you suggest there is an error in my judgment?" To do so was suicidal, Slayte knew, but she had to convey the very real danger they were in, how incompetent she clearly was. The only reason Elissa was still alive was because Slayte had lucked out - twice.

"No, but - look at her! She almost died! And that's - it's all my fault! I failed to protect her, the shadows were absolutely _useless_ in the water, and… it's a lucky fluke I was able to get her out at all. When I think what could have happened to her…" She raised her hands to grip at her head in anguish at how close their call had been.

"And yet, you protected her. Do not squander my time with events that did not occur." Thanatos turned away from her, "Do not forget who you serve. You are not like the others of your kind."

Slayte's dark brown eyes fell helplessly on his imposing, cloaked back. She was his servant, as if she needed that reminder. A servant of Thanatos should represent him in strength and valor. In courage and wisdom. She was protecting Elissa in his stead, she wasn't like the others of the underworld. It was as much encouragement as she could ever hope to receive from Thanatos and yet, she was overcome with the feeling that she had enormous shoes to fill. Slayte felt dwarfed in his shadow, how could she ever hope to become even remotely as powerful and awe-inspiring as he was?

"Your assignment is unchanged. You are to be my eyes and ears. Lest you forget again." The voice was deceptively smooth, but the tone dark and the implication clear.

Slayte nodded as understanding dawned. Failure to report regularly would not be tolerated. "You're not… leaving us on our own again, are you?" she called after his retreating back.

When he said nothing, she ventured further, "Elissa needs you. Whatever threatens her has stopped holding back. Without you, I- I don't know if I will make it next time."

Still, he stood in resolute silence. "We have to tell her what's going on, at least. She deserves to know what's happening. There have been too many close calls. Isn't there a way to tell her the truth without endangering her soul? She… she has a blood bond with Vetty, so, doesn't that make a difference? Knowledge of the underworld shouldn't rob her of her soul, right?"

Thanatos did turn to look at her over his shoulder, then, and she continued. "We can't possibly keep her in the dark when _she's_ the one in the middle of this. She has the right to know! As difficult as it is, I know Elissa, and… not knowing what's going on is even worse for her. It will drive her mad. Please, let me tell her the truth. There must be a way."

"You will not." The command was absolute, cold and unfeeling.

Slayte was taken aback, "We _have_ to. Think about how she will feel! She's seen too much, she needs explanations. We have no right to deny her that closure. She may be a mortal, but she's not some inanimate object we can do with as we please. I know the gods play with mortal lives all the time, but…" she bit her lip, recalling the Thanatos she had so ardently admired, "... you're not like that, are you?"

The question lingered in the air, hesitant and uncertain, as if asking permission to trust him again.

Thanatos' eyes fell on Angelissa's prone form and silence reigned between the master and his servant. "I will resolve the matter at hand. She must return to her mortal life. Should you speak other than you have been commanded," he shot her a warning look, "you will be disposed of."

Disposed of? Slayte could only gape at him. Was he threatening to return her to the underworld, or… kill her? If she dared to tell Elissa the truth?

"Think," she whispered in defiance, "Think just one moment. About a transient life, about the uncertainty - the fear - of its inevitable end. About the horror of the unknown. These are all foreign concepts to a god such as yourself, I know, but… think about it. And think of Elissa. She deserves some clarity in this terrible time. Especially…" she hesitated, hating the next words to leave her mouth, "if we can't be certain we will be able to save her."

"Does one warning not suffice you?" The words were icy, a warning, and Slayte cursed herself for thinking he could be different. He had his moments but in the end, the gods were all the same.

She glanced at Elissa, realizing with dread that she would be required to lie her way out of this nightmare again. She didn't know how many more lies their friendship could bear.

Slayte glanced at the stoic deity and saw that his gaze lingered, once more, on Elissa's countenance. Elissa's complexion was revitalized, her expression serene,, she looked as if she was simply resting peacefully. As if the horrific incident had been no more than a dream.

Slayte winced at Elissa's blood-stained appearance and noticed that she, herself, fared no better. "Would you… help me? I need to bring Elissa inside. If I'm going to hide all this, I'll need to get it cleaned up before she wakes."

Thanatos did not answer her but moved with easy grace towards her friend and gently lifted her from the wooden deck. Her head rested easily against his right arm and his left arm supported her legs. Slayte left Elissa to Thanatos and hurried to gather water and soap to scrub the blood off the deck. When she re-entered the cabin minutes later, she was surprised to find Thanatos still standing there, silently observing Elissa's sleeping form on the couch he had laid her down to rest upon.

Slayte frowned. She had her suspicions as to the nature of Thanatos' regard for her best and only friend. She knew there was no point in asking, as he would deny it outright, but the sincerity of his gaze, the thoughtfulness of his expression… she knew he would not look that way at just anyone. Eight hundred years of experience did not lie.

She emptied the bucket of water and replaced it under the sink, intentionally making enough noise to rouse Thanatos from whatever thoughts plagued him. Sure enough, when she turned back to her friend, she saw that Elissa was covered by a thin blanket and the enigmatic deity had disappeared.

Gritting her teeth, Slayte set to the grim task of cleaning herself and Elissa up next, to remove all evidence of injury from their bodies.

* * *

Elissa awoke to a violent coughing fit, her lungs burning, with an anxious-looking Slayte leaning over her. Her friend had changed back into her regular clothing and her eyes were red-rimmed, as if she had been crying. She immediately clapped and rubbed at Elissa's back, turning her over onto her side to help her clear her lungs. When the coughing spell finally settled, Elissa blinked in confusion, feeling groggy and exhausted.

It took her a few moments to recognise where they were; she was lying on the comfortable couch inside the beach cabin they'd rented out for the day with a blanket draped comfortingly over her and Slayte perched beside her. The late afternoon sun was shining brightly through the windows, causing Elissa to wince against its glare. Her head throbbed terribly, and she felt strangely drained.

"Slayte…?" she croaked.

"Elissa," she choked out, relief flooding visibly over her features. "Thank the heavens! Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

Besides the pounding in her skull, and a lingering discomfort in her chest, Elissa didn't feel any worse for wear. As Slayte carefully helped her sit up, Elissa shook her head, recollection slowly returning to her as the fog cleared from her mind.

She'd been about to go back into the water for a refreshing dip in the ocean after they'd had some of Slayte's deliciously prepared food, when something cold had unexpectedly wrapped around her ankle. She remembered looking down in alarm, but before she'd been able to discern what it was, had been yanked backward at whiplashing speed underwater, and hadn't been able to see anything but blinding bubbles initially all around her.

When the initial shock had cleared, Elissa had glimpsed a vine of sorts, winding around her leg and it hadn't loosened no matter how hard she had tried to tug at it and free herself of it. She remembered struggling in vain with all her might to swim upwards, the horrendous feeling of her oxygen deprived-lungs screaming for air, and the realisation that she was about to lose her life in a watery tomb. How her heart had raced erratically in her chest as pure panic had exploded within her. The last thing she recalled seeing was a horrified Slayte's face in the distance as her best friend had battled bravely against the waves to swim down to her - followed by an indescribable pressure and pain in her lungs. And then... everything had gone frighteningly dark and silent.

"You just suddenly went under the waves," Slayte confirmed, gripping onto Elissa's forearms tightly, as if she feared letting go would result in her best friend vanishing into thin air before her eyes. "I jumped in to pull you out. Gods, Elissa! You scared the life out of me! I thought you were- I really thought you'd-" she broke off tearfully, unable to finish her sentence. Shaking her head, she questioned, "Do you remember anything?"

Elissa's gaze turned toward the glass doors of the cabin, falling upon the sea beyond the sand in confusion. "I felt something wrap around my leg and pull me backwards. It all happened so fast. It was some kind of plant. I couldn't untangle myself and it kept sinking me deeper and deeper until I..." she swallowed, her voice trailing off, as the memory of the horror she had experienced at that moment washed over her all over again.

"I saw it when I dove in after you, too." Slayte's eyes narrowed slightly, recalling the unnatural vine that had sought to keep her out the ocean and tried to prevent her from assisting her friend. "I managed to cut you loose with a knife. I'm just so glad you're alright," she hugged Elissa close.

As Elissa embraced her back, her troubled eyes lingered on the deceptively serene ocean. Slowly her memory filled in additional blanks. She remembered briefly rousing at one point from the depths of unconsciousness, feeling light-headed, lying motionlessly on her front. She remembered half-opening her eyes, and seeing someone hovering above her.

A knot of dread filled Elissa's stomach. Her heart pounded. The dark shadow above her. It had only been a split second before her bleary vision had faded back to black, but the masked-face leaning over her, the dark eyes that had met hers for just a fraction of a moment - had been unmistakeable.

Once again, her brain whispered to her that she had seen _him_. That Itachi had been there. Just as had been the case on the bridge, the more she thought of it, the more her mind was convinced of it.

But how? She wondered to herself. How was that even possible? How could he have been there? It seemed even more absurd, even more improbable and unlikely given their location. He couldn't just show up anywhere at any moment's notice. What was she thinking?

And yet. And yet he _had_ been at the bridge. She remembered the clasp of his cloak, distinctly. She hadn't imagined that, even though he had tried to pass it off as little more than her own hallucination. She'd listened to her instincts then. They were positively screaming the same thing to her now, as inconceivable as it seemed to be.

A strong wave of nausea washed over her, as fresh doubts about him - as well as her own sanity - plagued her, mingling with the effects of delayed shock that suddenly kicked into her blood-stream. She began to tremble violently all over, feeling oddly light-headed. Slayte drew back and immediately grabbed the blanket, draping it over her friend's shoulders.

"Elissa," she said worriedly. "Are you okay? Gods. You're shaking like a leaf. Do you want to lay down some more?"

"No," Elissa whispered, trying to keep the shivers at bay, as it hit her full force that she had almost _died_. "I'm fine, Slayte. I just need a minute."

"Can I get you anything?" Slayte was staring at her with wide-haunted eyes, as if terrified that if she even blinked, Elissa would evaporate into thin air.

Elissa mutely shook her head. "How long was I under water for? How long have I been unconscious?" Just as had been the case in the aftermath of the bridge incident, Elissa had the displacing feeling that she had been robbed of time, but didn't know exactly how much of it she had lost.

"You went under for a few minutes," Slayte answered, rubbing her friend's blanket-covered arms comfortingly. It must have been mere minutes - everything had happened so fast, and yet to a hysterical Slayte, it had felt as though Elissa had been beneath the waves for hours. "You've been unconscious for about half an hour."

Elissa hesitated. She needed to know. "Did someone come to help you?" she frowned, struggling to place her thoughts. "I thought I woke up at one point and saw…" she licked her lips, not wanting to give voice to what she had believed she had seen, because it seemed so unlikely, so out of place. "Someone," she finished with uncertainty.

Slayte was silent for a moment, relieved that she had hit the medical-aid emergency alarm button in their cabin to provide her with a believable cover-story.

"Just a life-guard." She answered quickly. "The paramedics are heading over here now," she nodded toward the medical team that were climbing up the steps on the deck outside toward them.

Elissa blinked at them, feeling even more unsettled and bewildered. Then she'd imagined it, surely, while caught in the delirium of pain? Itachi hadn't been there at all.

Why then, did the memory of meeting piercing dark eyes haunt her mind? What was wrong with her? Why was he ever a ghost in her head?

"Let's have them check you out, then I'm taking you home," Slayte said firmly.

"What? But our beach day…" Elissa protested weakly. They still had lots of time left to enjoy the seaside. "It's fine. I can just take it easy and-"

"No. You need to rest," Slayte refused to back down. At Elissa's forlorn expression, she added, "Elissa, you almost _drowned_. There's no way we're getting back into that water again! We'll come another time. Okay? I just want to take you back home, now."

Elissa swallowed miserably, feeling terrible for spoiling their plans to enjoy a whole day out together. But she recognised the unmistakable, grim look on Slayte's face. She wasn't going to budge, and Elissa could only imagine the shock Slayte must have experienced, watching her best friend nearly die. Maybe it was for the best they returned early, given that their drive back to town was a long one.

"I'm sorry," Elissa apologised sadly. "I thought the sea here was safe. I've never heard of dangerous animals swimming so close to shore. I just don't understand what it could've been, and I know you were really looking forward to today. I got this cabin and everything... Now our day is ruined."

"It's fine," Slayte dismissed. "Don't worry about that. You're alive, and that's all that matters." Squeezing her friend's shoulders, she prodded gently, "Right?"

Elissa met Slayte's concerned gaze and mutely offered a nod.

"Thank you," she whispered sincerely to her best friend. "You saved my life."

Something flickered across Slayte's eyes. A fleeting look Elissa couldn't quite place. "I…" she started, but seemed to think better of what she had intended to say, instead reaching out to clasp Elissa's hands tightly with her own. "Don't mention it."

* * *

Levi turned the page of his book, absently stroking the ball of fluff that rested upon his lap. The cat mewled, demanding more pets.

"Tch," he scoffed, glancing down at her. "Demanding thing, aren't you? Demon-cat, my ass."

Vetty blinked lazy dark eyes up at him, purring in contentment. He then glanced up as the front-door bell chimed, and blinked in surprise to find that Slayte and Elissa had returned. His eyes shifted to the clock in confusion. They were early. It was only six-twenty in the late afternoon, and there were still a few hours of daylight left.

Closing his book gently and placing it onto the table beside him, he rose to his feet. Vetty hopped off his lap and immediately padded up to her owner, eager to greet her.

"What're you doing back already?" he asked Slayte suspiciously. He could clearly see from their expression that the girls were subdued. When Slayte avoided his gaze, he frowned lightly. "Oi. What happened?"

His girlfriend swallowed. "Elissa had an accident. I had to bring her home."

His eyes moved to Elissa, who had knelt down and scooped Vetty up into a tight hug, burying her face into her cat's soft fur.

"What kind of accident?" Levi lifted a dark brow.

There was a heavy pause.

"It was a swimming accident," Slayte offered tightly. "But it's fine. She's fine." She reassured him. "I got her out, and the medics checked her over. She's alright. I thought it was best we come back early so she can rest, though."

Levi regarded her dubiously. A swimming accident? Did she mean that Elissa had almost drowned? He could see the tension clearly lining Slayte's shoulders, and decided not to push the matter any further - not until they were alone and she could explain everything in more detail to him. It seemed to him to be the right call, however, to wrap up the day early.

Elissa rose to her feet, hugging Vetty close. Levi's glance flicked back onto her. She didn't look any worse for wear, and seemed alright, considering whatever accident it was she'd had.

"Thanks so much for keeping an eye on her today," she said gratefully. "I hope she wasn't too much trouble?"

Levi's eyes fell to the meowing cat. "She's alright," he shrugged evasively, and turned to clear away his tea-cup. "You can bring her round if you need her watched again," he added nonchalantly.

"Really?" Elissa gave him an astonished look, before smiling down at her pet. "Hear that Vetty? You made a new friend. You were a good girl, weren't you?" She scratched the feline's cheeks, prompting Vetty to purr in delight.

"I'm just going to drop Elissa back home," Slayte informed her boyfriend. "I'll be right back."

"Fine, yeah, whatever," Levi dismissed.

"Thanks again, Levi," Elissa called. Levi met her eyes briefly, gave her a short nod, and then the two girls exited the tea-shop once more, leaving a scowling Levi staring after them.

* * *

Elissa closed her front door and sighed, dropping her beach bag to the floor instantly. Slayte had spent the whole way back to her apartment fussing over her, constantly asking if she was alright, if she felt fine. Elissa was relieved to be alone again, to have time to process and come to terms with what had happened to her.

She wondered, once again, how a vine could have forcefully pulled her underwater. It had almost seemed to have a mind of its own - which of course was utterly impossible. Plants didn't go around attacking people. But she knew what she had seen. In her panic-induced terror, had she somehow imagined being pulled down deeper into the bottomless depth of the ocean? No. She was sure she hadn't. She had felt and seen herself getting farther and farther away from the water's surface.

She tossed her keys onto the side-table by the door and ventured straight to her bedroom, Vetty following closely after her. As she sat down on her bed, Elissa recalled the way the water had closed over her head. The incredible weight on her lungs as she'd fought against the instinct to draw breath. Then, the feel of water entering her mouth. She felt her entire body start to tremor again at the unpleasant memory. She knew how to swim. She'd never feared the water before in her life. And yet she had come so very close to losing her life in it. If Slayte hadn't jumped in so selflessly after her, Elissa knew she wouldn't still be alive.

Her thoughts then turned to the person she wasn't certain she had truly glimpsed through the haze of semi-consciousness. It wasn't possible, she told herself, even as her mind nagged otherwise at her.

Vetty rubbed her side against her owner's legs in an attempt to give her comfort. The gentle touch drew Elissa from the torture of her thoughts, though the memory still haunted her. Would she have nightmares where the sea tried to swallow her whole? She desperately hoped not. It was a one-off, she tried to convince herself. A freak accident.

Why, then, couldn't she shake off the sickening feeling that something was very _wrong?_ Like she was missing a very obvious and important piece of a puzzle whose pieces kept eluding her?

Her cell phone rang, and she glanced down at it, to find Cain's name flashing on the screen. She swallowed thickly and lifted it to her ear, glad for the distraction.

" _Elissa, darling."_ His deep voice crooned into her ear. " _Tell me, how is your trip going? Is the cabin pleasing? Isn't it divine?"_

A thin smile surfaced on her lips. "Hey, Cain. It was lovely. Thanks so much for getting a good deal for us at the last minute. I can't thank you enough."

" _Was? You mean you've already left?"_ He sounded surprised. " _I booked it out for you until 9PM. It's not even 7 o'clock yet?"_

"Yeah," Elissa put him on loud-speaker, and grabbed her lounge-wear, exchanging her shorts for comfortable sweatpants. "We came back early."

" _How come? Didn't you enjoy it? If the service wasn't on point, just let me know. I know people who can shuffle things around a bit there."_

"Oh, no, it was great," Elissa reassured him. "I just had an accident, and Slayte was all shaken up, so we called it a day early and drove back."

" _An accident?"_ Open concern was laced in his voice. " _What happened? Are you alright?"_

"I'm fine," she insisted. "I got into some trouble while swimming, and swallowed some water."

" _Trouble?_ _My God!"_ Cain exclaimed. _"You mean you almost drowned?"_

"Something caught onto my leg while I was in the water, and…" Elissa struggled to explain what had happened, not clear on what had fully transpired herself. "And suddenly I was dragged under, and drowning. The next thing I knew, I was awake again with Slayte looking totally freaked out."

" _What was it?"_ Cain asked in astonishment.

"I don't know. Some weird plant tangled around my leg. It was so scary, Cain."

" _That sounds absolutely terrifying, Elissa! It's a good thing your friend got you out in time."_

"Yeah. Yeah, I owe her my life. She pulled me out and I guess the life-guard did CPR on me, because I must've swallowed a lot of water."

" _Have you been checked over again?"_

"Some medics had a look at me, and they say I'm alright," Elissa informed him.

" _You need to be careful,"_ Cain's voice was full of concern. " _And you're sure you're feeling fine, now? No lingering symptoms? No pain in your chest?"_

"No," Elissa replied, casting an absent glance back toward her mirror as she took her top off next. "I don't feel any-" Her voice abruptly caught in her throat, when her eyes suddenly came to rest on the image staring back at her on the other side of the glass.

She was standing, half-turned, away from the full-length mirror, affording her a glimpse of her back in its reflection. What she saw caused her heart to leap into her throat and immediately begin pounding within her chest. She stepped closer to the glass, her eyes wide with disbelief and confusion, as they followed the strange, faint coils of black that tainted the previously flawless skin of her back.

A gasp escaped her lips. She twisted awkwardly, reaching back with her hands, trying to touch the marks, wondering if they were dirt, or bruises or maybe even some kind of stupid prank Slayte had played, drawing a weird tattoo onto her skin - and yet she knew, she already _knew_ with a sinking feeling in the pits of her stomach, that the marks were none of those things. The medics had checked her over while she'd had a blanket draped over her shoulders. They hadn't seen the alarming new blemishes on her back.

"What's that?" she gasped out in panic, completely forgetting that Cain was on the line, listening to her. "Oh my God!"

Vetty lifted her head in response to her owner's alarm, watching her with silent, dark eyes.

"Oh my God," Elissa repeated, trying to smudge the stains away. She grabbed a water bottle, spilt some water on her hand in an attempt to wipe them off. They remained stubbornly in place, no matter how much pressure she tried to apply.

" _Elissa?"_ Cain called her name. _"What's wrong? Elissa?"_

Elissa continued to gape at the marks, stunned and horrified. They were like inky, shadowy black tendrils, forming erratic swirls on her flesh, blooming outward from an irregular, dark line that resembled a stitched up scar and ran down the length of her back. Like someone had dipped a finger straight into black smoke and painted it in random swirls upon the canvas of her skin. Her breathing began to escape her lips in rapid bursts as a sense of mounting hysteria overcame her.

The flash of dark eyes burning into hers filled her memory and suddenly she _knew._ She knew, without question, that her intuition had been right once again - that she had seen him, in that brief moment when she'd drifted in and out of consciousness. Itachi had been _there._ How could it have possibly been anyone else?

Slayte had said it was a life-guard. But it hadn't been. It hadn't been, because the life-guard who _had_ come over with the medical team had looked at Elissa like he was speaking to her for the first time, asking her questions that he would have known the answers to - if he truly had been the one who had assisted Slayte in saving her. Elissa had remained silent, brushing it off at the time, respecting that her friend had had a terrible fright, too. But now the facts were staring her blatantly in the face, and she could no longer ignore them.

Had she been hurt underwater? She couldn't remember. Where had the marks come from?

"I've got to go!" she informed Cain in a senseless hurry. "I'm so sorry, Cain."

" _Wait. Elissa, what's the matter? Do you need me to-"_

"I'll call you back." She abruptly hung up before he could protest any further, and immediately speed-dialled Slayte's number.

Her best friend picked up on the third ring, her voice immediately concerned.

" _Elissa? Hey. What's wrong? Are you al-"_

"What's that on my back?!" Elissa cried into the phone, unable to tear her eyes off the mirror's horrific reflection.

" _What?"_ Slayte sounded taken aback, bewildered.

"What is it? What happened to me?!" Elissa felt dangerously close to hyperventilating. At her feet, Vetty mewled, startled by the depth of her owner's inconsolable agitation.

" _What? Elissa- slow down-"_ Slayte tried to calm her.

"Don't tell me to- what _is_ it?!" Elissa shrieked. "Look- I'm sending you a picture. You must have seen it!" With trembling hands, she took a photo, and sent it straight to Slayte. "Look at it," she urged. "Slayte, look at it! _What is it?!_ "

She watched as two coloured ticks confirmed that Slayte had opened her message. There was a long silence on the other end of the line.

Elissa felt tears well in her eyes. "What is it?" she repeated in a small, frightened voice. "Slayte-"

" _I… I'm not sure,"_ Slayte stammered evasively.

"Slayte," Elissa's voice quivered, as she struggled to retain her rapidly crumbling composure. "You pulled me out of the ocean. You must have seen _something_."

" _I don't know. I didn't notice them,"_ Slayte answered, far too calmly. Suspicion flared in Elissa's mind. Why wasn't her friend freaking out, too? How was it possible she hadn't seen the wispy swirls on her skin if she'd dragged her out? _"Maybe they're bruises you got underwater, or it's a reaction to something? What do you think it is?"_

Bruises? A _reaction?_ Elissa gaped down at the name on the caller ID screen, as if she were speaking to a stranger. Did Slayte really think she was stupid? That she was really that naive? Her best friend was lying. She was lying and Elissa knew it. There was something Slayte was purposefully choosing not to tell her. It hurt, stung, caused an inferno of fury to explode to life within her chest.

With difficulty, she got out, "Slayte. Bruises don't look like this. There's no way any significant wound would heal so fast, or look like that after closing up! Even tiny paper-cuts don't look like that! The marks are black! They don't hurt, at all! What the hell happened to me?!"

" _I don't know what happened,"_ Slayte insisted. " _Really, Elissa-"_

Elissa was thoroughly unconvinced. Growing increasingly irate, she snapped, "Tell me the truth. It wasn't a life-guard who helped you save me, was it?"

"E _lissa, I really don't know what you're talking abo-"_

"Itachi," Elissa's voice shook as she articulated his name. Her entire body was trembling violently again, her heart thundering against her rib-cage with adrenaline. "Was he there with you? I woke up for just a second, and I'm sure I _saw_ him leaning over me. _How_ was he there, Slayte? Why would he, of all people, be?!"

Slayte paused for only a brief instant - but that split-second of hesitation confirmed all of Elissa's suspicions.

" _Elissa, I pulled you out,"_ she replied. _"I told you, the life-guard helped me, there wasn't anyone el-"_

"Then why did the life-guard talk to me like he didn't know a thing about what happened?!" Elissa yelled accusingly down the phone. "There was only one guard assigned for the private cabins; we read that safety sign together when we arrived, Slayte!"

" _I-"_ Slayte faltered, clearly caught off-guard by her best friend's perceptiveness.

"You're lying!" Elissa pounced on her furiously. "What aren't you telling me about him?"

" _Elissa,"_ Slayte desperately tried to diffuse the situation. _"You're upset. Please just take a deep breath and calm down. You were out of it, everything had to have been so scary and confusing for you. Maybe you imagined waking up and-"_

How could Slayte expect her to be calm? When she had unnatural blemishes on her skin? When her very gut was telling her that she had been lied to, and misled, for who knew how long? Angry, hot tears blurred Elissa's vision as she realised that her friend wouldn't tell her the truth. There was no way she would admit to it, no way she would own up to whatever great secret it was that Elissa was now thoroughly convinced Slayte knew about Itachi.

"Don't tell me that!" She rejected. "You aren't answering the question!"

When Slayte once again hesitated, she whispered, "You… you know who he really is, don't you? You told me his family name, knowing full well I wouldn't be able to find out anything about him. Didn't you?!"

" _Elissa, no, I don't know what you're-"_

"He was there on the bridge," Elissa continued relentlessly, simmering internally, stressed and inconsolable with the realisation that she had been right in her misgivings all along. "You knew that, too, didn't you? _Didn't you?_ "

" _You were unconscious on the bridge,"_ Slayte defended incredulously. _"That's how I found you, I swear-"_

"You've never come looking for me on a run before!" Elissa shot back, her words loaded with scepticism. "Even if I don't answer my phone right away, you don't go out looking for me. Everything just doesn't add up, Slayte! You know what these marks are, I know you do! There's no way you could have pulled me out without seeing them!"

" _Elissa, please, you need to calm down. You've been through something traumatic and you're feeling emotional. I don't know what those marks are, but maybe we can go to the hospital together and-"_

"Save it!" Elissa screamed down the phone at her. "Don't patronise me! You're just like he is - too many coincidences. Too many things that don't add up! I thought you were my best friend!" Her voice broke from the force of her emotions.

" _I am,"_ Slayte cried, sounding as if she were on the verge of tears herself. _"Please, Elissa, just-"_

"But you're lying to me. Maybe you've been lying to me all this time, and I've just been too blind to see it," Elissa raged on. "I don't know what's real with you and what isn't!"

" _You- you don't mean that,"_ Slayte gasped, horrified and stricken at the words, flung at her like cutting stones.

"If you won't tell me the truth," Elissa whispered back savagely, "then I'm going to get it out of _him._ "

" _Elissa, please, if you'd just calm down and listen to me-!"_

Elissa cut off the call, not wanting to hear another word, and yanked her wardrobe door open. She hastily changed into a white, cropped tube top, a pair of pale, stone-washed skinny jeans, and threw on a sky-blue cardigan. She didn't care about the time. She needed to go to the riverbank right away.

Her heart hammered within her chest. She felt sick to her stomach. Whatever the inexplicable marks were on her back - she now knew, without a shadow of a doubt, with no element of uncertainty, that Itachi had to have had something to do with them. Just as he'd had something to do with her symptoms following the bridge incident.

He wasn't just a serial killer, or part of some organised crime syndicate. She suddenly wondered whether he was even anything _ordinary_ at all.

"I'll be back," she told Vetty, blinking away the burning tears in her eyes. She paused before she exited the room, to place an affectionate hand over her cat's head. "Sometimes, I think you're the only one honest with me, the only one who can't tell me any lies."

Vetty watched, in mournful silence, as her owner then grabbed her brown satchel bag off the floor, stuffed her phone into it, and quickly exited her apartment, slamming the door angrily shut behind her.

* * *

**A/N:** We'd love your feedback! See you next update!

Levi & Vetty by Vetty (https://vettyart.tumblr.com/)


	20. Part XIX: Dicing with Death

* * *

**Part XIX: Dicing with Death**

* * *

"Oi. You have some explaining to do."

Levi's gaze lifted from the tea tins he was refilling as the bell over the front door jingled merrily - a stark contrast to the gloom in the air - and Slayte appeared in the doorway. His perceptive grey eyes drank in her image, the limp way her raven hair hung loosely around her face, straining against her bun, the weary slouch of her shoulders, the wistful, forlorn look in her usually bright, brown eyes. He weaned what information he could from her outward appearance as she shut the door behind her.

There was no denying that something was off about her. She didn't so much as look up at him as she stepped wordlessly out of her sneakers and shrugged off her black leather jacket. She padded over the hardwood floor with eyes unseeing, her steps slow and disoriented.

It had started weighing down on her the minute she had seen Elissa safely behind closed doors. As soon as she no longer _needed_ to be strong for anyone, to convey the illusion to her friend that all was well, as soon as she was alone and at the mercy of her thoughts, the magnitude of what had nearly happened caught up with her. The images, the fear, the terrible memories weighed heavy on her shoulders, smothering her. It was all she could do the entire way home to push the rising sense of panic as far into her subconscious as possible. Repeating an endless mantra of, " _It's okay, it's okay, it's okay…"_ in her mind. If she couldn't quite bring herself to believe it, at least it blocked out all other thoughts.

She passed by with no sign of having heard him, and as she glided past the counter he reached out and caught hold of her slight wrist.

"Hey, I'm talking to you."

That stopped her, but as she turned to him with eyes unfocused, lost… worry gnawed at him. Something was very, very wrong. She hadn't even looked this out of it the night she came home with her shoulder torn open.

Her eyes darted towards the staircase, cut off from her intended destination but she seemed helpless to communicate her distress in words. Her hand trembled in his grip. Concern and frustration mingled in his steel-grey eyes. By the looks of it, the two of them were completely unharmed, so, what could possibly have happened that had Slayte so out of it?

Her lips moved soundlessly as her eyes flicked from him to the staircase and back again. She tried to pull her arm free, weakly, and finally found her voice. "Please…" was the choked whisper that escaped her throat, begging him to release her as her eyes sought the staircase helplessly once more, eager to escape. To be alone. To shut everything out and wrap herself in her blankets in the dark of her room, to close her eyes and let sleep take her - forever, if at all possible.

"Oi…" he began, his grip on her wrist firm, but gentle, as if he would relinquish his hold at her insistence. "I understand wanting to run away, but are you seriously running away from me right now?"

His voice was low and softer than she was used to, and Slayte lifted cinnamon-brown eyes to his, the shade of the darkest thunderclouds. She held his gaze and grew aware of the warmth of his fingers around her wrist, seeping into her skin. The concern and care reflected in his eyes gave her pause, quelling her instinct to flee. Her eyes searched his, as if just now realizing who it was standing in front of her.

Levi wasn't the one she ran _from,_ if anything, he was always the person she ran _to._ When she was escaping from the underworld and the skies stormed on her, he held open the door to a bright and comforting world. When she was caught in the throes of a wretched nightmare, torn to shreds at the hands of the Erinyes or reduced to nothing by Thanatos' sharingan, his arms offered her refuge and security, keeping all danger at bay. Levi was her only safe haven, where would she run to, if not to him?

Her eyes filled with senseless, miserable tears as she rushed forward, burying her face in his chest and wrapping her arms around him, clinging to him as if he were her anchor in the midst of a hurricane. She wept openly, bitterly, her body wracked with sobs, trembling helplessly. Levi could only hold her close, her slight form all but disappearing into his embrace, his arms shielding her from the world.

As the dam broke and tears fell, her mind flooded with images no longer held at bay by the comforting nothingness she had forced her consciousness into. The ever-retreating tide. The pressure of water over her head, the darkness of the depths below as sunlight glimmered who knew how many meters above. Elissa's face, stricken with horror, fading, fading, fading… her own eyes straining to catch a glimpse of her friend.

Failure. Desperation, horror. Unadulterated, suffocating, blood-curdling _fear._ Elissa's brown hair floating underwater, her body limp and unconscious. The terrible snapping of the ocean plants.

And blood. Oh, gods, the blood. So much of it. In her hair, in her nose, on her face, _everywhere._ The gash in Elissa's back, bleeding enough to drown the world in blood. More than any human should be able to bleed. And her arm.

Her arm, her arm, _her arm._

Floating away, disembodied. The searing, mindless, excruciating pain - the mere memory of it made her want to scream anew.

Slayte gasped for air, but something was wrong with her lungs. She couldn't tell if she had too much air in them or none at all. She choked, she coughed, she gagged, as her stomach, recognizing her body's state of alarm, struggled to empty its contents. She pulled away from Levi and pressed a hand to her mouth, fearing she would be sick, even as she continued gasping for air in short, erratic breaths. Was she still drowning? Still stuck underwater? Where was Elissa?

Strong, tender hands took hold of her shoulders and pulled her back towards himself. Pressing his forehead to hers, he caught her panicked brown eyes in his own, "Slayte," His clear voice cut through the chaos in her head.

"Slayte, listen to me." She blinked away the tears streaming down her face, struggling to break through the suffocating sense of impending doom and follow along with what he was saying. His voice seemed a thousand miles away.

"Breathe with me, Slayte." He inhaled slowly, demonstrating what he wanted her to do but she trembled and sucked in a shaky breath. "Slowly now, Slayte. Come on."

Holding her close, he felt the sweat on her clammy skin, but continued, relentless. She gave herself up to his calm gaze and his soothing words and the grounding sensation of his hands on her shoulders. Concentrated on him as if he were life itself - and breathed. Slowly, in and out, following his directions until the fit had passed and she was no longer shaking with fear.

She was unsteady on her feet and Levi held her firmly against his chest as he breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't the first time he had helped someone through a panic attack, but he never thought he would be confronted with such a situation again after leaving his past behind.

"God, Slayte. What the hell happened out there?"

What had happened? She squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to remember and clung to his shirt instead, inhaling deeply as if the very scent of him could anchor her to reality, to sanity, to safety. Thanatos' wrath. His threat. Elissa's precarious situation. Slayte's helplessness to protect her in any real sense of the word.

Elissa had nearly died. And the ever more likely possibility that Slayte would fail to protect her in any of the attacks that would no doubt follow made her wish the earth would swallow her whole. Why had Thanatos given her such an impossible assignment? Why had he placed such a heavy burden on her insignificant shoulders? However much she wished to protect her friend, she was useless and incompetent, and Elissa's death would be no one's fault but her own. She could not even so much as warn Elissa of the danger that loomed.

When she finally spoke, her words were little more than anguished rambling, "I can't do it, Levi, I can't. I want to protect her, but I'm too weak. Why doesn't he understand?"

Levi's lips pressed together in a thin line of disapproval but he said nothing, listening intently instead.

"She almost -" Slayte shuddered as she strained to voice the words, "She almost…"

"Shh…" Levi comforted her, fearing she would succumb to another attack if she forced herself to say the words aloud.

Slayte shook her head and pulled away, "It's as if the entire world wants her, and I'm all that stands in the way, and I can't, _I can't…_ I want to, but I'm a nothing. A nobody."

She looked up into his eyes as if begging him for words to change what she knew to be the undeniable truth, even as her own filled again with tears, "Elissa's going to die and it's going to be all my fault."

"Hey," he wiped the tears from her eyes, "Hey. No one's dying, okay?"

His hands felt so warm and reassuring on her face as they wiped away her tears, she so desperately wanted to believe him, to dare to hope in the lie.

But her shoulder burned still, and the image of her own arm sinking away into the depths of the ocean as Elissa's body lay limp on her remaining arm, the life slipping out of her, remained engraved in her eyes. She did not even notice that her hand had sought out the spot on her shoulder where the wound had been, rubbing it absentmindedly as the memories of the horrid day plagued her, until Levi's eyes narrowed at the action.

"Were you hurt?" The question was sharp in its concern, jolting Slayte out of her reverie.

She looked up, surprised by the sudden query, and then, realizing what she was doing, quickly drew her hand away. "No, I'm fine," she insisted, and when he only frowned at the dismissal she pulled up her sleeve to put his mind at ease.

His eyes fell on immaculate skin and she persisted, not wanting him to worry any more than he already was, "See? There's nothing there."

Levi's eyes wandered from her arm, to the desperation in her eyes, and back to her arm again. It could have healed. He had seen how the injury on her shoulder had faded away to nothingness in less than two days. Had observed with his own eyes that not even a scar remained as a reminder of the pain she had endured. It could have healed. Just because there was no visible injury, didn't mean she wasn't hurt.

Still, he said nothing, lifting his hand to her arm wordlessly, instead, to rub soothingly at the area she had been clinging to, precisely where, Slayte noted, the phantom pain had been plaguing her. She bit her lip, intending to shrug it off, to reassure him, but instead whispered, "Thank you."

"Don't thank me just yet. Listen, first." The gruff tone of his voice was back in place now that Slayte had sufficiently calmed down enough for him to talk to her.

"From now on, you're not going anywhere without me, you hear?" His eyes were fixed on her arm as he spoke. More certain now than ever, that there had been an injury, one hidden from his eyes, one she kept secret from him, just as she did with all her suffering.

"But, Elissa…" she protested, it wouldn't do any good for her to hide away at home, when she needed to be out there, ensuring Elissa's safety.

"You're not doing this alone. We'll watch over her together, got it? I'm done with you shutting me out and everything going to shit. We'll take her to work, we'll bring her back, we'll hold her hand to cross the street if that's what it fucking takes, but we'll do it together, or you're not doing it at all, am I clear?" His eyes finally slid from her arm to catch her own meaningfully, as if daring her to argue.

She had no strength left to do so, nor did she wish to, and instead nodded silently.

With an irritated sigh, he continued, "I doubt you're going to tell me what really happened, or what you're fighting, or how you got out of whatever situation it was… so, at the very least, stop going it alone."

His hand fell away from her arm, then, his gaze boring into her, as if offering her a chance to prove him wrong, to communicate openly.

She was eager to comply, desperate for someone to share her anguish with, and provided as much information as she dared, "We were attacked on neutral ground. I don't know by who and the not knowing terrifies me." Slayte hesitated, before adding, "I can tell you how we got out, though." She ignored the tremor that still laced her shoulders as she reached into her pocket. When she drew out the switchblade he had forced on her that morning and lifted it up to his expectant gaze, she looked into his stormy grey eyes, her own awash with gratitude.

"You saved me. Like you always do."

For once, Levi was at a loss for words as he lifted the knife out of her hands. The familiar weight of it, fitting, like an extension of himself, and the knowledge that it had come to good use made him all the more appreciative of the tool that had always served him so well. He set the knife on the counter and pulled Slayte close again. "No more secrets. No more outings. No more coming home crying, okay?"

She hugged him back fiercely, and answered with more confidence than she had a right to feel. "Okay."

When Slayte's cell phone rang from her jacket pocket hanging from the wardrobe, she lifted her head, immediately alarmed. She recognized the ringtone she had assigned to her best friend and her heart raced with worry. "It's Elissa," she informed Levi, who then released her hesitantly, allowing her to sprint across the room to retrieve her phone, hastily accepting the call and pressing the phone to her ear.

"Elissa," she began breathlessly, her heart pounding in her ears, praying everything would be alright, "Hey. What's wrong? Are you al-"

But before she could so much as finish her sentence, Elissa's voice on the other end picked up in agitated tones, demanding to know what the shadows on her back were. Slayte took a deep breath, hoping for patience and wisdom. It took all her strength not to simply say, " _You were a hair's width from dying, Elissa. Those shadows are proof you're alive. Thanatos saved you."_ She wished she could be honest with her friend, especially given the grim outlook of their current situation, but she had no say in the matter. As much as she wished to be free and tried to convince herself it was true, moments like this one, where she was forced to do what she herself did not approve of, made that disturbingly clear.

Her tongue was stiff and felt thick in her mouth as she struggled to think up believable lies. They were the last things she wanted to tell Elissa after the ordeal the two girls had endured together, but Thanatos' orders had been absolute. She could not truly resent Thanatos, not when he had saved Elissa's life, but she wished he had taken this side of Elissa into consideration, wished he had realized how preferable the bitter truth is to a false sense of security.

* * *

Elissa's heart pounded thunderously in her chest, the force of its chaotic rhythm akin to the beating of fatalistic war-drums calling warriors to their impending dooms. The sun had not yet started its descent in the sky, and thankfully the weather was still pleasant. She had a fair bit of daylight left to spend outside.

Every step closer to the river's edge, the very place she had avoided for two whole weeks, filled her with increasing trepidation. She recalled her last meeting with him, how upset she had been when she'd stormed off. As the familiar location finally drew within her line of sight, she almost faltered in her resolve, questioning whether it was wise - or safe - to have come barrelling down without a clear plan of what she was going to say when she saw him.

He was nowhere to be found, of course. She hadn't expected him to be there. And yet, as she reached the cluster of oak-trees in the secluded spot by the river's edge, she resolutely told herself that she would not move from her position until he appeared. Someway, somehow, she would _make_ him - by whatever means it usually was that he had always known just when to find her.

Elissa folded her arms defensively across her chest and leaned back against the tree, waiting sullenly. From her position, she had a good angle of all directions, all possible places that Itachi might appear from. She wanted to discern how, exactly, he approached. She had never seen him walking toward her before; he had always only ever appeared behind her, around her, somewhere out of thin air. This time, she was determined that the manner of his coming would not elude her.

Her nerves jangled with anticipation, tightly wired, on the verge of snapping entirely. The anger at Slayte's lies was still roaring in her veins like a blazing furnace. She felt cheated. Insulted. Belittled and betrayed. She wouldn't leave this spot, she told herself fiercely, until Itachi appeared, until she got answers. This time, no matter how curtly he tried to brush her off, she would remain undeterred.

She stood, watching the people walking in the distance, seemingly without any cares in the world. How she envied them. They didn't have her worries. Her insecurities. Her stresses. They probably didn't have so-called best friends who spun webs of deceit around them, or mysterious men in masks who showed up in unexpected places only to deny ever being there, either.

Elissa sighed heavily to herself as the dreary minutes dragged on. Ten minutes became twenty, twenty became thirty, and she began to shift on her feet tiredly. Still he was nowhere to be found. She scowled unhappily to herself, and sank down to the ground, sitting by the base of the tree to rest. Hugging her knees to her chest, she glumly inspected the grass. Her gaze then moved to the river's tranquilly flowing water, trying to rein in the tempest of her emotions. If he wasn't here, then that meant she had time to figure out how best to approach him.

The prospect of facing him again for the first time in a fortnight, when they'd already parted on bad terms, caused her anxiety to escalate. As an hour crept slowly by, she found herself fearing that he would not show up at all. She bit her lower lip, her eyes continuing their constant scan of her visual periphery.

"Itachi," she muttered into the air. "Where are you?"

Her only response was the rustling of leaves in the gentle summer breeze that stirred through the tree-boughs high above her head. She huffed and pulled out her phone to glance at the time, seeing multiple missed calls from both Slayte and Cain. She felt a twinge of remorse for hanging up on Cain so abruptly. He had only meant well. Slayte, on the other hand…

Her thumb dragged down the message preview window, and her narrowed eyes skimmed over the earlier ones Slayte had sent right after Elissa had disconnected their call.

**Slayte - [19:03PM]**

_Please, please pick up. Even if it's to scream at me. Let me know you're alright. Please, Elissa._

**Slayte - [19:04PM]**

_Where are you? Just tell me and I'll come over. We can talk. Please just answer your phone!_

Elissa ignored the newer messages. It would be more of the same, and she felt zero guilt in not acknowledging Slayte right then. She wouldn't lose her focus, or allow anything to distract her from her mission to unearth the truth about Itachi once and for all.

Rising back to her feet, she peered around the trunk of the tree she was leaning against. Still, Itachi was nowhere to be found. She gritted her teeth in frustration, and walked up to the edge of the river to toss some stones. When she'd grown tired of that, she began to walk along the riverbank, keeping her eyes peeled for any sign of him. The minutes continued to tick by. When an hour and a half had passed, she felt her frustration bubble over inside her chest, burning through her throat and then deployed itself as words on the tip of her tongue, which she then proceeded to shout out into the air.

Nobody else was within hearing range. And if anyone happened to look in her direction and spot a young woman talking to herself and think she was deranged, then so be it.

"Itachi! I know you're out here somewhere!" she exclaimed. "Come out! I want to talk to you! You always knew how to find me at the right time before!" She turned her head searchingly. "I don't know how, but you knew, so do it now! I'm not moving from this spot, until you come out!"

Silence - and emptiness met her ears and eyes. Her sense of despair crested, as the very real possibility that he simply wouldn't materialise presented itself to her. She shook her head, irked. It didn't matter. Even if he didn't show up now, she wouldn't stop trying until he _did._ He couldn't avoid her forever.

An hour and forty two minutes had passed. Elissa paced the river's edge restlessly, like a woman possessed. Tears stung at her eyes. What was she _doing?_ If her family saw her like this, in such a state, they would surely think she was out of her mind. Maybe she was. Consumed by the need to know who - and what - Itachi Uchiha truly was.

"Are you hiding?" she demanded angrily. "Are you too afraid to meet me? You- you coward!" She knew, in her heart, that it was foolish, reckless even, to goad one who had openly admitted to ending lives - and yet she was growing ever more desperate by his absence. She didn't want to entertain the possibility that he couldn't somehow hear her, after all.

She ran her hands stressfully through her long, loose tresses. The more time that passed by, the more agitated she grew. She returned to the tree, and crouched down to wait some more, depositing her bag onto the ground. Her phone informed her that she had now passed well over the two hour mark in her vigil. The sky was turning pink, signalling the sun's descent. Soon it would be dark. How much longer would she have to wait?

She slipped her phone back into her bag, and rose to her feet again, clenching her hands into fists.

"I'm not leaving!" she yelled into the air, her eyes darting left and right. "You can't ignore me forever! Come out! I'm staying right here! Even if it gets cold and dark, I'll wait here overnight if I have to, if that's what it takes to make you show up and talk to me!" She paced some more. "I have no food with me, no water; I'll just wait out here, alone, and whatever ends up happening to me tonight, that's on _you_ because you didn't have the guts to show up and-!"

"Angelissa."

Elissa's breath caught in her throat, and her heart lurched violently in her chest, at the quiet, familiar murmur of her name behind her. Spoken calmly in a voice as rich and dark as black velvet. As dark as the shadowy tendrils that tainted the skin of her back.

Shakily, she exhaled. Once more, she had not seen him approaching, and was furious at herself for missing it again. She swallowed thickly, her throat all at once dry. No. No, she wouldn't lose her mettle now. Not when he had finally chosen to show himself.

Steeling herself, she took a deep breath, and turned to face him for the first time in weeks - and felt the air flee her lungs once more.

He stood, tall and silent, dignified and majestic, wrapped in a long midnight-black cloak, as if he had leapt straight from the pages of mythical stories depicting magnificent, resplendent heroes and legends from long forgotten, ancient eras. Her eyes, which seemed to have been starved of the sight of him, ravenously feasted upon his handsome frame as they trailed along the broad expanse of his proudly-set shoulders, over the long, silky strands of his bound raven hair, caressed by the gentle breeze around them - before settling upon the masked face that was always shrouded in secrecy, ever a barrier between them.

He wasn't anything ordinary. How could he be, so beautiful, so terrible in his beauty? She'd sensed something was different about him from the very start. All that remained to be seen was just how _different_ he truly was.

His dark, heavy-lashed eyes locked immediately onto hers, and Elissa felt her pulse gallop even faster. She couldn't tear her own away from him, as she was reminded of the power and intensity of that penetrating, perceptive gaze. Those onyx eyes seemed to suck her in, like swirling black holes from which not even gravity could escape. Who knew what manner of secrets lay in those bottomless, profound depths? They held within them the secrecy of shadows, of forbidden things, the endless unknown. And Elissa could not help but feel drawn in, for she so desperately wished to _know._

He stood a carefully measured distance away, regarding her steadily with that same, unreadable expression she had become so accustomed to seeing on the parts of his face that were visible to her.

"You heard me," she began accusingly, pleased to hear that her voice was holding, despite how nervous she felt being alone with a man she knew had terminated lives with the very hands that were hidden away beneath his cloak.

He _had_ heard her call. There was no other way to explain his coming. The puzzle pieces were clicking into place in Elissa's mind with frightening clarity. The archaic manner in which he spoke. His very attire, regal and yet strange, as if it belonged to another era and world entirely. The concealing mask. The way he always knew precisely how to find her whenever she was by the riverbank. The event on the bridge, where he had somehow appeared to her, and done _something_ that had caused her to envisage a beautiful, flowering garden blooming to life all around her, resulting in her losing consciousness entirely and sleeping for a whole day afterwards.

His words, wise, world-weary and knowing, belonging to one far older than what he appeared to physically be in age. The continuous, instinctive feeling she'd consistently had of something being off about him, even as he'd captivated her in a way nobody else ever had before. Everything unknown about him, and how it made no sense for him to take the time to stop and speak with her at all, given his supposed line of work. Slayte's reactions to him, her words about him, the confounding way he refused to answer even the simplest questions about himself.

And now, the wispy black marks on her back. The nagging feeling she couldn't shift that once again, her eyes had met his on the beach, just before she'd succumbed to unconsciousness again.

He gave no response, the need to confirm his actions seemingly not something he deemed necessary to waste any words upon. Elissa pushed onwards, reminding herself of why she was here; she wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"Itachi," she said, her voice much quieter. "Itachi Uchiha. That _is_ your real name, isn't it?" He blinked upon hearing this, and she stepped toward him, a part of her terrified to bridge the safe gap between them - but her anger gave her the courage required to close in, trusting in the fact that he hadn't ever once lifted a finger to hurt _her_.

He did not move, merely continued to watch her in unnerving silence, neither verifying nor disputing her words.

"If you won't deny it, then your silence confirms it," Elissa whittled on. "Slayte told me the name of the family she used to work for. Your family. That _is_ you, and yet there's nothing about you or any Uchiha family from Greece when I looked it up online. Nothing! No records at all. It's like you don't even exist. So who _are_ you, really?"

There was a stifling pause. Then Itachi stated smoothly, "You have just now stated what you believe to be my name." His familiar, gentle tones settled around her, immediately weaving their richly dark spell. It pained her to acknowledge that despite everything, despite her better sense of judgement, a part of her had missed hearing his voice. "Have you not...?" he added. His eyes, behind the gilded mask, were unwavering as they regarded her intently.

Elissa halted in her advance toward him, her hands curling into fists. She wasn't about to let him twist her words. Not this time.

" _What_ are you?" she clarified. "You know exactly when to find me here. You just showed up after I called for you, and I don't even know how! It's like you appear out of thin-air. I never see you coming. You speak like- like you belong to a completely different society and era! As if you're some kind of royalty and- your clothes, too!" She gestured at the finely tailored attire. "Nobody dresses like that! You won't tell me the simplest things about yourself; your age, where you live - you don't even have a cell phone, yet you still manage to know just when to show up here!" She drew in a breath, knowing that her words were falling from her lips in a tumbling rush, but weeks' worth of pent-up emotions were rising to the surface and rolling straight off the tip of her tongue.

"That incident at the bridge - you denied it, but I know what I saw." Her eyes burned fiercely into his, daring him to defy her. "You came to me, you _did_ something to me, and you tried to pass it off as my own imagination, but I have never, _ever_ been one to hallucinate. It took me two days to recover from whatever it was you did to me! I came to you wanting to understand, willing to listen, but you were cold. You chose to patronise and belittle me - both you and Slayte!" Her eyes, to her horror, stung with tears. She battled to keep them restrained. "You've both made me feel like I've been losing my mind, second-guessing myself constantly, questioning what I know I've seen with my own eyes! Well, you can't worm your way out of _this_ one, Itachi."

With that, she marched right up to him, shrugged out of one sleeve of her cardigan, and turned her back to him, pushing her long hair aside to allow him to look upon the faint tendrils that tainted her flesh.

"Tell me what this is," she demanded, feeling as though her heart had wedged itself into her throat in anticipation of hearing the truth.

Another, weighted pause filled the air, in which she could _feel_ his gaze examining her back unhurriedly. It was as if his very eyes were channelling liquid fire over the paths the shadowy coils took over her skin.

Elissa barely managed to suppress a shudder, when Itachi's voice murmured right behind her, "What is it you wish me to explain?"

She sucked in a disbelieving breath, and whirled around to face him once more. Pulling her cardigan hastily back on, she exclaimed incredulously, "You know what those marks are. You were there, at the cabin on the beach earlier today! After Slayte dragged me out! I _saw_ you!"

He tilted his head quizzically, as if to indicate that he had no idea what she was talking about.

Elissa fumed up at him. "Don't- don't try to deny it again! I won't let you! You _know_ what I'm talking about. I was dragged under water and almost drowned. Slayte got me out and you were there, and again, I have no explanation for what happened, just like on the bridge! You did something to me! Again!"

"What," he replied evenly, "is it you are accusing me of this time?"

"You-! You caused those marks!" Elissa hurtled at him. "Just admit it!"

"..." He regarded her placidly. "You believe me to be capable of such?"

"I-" she fumbled, before anger caused her to jab a finger straight into his chest in frustration. His eyes flicked down, observing the intruding digit, but he made no move to stop her, allowing her to vent freely. " _You_ tell me! Stop twisting my words. I won't let you, not this time. I know you were there, and I want the truth! Slayte says they're bruises, but she's lying to me too. I know what bruises look like, and these are like-" she scoured her mind for the right words, "like someone inked shadow tattoos right onto my skin. Enough lies. Just tell me the truth, Itachi!"

A tense minute of quiet passed, in which Elissa stared up at him with wide eyes, feeling breathless. Her stomach coiled with dread, when she realised, with a sinking feeling, that once more, he was choosing to meet her questions with stoic, unwavering silence.

"You really aren't going to tell me what it is? Even though we both know you had a hand in it?" She demanded incredulously.

"What," he answered simply, in the sort of patient tone not too dissimilar to one an adult took when seeking to placate a hysterical child, "is it you expect to hear?"

Elissa was livid. "Don't you dare patronise me again! All these strange, unexplainable things have happened to me and it's been no coincidence that _you've_ been there each time! I told you, I know what I saw! What are these marks on my back?!"

When he stubbornly said nothing else, she shook her head at him, disappointment burning like bitter poison in her throat. "You're unbelievable. You won't say it was you…" her voice quivered, falling to just above a whisper. "But you don't deny it. Why? Why won't you just admit it? I've been left with unnatural scars and you don't even have the decency to explain what they are to me, what we both know you did?!"

When he still did not speak a word, Elissa squeezed her eyes shut in frustration. She couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't _stand_ the callous way he shut her out and left her to form her own conclusions. Why had he even bothered to show up at all, if it was to leave her without explanation again? She would have much rather not seen him. Fresh fury exploded to life in her veins, emboldening her to take a step forward, so that she stood right before him.

"Remove your mask," she ordered, her eyes twin-flames of determination. "Show me your face."

When he remained silent and still, she insisted angrily, reaching up for it, ready to tear the damned thing from him. "Take it off, Itachi!"

Warm hands closed firmly around her slender wrists, halting Elissa in her attempt to lift the barrier from his eyes. She felt a jolt akin to an electrical current shoot through her body at the unexpected skin-to-skin contact, her wrists tingling from his touch. She hadn't even seen him lift his hands to stop her, and wondered if he'd felt the strange, electrifying sensation, too.

The corners of his lips tilted downward marginally - fractionally - so briefly that it was lost entirely to Elissa as she pushed forward, fighting to reach his face. But his grip was like an iron vice locked around her, immovable, unshakeable. He didn't even appear to be putting any effort into keeping her struggles at bay. He held her wrists in the unconcerned manner in which an adult subdued a wayward, tantruming child. With the same level of effortless ease and nonchalance.

Elissa blinked up at him, startled by the strength of his hold - even though his fingers around her were barely applying any pressure at all. His eyes regarded her aloofly - and yet there was a tinge of something akin to pity in those onyx depths. That only served to add further fans to the flames of unrest that were scalding Elissa alive on the inside.

"Itachi," she frowned, continuing to wrestle against his unyielding grasp. "Let go! Take the damned mask off-!"

"Angelissa." Her name fell from his lips, like indulgent black silk. Ensnaring her. The tone was patient - but held in it a gentle undertone that warned her against struggling further. "Cease this."

She glared unhappily up at him. His face was only inches away from her seeking fingertips. So close, it would only take a second for her to reach out and snatch the blasted mask off. She needed only one second.

An idea presented itself to her. Elissa forced her balled fists to relax, and she stiffly conceded, averting her gaze, "Fine. _Fine._ Just let me go."

Slowly, his fingers respectfully relinquished their hold at her request - but no sooner had they fallen away, Elissa's eyes flew back upward and her hands shot out, trying, once more, to rip the mask away from his face. When his fingers snagged her wrists again, tighter this time in their hold, it was in a reflexive motion so lightning swift, that an alarmed gasp escaped Elissa's lips.

How had he moved so fast? How was it possible that he had stopped her in time? He should not have been able to react so quickly, with how close her hands had already been to his face.

Elissa gawked up at him in shock. "How did you do that...?"

She tried, once more in vain, to twist her wrists from his grasp. It was impossible, akin to being locked in solid metal manacles.

"Do not." The spoken words now held an audibly dangerous edge that Elissa had never heard him direct toward her before; an undisguised, overt warning that he would not tolerate a third attempt, that she was pushing too far. The eyes behind the mask narrowed down at her in disapproval. Elissa's heart leapt. It was the closest she had ever seen Itachi coming to being outwardly displeased with her - and caused the fire of her anger to fizzle considerably.

In that brief moment, everything about him screamed danger, and for the first time since knowing him, Elissa felt a real sliver of fear crawl down her spine.

The cautioning, intimidating look was gone in a split-second from his face, however, as his features relaxed once more into perfect indifference and he once again calmly released her wrists.

When he did so, this time, Elissa slowly, tentatively lifted her hands back up to his chest. Immediately his own rose to ward hers away, but this time he did not grip her wrists. Instead he held his palms up, hovering them before her own, just shy of touching. The wordless gesture was unmistakable. It told her with absolute finality to stop. He would permit her to press no further.

Despair and desperation filled her. Throwing all caution to the wind, she gingerly pressed her hands against his more gently, feeling the warmth of his skin once again, marvelling at how small hers were in comparison to his own, and then boldly entwined her fingers between his.

Itachi's dark eyes blinked and moved to examine their hands, inspecting them with a curious sense of detachment, as if the act of interlacing fingers in such a way was a foreign concept to him entirely. He did not close his fingers around hers - nor did he pull back from her touch or push her away. He simply permitted her hands to remain in place. Encouraged by this, Elissa tightened her grip and stepped closer, until she was standing toe to toe with him. Her pulse raced. She had never dared to approach him so freely or closely before, and could scarcely believe what she was doing.

But she had to try a different method, she reasoned, since anger and yelling obviously had little effect on persuading him to open up to her. Willing herself to calm down, she reined in her composure.

"Itachi," the quieter fall of his name from her lips this time drew those long-lashed, intense onyx irises back to her face. "Please," she entreated sincerely, looking up into that all-consuming black gaze. "What could possibly be so horrible, so terrible that you feel you can't show your face to me?" When he didn't reply, she pressed on softly, "Scars? Marks? I don't care about any of that. Whatever it is, I can handle it. I'm not afraid. Please, won't you show me? Let me see you, just once."

"..." He said nothing, his gaze travelling slowly over her features as he listened to her in silence.

"Show me I have nothing to be afraid of," she insisted. "You asked me to empty my cup, didn't you?"

He blinked, his eyes searching hers once more. Elissa waited with baited breath, and was just starting to hope that he was perhaps considering it - when slowly, gently, he lowered her arms back to her sides. Her hands felt the absence of his, as soon as he disengaged his fingers from hers, in a wordless gesture that spoke volumes. He would not remove his mask. He would not explain why. She would not try again.

"You're really not going to answer…" It dawned upon her, that she was fighting a hopeless, lost cause.

The fight left her. All at once, she felt drained. Exhausted. Disheartened and defeated. Nothing she did or said, nothing she tried it seemed, would move him, was capable of swaying him. Her eyes blurred once more with unshed tears of sadness and frustration. A smothering, uncomfortable silence fell between them, in which she could feel his gaze lingering upon her. Elissa looked dejectedly toward the river, the very place they had first met at, so many months ago. An overwhelming sense of despair overcame her, and she closed her eyes, once again fighting the urge to cry.

"Will the marks ever fade?" She whispered miserably. "Can't you at least, please, just tell me that...?"

There was another, lengthy pause. Then, to her astonishment, he answered simply, "No."

She sucked in a sharp breath. Her eyes flew open, wide as saucers as they returned to his, stunned by the implications of the single word he had unexpectedly uttered - practically confirming that he knew about the nature and cause of the mysterious inking on her skin after all - and therefore, by extension, had also been at the beach - just as Elissa had suspected.

She hadn't imagined it! Any of it! The sheer relief of knowing she wasn't losing her mind after all mingled with the sudden horror of what that had to mean.

"You…" She struggled to speak, struggled to keep panic from overtaking her trembling body as understanding slowly began to dawn upon her, planting alarming seeds in her mind that whispered to her that Itachi might be something _otherworldly_ entirely. Elissa was horrified. It was impossible, she rejected, even as all the facts stared her blatantly in the face, screaming and pointing toward only one viable conclusion.

Itachi had been leaning over her when she'd opened her eyes. Had he assisted her, somehow? Was _that_ what the smoky tendrils were? Had he done something to heal her grievous injury, that had resulted in dark blemishes on her flesh which, by his admission, would remain etched on her forever?

"You _were_ there," Elissa confirmed in a frightened whisper. She'd known it! "What did you do? Was I hurt? Did you... help me, somehow…?" She took an unthinking, instinctive step backwards, as if restoring distance between them would somehow help her sift through the cacophony of her riotous, tumultuous thoughts.

He remained stonily silent. The slight tilt of his head, however, made Elissa assume that she was correct in her guess. She recalled the moment when she had briefly awoken and met his eyes. She had felt a warm hand resting gently on her back. She was certain of it. It had to have been _his_ hand - there had been nobody else within her field of vision but him. Why would his hand be upon her back? There was no reason - unless she had been wounded.

"You… healed me…?" she frowned in confusion, her tongue forming the only logical conclusion her mind could supply. When he said nothing, she continued thickly, "But how…?" Helplessly she searched his guarded gaze, feeling like everything she had believed in was crumbling around her. Suddenly, her very sense of reality was rocked off balance, slipping between her fingers like finely-grained sand.

"How?" she repeated desperately. "That's impossible! Those marks- they're not natural!"

"People are limited," he answered smoothly, cryptically, his voice a dark caress. "To their own perceptions. To the confines of what they perceive to be possible and true."

His eyes bore into hers, intense and terrible in the weight of their stare. His words sounded like a deafening affirmation of his role in healing her to Elissa's ears. Had the answers been in front of her all along? Was that what Itachi had truly meant, by asking her to empty her cup?

"What…?" she gaped, nonplussed, trying to grasp what understanding she could from his words. What was he saying? And again, why had he been there at all? How had he found her? _Why_ had he healed her?

He was a killer, she thought in bewilderment, overrun by the pandemonium in her mind. He had told her that he ended lives. He was no healer. No manner of ordinary _human_ medicine left one marked in such a way. Elissa gulped. It was difficult to remain composed and level-headed, when she was suddenly presented with the very probable possibility that the things he had done to her verged on the supernatural.

"What…" she managed to get out with great effort, "are you?"

Why wasn't he saying anything? Couldn't he see that she wanted, so desperately, to understand? She fisted her hands through her hair, releasing a choked sob of panic. "What _are_ you?" Tears welled in her eyes. "Tell me what those marks are, how you did it! _Please!_ If they won't ever vanish, I have the right to know what you did that permanently blemished my body!"

He continued to stare unsympathetically down at her, offering nothing more, detracting nothing less from the conclusions he could read were already clearly painted on her expressive, anguished features. Elissa took another step back, tempted to turn away and run. But how could she, without answers? And how could she gain answers, when he was refusing to say anything?

When he took a step backwards in turn, as if intending to leave, her stomach twisted, clenching into tight knots of dread. If he departed now, somehow, she had the feeling it would be a long time - if ever - that she would be able to speak with him again.

"Wait. Itachi!" She stretched out a palm to him. "Wait!"

He paused, mid-turn, angling his head back toward her. Despite every reason she had to be fearful of him, he remained ever courteous, patient. It tore at Elissa's heart, thundering fitfully against her rib-cage. It was now or never, she told herself. Perhaps her only chance to get everything off her chest. She was afraid of what she was about to say, as if speaking the words that tormented her mind aloud, as if trying to give voice to the complex, complicated emotions he stirred into being within her, would cement them as reality. She didn't comprehend her own need to understand him. Why it was so imperative for her to do so, when he clearly did not wish for her to know any more than what he chose to disclose to her.

She had no right to pry further, when he had made it clear he would not budge, so why did his shutting her out hurt so much? He owed her nothing, no more than she owed him anything. Why, then, did she feel so plagued by discontent? Why did his frosty silences wound her?

"We spent so many hours talking in this very spot, didn't we?" Her voice wavered, as she wore her heart on her sleeve, open for him to see. "Did that time mean nothing at all to you? Do you really think so little of me, trust me so little, that you think I can't accept any explanation you give me?"

"And why," he answered, his voice clipped, its curt tone akin to a jagged shard of ice that froze over her blood, "is it you feel you are owed an explanation?"

She stared at him in surprise, hurt, at a loss to verbalise her feelings. She didn't even understand them herself. How could she begin to try to make sense of them out loud?

"Because…" she answered in confusion. "I thought we were friends. Weren't we, at one point, at least...?"

Itachi's eyes were reticent. Chillingly so. "An assumption on your part."

Elissa released a quiet breath, feeling his words strike her like a physical blow. So she had been the fool, after all? The only one out of them who had looked forward to their meetings? She was rendered speechless for a few, horrible seconds, and stared up at him in dismay.

"Why did you meet me at all, then?" she finally asked, bewildered and disconcerted by the uncharacteristic coldness of his words. This wasn't the Itachi she had gotten to know. Why was he being so hurtful?

"You were linked to our investigation," he stated flatly.

Elissa could not believe her ears. They'd sat for hours together. Shared sweet-treats. He'd written things down in her notebook. Listened to her story and told her not to give up on her writing. She couldn't accept that it had all been an act. None of that had anything to do with any investigation, surely.

"That's it?" Elissa's hands clenched into fists again. "That's the real reason? I was just part of whatever it was you were looking into? You're really telling me that you- you _faked_ it all? You only met me because you _had_ to? Is that what you're saying?"

His expression remained indecipherable.

"You're lying. I don't believe you," she rejected. "Why would you spend all that time and effort on idle talk? That doesn't make any sense!"

His eyes were like glittering black diamonds. Hard-edged and sharp. "It is the truth," he replied coldly, his words ringing with ruthless finality.

She inhaled sharply. She didn't want to believe it. And yet suddenly, it seemed to Elissa not to be so far-fetched. He had certainly allowed her to talk a great deal about herself, after all. She didn't even know what he was looking into, to question his motives. Maybe he had already found out whatever he needed to, without her even realising. Apprehension and dread filled her. She tried desperately to think what he might have been after - but her mind drew infuriating blanks.

 _I ought to have known_ , she told herself bitterly, feeling young, naive and betrayed, her cheeks burning with indignant humiliation. She wanted to hate him for spinning webs of deceit over her. She wished she could. But all she felt was loathing toward herself. She had been drawn to him from the start, and the fault was entirely hers for allowing herself to get so carried away with the time they'd spent together. She suddenly recalled Slayte's warnings to her, that had fallen upon unhearing ears.

" _He is cruel. He is heartless. Don't let him reel you in. It's what he does - until he breaks you."_

"Then…" Sickening realisation slammed into her, and it was difficult to articulate the next words. "It meant nothing to you… you just… you're saying that it was all just an act…?"

His lips were pressed into a thin, unyielding line. He said nothing to that. But he didn't need to. Elissa had already heard enough.

Her head bowed low, and her shoulders slumped. "I see," she said softly. A long moment of silence ensued.

"You know what's stupid?" she then began bitterly in a low voice. "I told myself the last time we met that I wouldn't come back here anymore. That you clearly didn't trust me and that was the end of it. I told myself I wouldn't think about you, that we couldn't be friends. That it was the right thing to do, to place distance between us and not see you again."

Itachi was silent. Her words hit precariously too close to his own truths - ones he could not and would not disclose to her. For her own good, he reminded himself firmly, though it gave him no pleasure to see her so crestfallen, so dejected, knowing he was the root cause of her unrest and unhappiness. It further underlined the fact in his mind that it was for the very best that they no longer saw each other again following this meeting. Indeed, he had only appeared to her then because her safety had been compromised, because her words that had threatened to lead to reckless actions had compelled him to do so. But it was as clear as daylight to Itachi that each subsequent meeting brought Angelissa further pain, confusion and turmoil. What had started as innocent talks by the river, had morphed into something else entirely, something dangerous that he had to contain and cut off before any further damage was done. The need to do so, he could see, was more imperative now than ever. And the only way to do that was to speak words that he knew would regrettably hurt her now - but surely spare her any further suffering later.

She had grown far too attached to him. His perceptive eyes could discern it all too clearly, and that fact filled him with unrest and an unfamiliar, unsettling alarm, like a burdening weight he could not quite grasp or define. He was the one at fault, he knew. He was a wise immortal who knew far better than she, a guileless young human; and yet he had allowed their meetings to carry on for far longer than was necessary or required, lost sight even, somehow, of the original purpose behind them, until he had no longer met her because his investigation simply required it, but because he, himself, had started _wanting_ to, because he had selfishly desired to hear her vivid stories and endless chatter relating to a colourful world so full of life, so wholly and decidedly different to his dreary, grey reality.

It had been uncharacteristically ill-advised of him, of course, and led to him prioritising her well-being to a greater degree than what he felt and knew was acceptable given their dynamic. He was meant to be an impartial deity. He had no place in her life. She was only meant to encounter him at the moment of her decreed death. And yet their tentative bond had bloomed despite this and had caused him to take interfering actions that had forced him to hide truths from her. Something he had never wished or intended to do. As a result of those very actions he had taken, their meetings had become tense and burdensome affairs. She suffered from them, and it was for the best that he summoned final words of parting that would let her know, without any dispute or possible room for misinterpretation, that there would be no future encounters between them.

They belonged to different worlds. As different as the night was from the day. She could never know it, never know what he truly was. But _he_ did, was all too acutely aware of that harsh, unchangeable truth. It was useless to spend any further time in one another's company. Irrational. Hopeless. And yet - and yet, he found himself turning back toward her, listening intently and kindly to her, allowing her the opportunity to communicate what was on her mind. It was, he told himself, the very least he could do, as he held himself fully accountable for her anguish.

He wished for those eyes, flecked with the gold of stars themselves, to only smile. Instead, his presence brought her tears. He had clearly infringed upon her peace far more deeply than he had ever intended. Indeed, he had not intended it at all, so ever prudent and careful a deity as he was, one who did not encourage or engage in superfluous and shallow connections.

And she, too - he was not insensitive to the fact - had also begun infringing upon his private musings. When Itachi saw the brown of the earth, he found himself unexpectedly thinking of the shades of her gently-waving hair. When he glimpsed green and gold, he thought of her vibrant eyes, so full of the warming glow of precious life. She was mortal. He was Death. It was nonsensical. Illogical. Without meaning or purpose. It had to stop. His jaw clenched decidedly, his strong sense of responsibility overriding everything else. It _would_ stop. He would afford her just this final moment, and then - no more. He would do the right thing - the _merciful_ thing - and free her of the torment his presence rained upon her.

"I went home, so angry and upset," she ventured on, clasping her hands tightly before her. "I couldn't understand how someone who had only ever shown me kindness, someone who seemed so wise, could have lied to me." The tears, to Elissa's shame and dismay, now rolled freely down her cheeks. Itachi watched her silently, his expression betraying nothing of his inner thoughts.

"You've killed people. In my head, there's no way that can be justified, but you refuse to explain it. Even though we'd agreed that every life is precious, I still tried to understand why you would do it." She glanced up at him. When he said nothing, Elissa wrung her hands listlessly, and continued, "The lives you've taken, the bridge incident - whatever you did to me - and today, with the marks on my back; everything tells me that I _should_ be afraid of you." She felt pitiful, but it was far too late to stop now. She would say everything she needed to say, because she wanted to leave knowing she had kept nothing inside, that she had tried everything she could to gain closure and clarity.

"I have so many reasons to stay away from you. But even knowing all that, I kept remembering things you'd said to me. Even when I didn't want to, I'd think about your words, about our meetings here before everything changed. I can't just forget about all our talks. Regardless of what you've said, whichever way _I_ think of it, it makes no sense for someone _bad_ to take time out of their day to speak to _me_ , of all people.

What could you possibly have gained from speaking to _me?_ If I was really just some assignment - I'm nobody! No-one important or significant. Why would you string me along like that?! You could have just been honest from the start and asked me whatever it was you wanted to know. Why would you waste both our time like that?!"

Itachi offered no defence to those words. Elissa was distraught. His silence was crushing and only served to elevate her intense agitation.

She recalled Levi's words to her, and added, "It just doesn't make any sense. And you could have lied to me about killing people. But you chose to tell me the truth. Why would you even reveal that? If your identities are so top-secret and this was all just some undercover job, why have you told me anything about you at all? To get me to trust you? What, so I would talk? About my stupid, boring life? Was that it?" Her entire body trembled with anger. "I can't believe you!"

Itachi remained quiet, clearly having no qualms about allowing her to form her own conclusions and assumptions.

"You said you're "duty-bound" to end lives." She rallied on. "Duty-bound? Have you been forced into it? Is it something you don't want to do, but have no say in? I only came here wanting to understand. Is that so wrong?"

Once more he said nothing.

"I guess you've made it clear how much you respect me," she whispered angrily. "I'm not even worth answering, huh?"

His lips parted slightly, as if he intended to say something - only to think better of it. They returned to their immovable line, sealed shut.

She wiped at her eyes, inconsolable. "It's stupid. It's stupid that it bugs me so much that you refuse to explain anything to me, when there's already too much I don't know about you, but even so... I'm not a liar. I've only ever been honest with you, and I don't deserve this." Her voice shook precariously, open in its vulnerability. "Not when, to me, our talks did mean something. I can't just forget them and dismiss them as nothing like you are."

"Angelissa." This time Itachi's voice was softer - more like what she remembered it to be. He wanted to tell her to stop - that there was no need for her to speak anything else and to cause herself any further distress, but she was going relentlessly on.

"No, let me finish! You've made it clear those days were meaningless and just business to you, but to me… they were so much more." A sardonic, rueful smile touched her lips. "Having someone who listened to me without judgement… I... really looked forward to our talks. I really looked up to the way you view the world. Sitting next to you made me feel at peace. Isn't that crazy? It was like all the loud thoughts I had in my head just grew quiet. You helped me come to terms with the loss of my sister, even though you know nothing about her. For the first time, I felt like I could finally accept her death. I was happy with just a little of your time, listening to you speak in a way that made everything make sense. I just can't believe that- that it was all nothing to you.

I wish you hadn't bothered to meet me at all! The joke's on me, because the more time passed, the more I needed you to be here when I came to the river. I needed you to listen when I spoke. I needed to hear your opinion on things. I needed you to not be the dangerous person other people were telling me you were. I wanted so desperately to believe that. And right now, I just needed the truth. It seems though, that I've asked for too much."

Thick, hot tears spilled down her cheeks, and her eyes dropped forlornly down to the ground as she finished in a whisper, "I guess I am the fool, after all. Stupid enough to believe we'd become friends, when it was just some assignment - when none of it meant anything to you… and all this time, I was waiting, hoping, thinking that you'd help me make sense of everything..."

A long, tense silence filled the air. Elissa then saw his black boots enter her field of vision, and glanced up, to find him standing less than an arm's length in front of her. Her heart jumped into her throat when he regarded her for a long moment, his eyes searching hers, unfathomable in their expression.

"I cannot," Itachi said gently, his fathomless eyes following the trail of tear-marks that stained her cheek, "grant you what you seek."

Elissa felt the air still in her lungs. Up close, he was breath-takingly beautiful. She thought she glimpsed a fleeting sadness in those night-dark irises. But when she blinked, the look was gone.

Itachi observed, as open hurt flashed across her tearful eyes - before her expression walled off entirely. He saw the moment at which she withdrew back into her shell, shutting herself off to him in the way he had hoped she would. She stepped back and swallowed thickly. There was nothing more she could say. She was spent trying to decipher him, trying to drag answers from him he was not prepared to provide her freely. There was no trust between them. There was absolutely nothing. Elissa knew that now. She had seen it far too late - and had nobody else to blame but herself.

Just as she had informed Levi, she had gotten in way over her head with Itachi. The fault was her own. She'd wasted her time meeting him, none the wiser as to who and what he truly was - only that he had been responsible for the marks she carried and that their meetings had been nothing but business on his end. Evidently he just expected her to accept the permanence of the marks, regardless of how the unsightly scars would impact her in life going forward.

She fought back fresh tears, enraged that she had spent any on him at all. They weren't even friends for her to mourn any sense of loss. Nobody should be so exhausting, so taxing on the mind and so brutal on the emotions. It wasn't fair. She didn't deserve it, when all she had ever done was trust him enough to open up to him sincerely.

Her fault. Her mistake. Her own naive foolishness.

"You're right," she said tightly, glowering at the water again. "I made assumptions. It was my mistake coming here, hoping you'd help me shed light on everything. It was my mistake, thinking we were friends, when I see that all this time, we've been little more than strangers. I now understand," her voice was hard-edged, "very clearly, why you trust me so little and choose not to share anything of yourself with me. I should thank you. You've taught me a very valuable lesson." Squaring her shoulders as proudly as she could, she lifted her chin and afforded him one final glance, before uttering, "Slayte was right about you. All you do is break people."

Something flickered across his dark gaze, a transient look that was swallowed by steely indifference before Elissa could fully catch it. She didn't care if her words were harsh. He deserved to hear them - though she doubted he cared enough to dwell on her opinion or anything she said.

"We won't meet again." She said coldly. "I won't trouble you anymore, and I'm sorry that I wasted our time. Goodbye."

With that, she turned and walked away from him. With every step she took, Elissa felt like knives were slicing her open. She had been an idiot. A stupid, trusting fool. She saw that, now and her fury and hurt were self-inflicted. She wouldn't make the same mistakes with anyone ever again.

It was only when she had reached another cluster of oak-trees, that Elissa realised she had left her bag behind. Cursing herself, she peered around the trunk of the closest tree to her, back in the direction she had come from. Itachi was gone, she was relieved to find - just as she had expected, and the sun had now fully set in the sky, heralding the coming of night. She steeled herself, and took a step forward, intending to sprint back to collect her bag - when she felt an odd, rippling breeze, followed by radiating warmth behind her. She blinked, and turned in confusion - almost colliding straight into a broad chest. Startled, she gasped and glanced up - to find Itachi staring down at her.

Her heart jumped in fright and pounded as she gaped up at him in stupefied disbelief. How in the world had he made it across so swiftly? It was impossible. She'd left him far behind! Her mouth fell open in shock and her entire body froze, rooted to the spot. There was no conceivable way that anyone could move with such blinding speed. No way anything _human_ could. It was almost as though-

Almost as though he had flickered into place right behind her. Like he had teleported, somehow, in the blink of an eye, to where she was, closing the distance between them in a mere heartbeat.

But that simply wasn't possible. It _wasn't._ People couldn't do that. The air escaped Elissa's lips in rapid, panicked, tremoring bursts, and for a horrible moment, she feared she would faint from the agitated force of her racing pulse. Itachi's piercing eyes met hers, their magnetism undeniable. And once again, Elissa found herself powerless to look away, even despite her upset. Even despite the mounting horror that accompanied the final confirmation, from his actions, that he could not possibly be anything or anyone ordinary. He couldn't possibly be _human._

All words evaded her. Reality as she had known it was disintegrating around her and she could do nothing but gape up at him in startled dismay, perturbed beyond measure.

She felt him wordlessly take her wrist, his touch gentle, careful and light, and then the weight of something dropped onto her left shoulder. Elissa blinked and looked down stupidly, to find that he had deposited her bag there, in the same, innocent manner he had back when they had first met, so long ago.

The kindness and thoughtfulness of the gesture - so reminiscent of the Itachi she had foolishly and mistakenly believed she'd formed a genuine connection with - tore her to shreds inside. Her eyes moved back up to his, stunned. Something glimmered in those onyx depths as they held hers - an untold look she could not ever hope to decipher - and finally accepted that she never would. Then her gaze dropped numbly back to his elegant, ringed fingers, still wrapped gently around her wrist, his hold lingering for longer than was necessary.

"Farewell, Angelissa," he murmured softly, and finally loosened his hold.

Elissa snatched her hand back, as if his touch had scalded her. Then, shaking her head mutely at him, she backed away, near-stumbling in her haste to escape, before turning and fleeing from him. And this time, as she ran, breathless, near-hysterical and distraught, she did not glance back behind her, did not see the way Itachi remained in place beneath the oak tree, watching her go, his eyes never leaving her retreating figure until she finally rounded the corner that removed her completely from his line of sight.

She sprinted all the way home, not daring to look back over her shoulder even once. As soon as she was safely back inside her apartment, she locked the front door shut and sank shakily to the floor, drawing her knees up to her chest, gasping to catch her breath. Her entire body trembled violently, her mind spinning with turmoil. She sobbed into her arms, inconsolable, hurt by the lies, the confusion, the deep betrayal that felt like daggers wedged straight through her heart.

What _was_ he? She couldn't even begin to guess, too horrified by the possibilities that were surely beyond the scopes of reality, ones which defied all logic, science and reason. Elissa had always read about magic and the supernatural in stories. She even wrote about such elements in her own works; all the things that didn't exist in the mundane, real world. And yet, there were far too many signs to ignore. Itachi wasn't human. He couldn't be. The permanent marks on her back, the strange illusion he'd brought to life around her at the bridge that had resulted in her twenty-four hour slumber - neither of those were normal, natural occurrences.

And Slayte- Slayte _knew._ Slayte had known all along. Slayte had lied. About Itachi. About herself. Slayte had kept things from her. Elissa wept harder, pressing her hands against her face in despair. She didn't understand why this was happening to her, how she deserved to be so mistreated, why everyone she had mistakenly believed she had connections with chose to hide things from her. She felt pitiful, furious at herself for being so gullible, each fallen tear drowning her in a well of self-loathing at her own stupidity. She'd always prided herself on being so smart. So cautious and sensible. And yet, she had been strung along by Itachi, and fooled entirely by her own best friend.

Everything had been fine. Her life had been uneventful and normal, until-

Until she'd taken Vetty in.

Her breath caught in her throat, as she heard a mournful mewl at her feet, followed by soft warmth as her pet cat nuzzled her legs affectionately. Elissa peeked through her fingers, looking down at the feline that blinked in concern up at her.

Slayte had told her that Vetty was dangerous at first. Her heart pounded. If Itachi wasn't human, then was Vetty just a cat? Elissa couldn't believe that she was even questioning it, felt like she was on the verge of having a breakdown and losing her mind out of suspicion and mistrust of all those around her. Granted, Vetty looked more unusual than other cats, but she certainly behaved like one. How could she possibly be anything else?

She slowly lowered her hands, staring hard at Vetty as her cell-phone rang in her bag. Distractedly pulling it out, she saw Slayte's name once again illuminating the caller ID screen. Elissa burst into fresh tears, but the sorrow quickly morphed into fresh rage. She wanted to talk? Why? So she could sprout yet more lies to her, or withhold more truths from her just as Itachi had? Maybe they were both sharing a cruel joke at her expense? After all, hadn't Slayte worked for him? Or was that a lie, too? Was Levi in on the deception, too?

A sudden thought crossed her mind. If Itachi was something supernatural - then what did that make Slayte, who had served in his household? Was her friend also not who she claimed to be? Fear and uncertainty seized Elissa's heart in an icy grip and she felt physically sick. Suddenly she was questioning everything she knew, looking at things in a way she never had thought to do so in the past.

Swallowing thickly, Elissa rose to her feet, anger brewing like volatile acid in her chest. Slayte wanted to talk? Then talk was precisely what they were going to do. She was going to give her so-called _best friend_ a piece of her mind and let her know exactly what she thought of all her deceit.

Vetty watched, in silent concern, as Elissa once again exited the apartment, the front door banging loudly shut behind her.

* * *

"Give her space," Levi chided, taking Slayte's cell phone out of her hand. "It's late, she's probably sleeping." His other hand came to rest between her shoulder blades as he guided Slayte gently in the direction of their own bed, knowing sleep was precisely the thing she needed after the emotional tumult she had gone through over the course of the day.

Slayte followed, her brows furrowed in worry even as she allowed herself to be steered into bed.

"When she's ready to talk, she will," he reassured her, laying her phone on the nightstand and settling down beside her, before covering them both with the comforter.

"She's mad at me," Slayte covered her face with her hands, trying not to give in to despair. Not wanting to cry yet again when she had already spent most of the day in tears. "What if she doesn't forgive me?"

Levi sighed, there was no easy answer to Slayte's turmoil. "Elissa is the one in the middle of all of this. Even if you don't tell _me_ what's going on, she has a right to know."

"I know, I know," she muttered bitterly, turning onto her side towards him and curling in on herself. "She should hear the truth, but it isn't my call to make."

Levi raised a brow at that statement, even as he shifted towards her to rub her back comfortingly. He remained silent, however. When Slayte slipped up and mentioned something she didn't intend to, it was best to just let her keep talking.

"If I could, I would march right over and tell her everything. But I'm not allowed." She nuzzled closer against him, as if seeking shelter from the chaos in her own mind. This time, Levi could not refrain from retorting, "Says who?" The anger in his voice was subtle but unmistakable. Who thought they had a right to forbid or allow Slayte anything?

Slayte said nothing. The day's events were slowly catching up with her and Levi's familiar scent was like a sedative, luring her to some much needed sleep. "Just… someone…" she murmured nonsensically.

Levi glared at the ceiling, unsatisfied with her answer. "And you're just going to listen to him?"

"I don't know," she sighed, "... maybe. I should, I guess."

"Why? What happens if you don't?"

A long pause followed and Slayte's deep breathing gave him the impression she might have already fallen asleep when she answered, her voice barely audible, "I'll just die… probably."

He cast her an incredulous look, "Just that, eh?"

She murmured an agreement, disappearing further into his arms when suddenly the doorbell rang and her eyes fluttered open. Whatever answers he had hoped to pry out of her in her half-asleep state were now impossibly out of reach.

"Who could that be, at this hour?" she whispered, alarmed.

Levi glanced at the alarm clock on the nightstand. 9:24 PM. "I can take a guess," he deadpanned, disentangling his limbs from hers as he rose to get the door. He could think of precisely one person who intruded on their solitude so regularly, it hardly felt like an intrusion anymore.

Pulling a plain, grey t-shirt over his head, he descended the stairs swiftly, making for the front door where, just as he expected, he could make out Elissa's silhouette beyond the glass panels.

He hastened his steps, concern for the young woman who had come to be more than just his girlfriend's best friend flaring at the sight of her. Elissa had grown to occupy a place in his heart in her own right, and he felt both protective of and responsible for her. She was one of the few he considered family, in a sense. What could have driven her to their doorstep in the middle of the night?

He pulled the door open to find Elissa in good health, although she stood as if poised for battle, with a fire in her eyes that did not bode well for Slayte.

"Elissa," he greeted, hesitating in the doorway. Could Slayte handle yet another emotional meltdown today?

"Where's Slayte?" she demanded without so much as a greeting, peering over his shoulder into the dark entryway.

"In bed," he answered shortly, raising an eyebrow at her demanding tone, "Like any sane person at this hour."

Elissa scoffed, pushing past him as she rolled her eyes, "Don't talk to _me_ about sanity."

Levi closed the door and turned towards her as she entered the tea shop. "Are you okay?" he asked, his neutral tone belying the concern he felt. Elissa was a good kid… but she was just that, a kid. And yet, she had the misfortune of being at the center of all of this. She was the one being targeted and had endured one near-death experience after another. Despite that, she carried on as if none of those harrowing events dragged her down.

Elissa froze on her way to the staircase, the inkling of suspicion that had reared its ugly head was back in full force. Why was Levi suddenly concerned with her well-being? How much did he know? Was he in on this, too? Was he complicit in Slayte's lies? But wasn't he just as frustrated with her evasive behavior as she herself was? It had certainly seemed that way whenever they had spoken about it.

She turned back to him. "Why do you ask?" Her tone was more cutting than she had intended and Levi blinked at her unwarranted aggression.

"Because you almost drowned today?" He raised a brow at her, "Not to mention it's the middle of the night."

Elissa felt foolish for doubting him, but as she was tired of feeling that way, she simply turned her back on him. "I'm fine." Her curt response signaled an end to the exchange and she wasted no further time sprinting up the stairs, seeking out her so-called best friend.

She slammed open the door to Slayte's bedroom, taken aback when she found Slayte standing just beyond, wrapped in a night robe, hand outstretched for the door handle. She had clearly been about to exit and see who was at the front door.

"Elissa!" Slayte exclaimed, relief and concern written in both her expression and her voice. She took Elissa's hand in her own, "Are you alright? What are you doing here?" With a sudden realization, Slayte paled, "You didn't come here on your own, did you?"

At the sight of Slayte - her immediate concern, her stupid, selfless readiness to drop everything and take care of Elissa - Elissa's anger faltered for a fraction of a moment. The fact that Slayte had that effect on her, in itself, however, only reignited her frustration. She pulled her hand out of Slayte's grasp.

"Stop it," she seethed, "I'm sick and tired of you lying to me and then pretending you care."

She watched the shock register in Slayte's eyes with a sick sense of satisfaction. She was tired of hurting alone.

"I - I tried to call you, Elissa. I sent you messages, but…" Slayte faltered, trying to find some familiar footing between them, some friendly ground. But Elissa's eyes were full of anger and hurt and Slayte's heart broke with fear that this might have been the last straw for their friendship.

"What do you want from me? Want me to apologize for not being ready to listen to more of your lies?" Elissa snapped.

"I - No, I - I would never want you to apologize, I was just worried -"

"Worried about what? Or is that another one of your secrets? Do you even remember all the things you've lied to me about, or have you lost count by now?" Elissa did not fully know what she was saying, her anger towards Itachi and her anger towards Slayte had become more or less one and the same, and the terrible hurt Itachi had inflicted on her was still raw and stung deeply. The instinct to lash out at Slayte, who knew exactly what Itachi was, who was complicit in all his secrecy and dishonesty, felt justified, even satisfying, in that instant.

Slayte fell silent. She could offer no defenses. She took in Elissa's obvious state of distress, the clenched fists, the tears brimming in her eyes, and wished she had some way to comfort her friend.

"I'm sorry, Elissa," she whispered quietly, approaching her slowly, carefully, as one would a frightened child, "I really am, even if I know you don't believe me. And I know you're fed up of people keeping you in the dark claiming to have your best interests at heart."

"Don't!" Elissa warned, taking a step back, "You don't get to act like you know me, and then do exactly what you know I hate."

Slayte stilled and gave up crossing the distance between herself and Elissa. Her gaze dropped to the wooden floor panels and she wracked her mind for some words to comfort her anguished friend but came up blank. The truth of the matter was, she _had_ lied to Elissa. More than once. It was true - she had lost count. Every single lie, she had considered unavoidable in the heat of the moment, necessary, even. But was that truly the case? Perhaps, she should have trusted Elissa from the very beginning, as she was learning to trust Levi.

Thanatos would kill her, but so what? Seeing Elissa in this tormented state was unbearable. "I…" she began, trying to find the right words to explain.

"What are you?" Elissa interrupted, already certain that whatever came out of Slayte's mouth of her own volition was going to be a lie. "Don't mince words, don't give me any rosy language. I'm done with double-meanings."

Slayte blinked, reflecting on Elissa's choice of words. "You've been to see him." The surprise was evident in her voice. After the stern warning Thanatos had given her, she did not think he would have visited Elissa again, at all.

Elissa averted her gaze and her fists fell helplessly to her sides, "It doesn't matter," she muttered bitterly, "It was a waste of time."

"He… didn't tell you anything?" Slayte asked, hesitantly. It was hard enough for her to remain silent in the face of Elissa's questioning, but to think Thanatos, who had clearly made many exceptions for Elissa already, had met with her, had seen her anguish and said nothing. She could not comprehend why he felt it was so necessary to hide the truth from Elissa. Was there some aspect to this that escaped Slayte's understanding completely?

"You would know," Elissa retorted bitterly, "Aren't you in on this together? All this time, you were warning me off, saying he was a killer. Then, even though you claim to be terrified of him, you were meeting with him in secret all the while. What kind of relationship do the two of you have exactly?" Of course she had noticed how close Slayte and Itachi seemed. How Slayte was privy to secrets Itachi would never think to share with her. She had assumed Slayte was being truthful when she said she was invisible to Itachi, but when was Slayte ever truthful about anything?

"If you wanted him to yourself, you could have just said so. You didn't have to make a fool of me. Whether in the past or now… you just didn't want anyone else getting close to him, did you? If there's nothing between you, why the secrecy?" Elissa could not bring herself to meet Slayte's eyes as the words spilled from her freely, stemming from a dark place in her heart she hadn't wanted to acknowledge. She could name the ugly emotion if she cared to, but told herself she wanted only the truth, nothing more.

Slayte blinked at her friend, not quite following the accusations, but relieved that Elissa had asked her about a matter she _could_ answer on.

"Master and servant."

Elissa looked up at Slayte, interrupted from her line of questioning. "What?"

"The nature of our relationship. There is none. It's exactly as I told you. Master and servant. Both in the past… and now." She bit her lip at the confession, the truth of it still stung.

"What…" Elissa queried, her cheeks burning at the next question on her tongue, "What kind of services are those, exactly?"

Slayte furrowed her brow, not quite understanding. She couldn't exactly say she had been assigned to see to Elissa's wellbeing. That it had been a mutual agreement that served them both. "Well…" she deliberated, not sure what answer Elissa was looking for but determined to be as forthcoming as possible, "Whatever he wants, really. I'm not in any position to decline. That's just the way it is."

Elissa gaped at Slayte, the meaning of those words dawning on her. He was her "master", and she was required to perform whatever services he desired of her? Slayte had made no secret of the fact that she was in love with him before. How could Elissa have so grossly misjudged the nature of their relationship? Had they truly been wrapped in each other's arms, laughing at her all the while? At her innocent affections for someone who was so far removed from her world that she could not ever hope to understand him? Draw close to him? The sting of Itachi's rejection burned more painful than ever.

"Whatever service he wants?!" She echoed incredulously. "Anything?! You- What are you DOING with him?!"

Slayte blinked, nonplussed, as Elissa's voice grew even louder in indignance. She could not, for the life of her, understand what had prompted the upset now that Slayte was doing her best to be honest with her.

"What about Levi?" Elissa threw at her, both confused and hurt.

"What _about_ Levi?" Slayte could only look at her friend in confusion, completely lost.

Elissa gaped at Slayte, how could she think this wasn't a slight on her relationship with the stoic tea shop owner? How could she still be okay with living like this even though she claimed to have left it all behind her? "I thought you were done with all that! You lied to me about that, too?!"

"I - I wanted to be done with it, but it isn't that simple," Slayte frowned, "I'm not the one who gets to decide. Which is why I tried so hard to escape his notice."

Elissa recalled Slayte's sheer terror the first time she had seen Itachi, and it added up with her explanation.

"If they're so powerful, and so wealthy, so inescapable… then why isn't there anything about them on the internet? This terrible Uchiha family you keep talking about? I searched Itachi, Shisui, even his little brother Sasuke, but there's nothing!" Elissa prompted, still unsatisfied.

Slayte winced, hearing the true names of three such powerful deities spoken so casually. "I… don't know. They are very secretive. It wouldn't surprise me if they have ways of keeping things under wraps," she attempted evasively.

Elissa was unconvinced. She didn't know what to believe. Whatever "family" Itachi belonged to, they were not only wealthy and powerful in normal terms… she had seen things. Things that couldn't be explained away, however much Slayte tried to.

Elissa pressed on, "Tell me what he is," she repeated, "And what you really are."

When Slayte said nothing, Elissa continued, "At the bridge, now at the beach… Both times you insisted he wasn't there. But he was. How did he just show up out of thin air? How did you? At the bridge? You were miles away! And then, the both of you, together…" Elissa paced up and down the room in agitation, "You lied to me. Told me I was hallucinating. Made me doubt my sanity." She shot Slayte a glare, "How did you do it? How did you both know where to be? How did you get there?" When Slayte only looked on in miserable,helpless silence, Elissa continued, her voice thick with repressed emotion, "Didn't you feel any remorse in lying to me? Was there ever a point where you truly considered me your friend?"

Slayte's eyes stung with tears as the accusation pierced her heart like a knife, like poison in her bloodstream. She felt weak to hear it, to know that Elissa believed those words. Elissa's friendship gave meaning to her existence, and to have Elissa doubt its sincerity was nothing less than crushing. "Elissa, you are my dearest friend. My only friend. I cherish you more than life itself… more than anything."

"No, stop it," Elissa stepped backwards once more, her own eyes filling with tears, "Just answer the damn question, Slayte. Don't go getting sentimental on me. I can't believe anything you say. Friends don't lie to each other!"

"They do," Slayte defended, her voice rising in turn, "They do when they want to protect each other. Even if it's stupid, even if it will hurt, if the alternative is worse than the lie, then friends will lie!"

"What do you know?" Elissa shot back angrily, "You don't have any friends but me, and being friends with you has been nothing but painful for me."

The words broke both girls' hearts, even as Elissa uttered them. Slayte's mouth dropped open in pained shock, but she could not produce a sound as Elissa's words rooted in her heart. The possibility that she had only been _hurting_ Elissa, this whole time they had been together, had never even crossed her mind. But to hear it from Elissa's own mouth made her feel physically sick. She, herself, was the problem. She was the one causing Elissa pain.

"Don't -" Elissa cautioned, not wanting Slayte to start on her excuses, "I don't want to hear it. If I - if this so-called friendship meant anything to you, then tell me what you are. Tell me what _he_ is."

Slayte hesitated, blinking away tears. Should she tell Elissa everything and be done with it? Would that make Elissa feel better? That might be the wisest thing to do. Damn the consequences. If Thanatos killed her, then so be it. But just as she opened her mouth to answer, a horrible possibility crossed her mind.

It was not beyond Thanatos' means to undo Slayte's telling of the truth.

It would be the easiest thing for him, to enlist the aid of Hypnos, dispose of Slayte, and adjust Elissa's memories so that she not only forgot about whatever Slayte chose to tell her but also to have her completely forget Thanatos, Hypnos, Vetty, and Slayte herself. It was a very likely course of action for Thanatos, seeing as he was dead-set on returning Elissa to her mortal way of life. If Slayte chose to speak, despite his clear warning, there was no doubt in her mind that that was the course he would choose to take.

Which would Elissa despise more, being kept in the dark, or having her memories tampered with? The answer to that was clear as day.

She stared at Elissa blankly, torn in indecision.

"You must have seen the marks on my back, Slayte!" Elissa yelled in frustration, "And you _know_ what they are! He was the one who did it, right? I think I remember being hurt, but what happened to the blood - the wound? There was a wound, wasn't there? What happened out there in the water at all? What pulled me down? Stop pretending you don't know!"

Elissa waited, but her eyes filled with angry tears seeing Slayte's closed-off expression. She recognized that silence. She recognized that stubborn set of a mouth that refused to speak. She had just had her heart trampled to pieces by Itachi, she did not need a repeat performance from Slayte.

"Forget it," Elissa turned away from the raven-haired girl, "Itachi was lying about everything, including being my friend, and you're just the same. Don't call me again."

"Elissa, wait - " Slayte rushed forward now, propriety and Elissa's anger be damned, she could not - would not - simply let go of her.

But the sudden ringing of Elissa's phone had them both stopping in their tracks. Elissa took a deep breath, wiped the tears from her eyes, and lifted the phone to her ear.

"Cain. Hi," she greeted, causing Slayte's blood to run cold. She still could not explain why, after all the very real monsters she had seen in Elissa's vicinity, that simple mortal doctor alarmed her more than every other danger combined.

" _Elissa! Finally, you pick up, I've been out of my mind with worry. I hope I didn't wake you?"_

Elissa took a deep breath, and when she spoke, her voice was calm and steady, "No," she answered, shooting Slayte a look, "I wasn't doing anything important."

" _I've been trying to reach you, you hung up so suddenly. Is everything okay?"_

"I'm alright," she replied offhandedly, turning away from Slayte.

" _You're sure? No pain, no reactions from the markings?"_

"No, they don't hurt, they're just _there._ " Elissa sighed, rubbing her temples as the simple question brought her back to the reality of her situation, to the necessity of finding a way forward out of all of this.

" _Elissa, listen. Actually, I'm calling because I'm working the night shift at the hospital and it's pretty quiet at the moment. Would you be willing to come by? I could have a look at those markings and maybe run some tests."_

"Would you do that?" The gratitude was audible in Elissa's voice as she turned back to glance at the clock on the wall. 10:04 PM. She had better hurry, who knew how long the hospital would stay quiet. "I'll be right there."

" _Great. I'll be waiting. Just tell the receptionist to let me know when you get here. And take your time, wouldn't want you getting hurt on the way."_

"Thanks, Cain, I really appreciate it. It shouldn't take me long." Turning away from Slayte, Elissa said her goodbyes to Cain, hanging up as she headed down the stairs. At the landing, she saw Levi standing near the foot of the stairs, leaning against the railing with his arms crossed and his back towards the steps, he lifted his head to meet her eyes as she approached and she paused. Had he heard the whole thing? It didn't matter. He deserved to know what Slayte was getting up to.

Elissa rushed down the stairs, eager to leave, but she could hear Slayte following after her. "Elissa, wait!" she called, racing after her friend, her unbound black hair trailing after her in her hurry. She caught hold of Elissa's hand in the middle of the shop, and clung to her desperately.

"I understand you're mad at me. I haven't been the best friend. I'm sorry. Just, let's put that aside for now, and let me take you to the hospital, please. Don't go on your own," Slayte pleaded, a desperate, nearly crazed look in her brown eyes.

Elissa scowled at her. "Let go of my hand, Slayte."

"No." Slayte was resolute, bracing herself for more of Elissa's anger. "I can't let you go alone. It's late. It's dangerous. Anything could happen. Please, Elissa."

"Slayte." There was a warning tone in Elissa's voice, but Slayte paid no heed.

Something snapped in Elissa. She was so tired of it. So tired of being sheltered and treated like a child. So tired of everyone _else_ deciding what was best for her.

"You don't get to do this! I decide who my friends are! I decide where I'm going to go, who I'm going to talk to, and what I'm going to do! And with whom! Now let go of my hand, before I make you!"

Slayte was taken aback but clung to Elissa's hand for dear life, "I can't let you go alone, Elissa. Please, understand. You would do the same if you were me!"

"I would NEVER do the same if I were you! Never, not in a million years would I do any of the stupid shit you do!" Elissa was all but screaming now, frustrated beyond belief by Slayte's stubbornness and refusal to back down.

All at once, their hands were pried apart.

"Shut up. Both of you."

Levi shot each of them a disparaging look. "You. Back to bed." He nodded at Slayte, his no-nonsense tone making painfully clear that there was no room for arguments. "And you, Elissa. You're coming with me. Come on, I'll take you to the hospital."

"No!" Elissa insisted, still fuelled by her anger. "I'll be fine on my own."

"Oi. I get that you're mad at Slayte, but what did I do to you? Other than loan you my girlfriend and watch over your stupid furball."

Elissa opened her mouth to comment, but Levi held up a hand, "And before you say anything, don't forget that you were the one who asked for her."

Elissa frowned, "I'm not taking any favors from Slayte. I'm done with her -" but Levi cut her off, "Yeah, yeah, she's a real pain. Believe me, I know."

Placing a hand on her shoulder, he led Elissa towards the front door and cast a last look back at Slayte that clearly read, " _Oi. Get your ass back to bed."_

Slayte watched the two of them disappear out the front door and felt terribly uneasy. It was _her_ job to watch over Elissa, to make sure nothing happened to her. How could she simply sit back and do nothing? She recalled Levi's earlier words to her, about doing it together or not at all and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. This was Levi. He could handle it. He could most likely handle anything. She stepped back and decided, for the first time in her life, to wholeheartedly trust someone else. She hoped it wouldn't prove to be a lapse in judgment.

* * *

Elissa still wasn't sure exactly how she found herself strapped into the passenger's side of Levi's black jeep, but the car was already on the main road by the time she fully realized what was happening. She stared out the window at the passing city lights, annoyed and ill at ease. The confrontation with Slayte had resolved absolutely nothing. If anything, it had only served to frustrate her further, to reconfirm her suspicions that Slayte had been nothing but deceitful with her.

She glanced at Levi again as he took her smoothly down the roads leading up to the hospital. How much did he know? She had no idea. He was always so unperturbed, so calm and laid-back, he either already knew everything or he simply didn't care, there was no way of telling for sure, with him.

"I could have gone on my own," she protested feebly, knowing it was useless, after the fact.

"What, on foot?" Levi shot back, "and here I was under the impression you wanted to get there today."

Elissa frowned, "I can't with your sarcasm right now, Levi."

He said nothing to that and the two of them fell silent. At length, Elissa questioned warily, "How much do you know?"

Levi scoffed, "Less than you, probably." He turned on the windshield wipers as a light drizzle of rain began to fall. "You get to meet Mr. Serial Killer, so there's that." He frowned at the passing traffic as they came to a stop at a red light. "I have a bone to pick with him."

"Meeting him doesn't mean I know more," Elissa muttered, disillusioned, "He's not the type to speak a word more than he likes. I haven't learned a thing from him, no matter how much I ask, no matter how understanding I try to be." The hushed whisper required more strength than she had expected, and she turned her gaze back out the window, blinking away the tears that had appeared, unbidden.

Levi recalled their earlier conversation, as they waited for Slayte in the tea shop the other day. She had been conflicted about the mysterious stranger then, too. He couldn't guess what had transpired in the meantime, but it was clear to see that Elissa was deeply hurt.

"Oi. Do I need to knock some sense into this guy? Did he do something to you?"

Elissa found herself smiling for what felt like the first time that day, despite herself. The very idea of Levi facing off against Itachi was ridiculous, but heartwarming. "No," she dismissed, "But yes, knock some sense into him, if you can."

Try as she might, she could not reconcile Itachi's recent actions with the man she had come to know over the course of the past few weeks. Even Slayte's recent confessions only made her all the more uneasy. She hadn't taken him for that kind of person. She had considered him to be sincere, and assumed he was something of a romantic in his ideals and yet, he was taking advantage of a young woman he regarded as nothing more than his servant, by his own admission. He had claimed not to know Slayte, had that been a lie as well? Elissa glanced up at Levi as Slayte's words rang in her ears. " _I'm in no position to decline."_ What did that even mean? Was she being forced into it? How stupid did one have to be, to be as blindly trusting as Levi was?

She bit her lip, furious with herself for thinking about Slayte's wellbeing although she had just sworn off their friendship. Looking out for Slayte was a deeply ingrained habit, but it had to come to a stop. Their relationship had been a toxic one, fraught with lies and manipulation, and Elissa needed to cut her off. She glanced at Levi, a man by nature sarcastic and antisocial, but easygoing and patient. How he had managed to hold out this long with Slayte was beyond her understanding.

"If she's lying to me this much, I can't imagine how much she must be lying to you," she mused aloud, disapproval laced in her voice as she easily redirected her anger towards a more available, if not equally guilty, target.

"All the goddamn time," Levi answered readily, his tone unassuming, "I know it." He paused, switching on the blinker and surveying the oncoming traffic before making a left turn. "She knows I know it."

"How?!" Elissa demanded, turning to him now, indignant. "How does that work?" There was nothing more frustrating than being lied to, as she had come to realize.

Levi cast a glance at Elissa, before turning his eyes back to the road. "It just does."

Elissa frowned, not at all satisfied with that uninspired answer. Mulling over her question, Levi continued at length, "She needs her lies, or at least she thinks she does, to feel safe. I need her to feel safe more than I need her to be honest with me. Someday, she'll probably come around and tell me everything. It can wait, I guess."

Elissa scoffed and folded her arms, staring out the window bitterly, "You'll probably die waiting. She isn't ever going to tell you anything."

"Maybe," Levi agreed, "But that's her choice, isn't it? It's not like I accepted her into my life under some sort of terms and conditions."

"You're both mad," Elissa whispered. Usually, when she used that word to describe them it was with an incredulous sort of endearment. She had always seen them as two perfectly imperfect people who simply belonged together. Now, however, she was starting to feel that the two of them really were insane. How could anyone live with someone who wasn't honest with them about a single thing?

"Does she lie because she, herself, knows things she wishes she didn't? Does she try to protect everyone because she never had anyone to protect _her_? Who knows, really? Maybe she has good reasons, maybe she doesn't…"

He trailed off, seeing Elissa's sullen expression and conceded.

"I'm not telling you to accept her lies. My relationship with Slayte is very different from yours. Drag the truth out of her, if you can, if you feel like you have to." After a moment's pause, he added, "You have every right to be angry with her."

Elissa hesitantly turned hazel eyes to the man she had come to regard as something of a guardian in absence of her family. He was gruff and standoffish, but reliable and sincere usually. He always had an open ear and well-meaning advice for her. Was he finally, for once, siding with her over Slayte?

Elissa's gaze fell onto her hands in her lap. "I'm done with her, Levi. I won't be coming around anymore, probably. I can't deal with people who are lying to me all the time. I don't know how you do it."

Levi's grey eyes slipped from the signs leading to the hospital parking lot onto the defeated slouch of Elissa's shoulders and back again.

"It isn't all the time, is it?" he asked casually, causing Elissa to lift her head. "She tells the truth when it matters."

"When's that?" Elissa narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Almost every single thing Slayte had claimed had proven to be a lie thus far.

"When she says she loves you. That you're her 'most cherished friend' and all that. She can talk about you for ages, you know."

"Don't." Elissa cut him off, feeling bitter and miserable. "Words like that mean nothing when the actions don't match."

"She lied to you," Levi agreed, "but she also saved your life. Do the math, when you feel better." He pulled into a parking spot and turned the key, shutting off the car.

"I've done the math," Elissa countered, her throat constricted with emotion, "And I've decided I don't want any liars in my life. I'm done with people who claim to have my best interests at heart and belittle me."

Levi could only meet Elissa's determined gaze with a sigh. "You've been through some shit, so I'm going to let that slide. You're lucky that you're surrounded by people who have your best interests at heart. You'll understand when you meet someone with ill-intentions. People can do a hell of a lot worse than lie to protect you, believe me."

Elissa lifted her chin, adamant. "That's for me to decide."

"It is," Levi agreed, unbuckling his seatbelt, and stepping out of the car.

The uneventful walk toward the reception passed in comfortable silence, despite the earlier altercation. Levi was someone who accepted people as they were, Elissa realized, which made him easy to be with, even though she had just announced she was ending her friendship with Slayte. As terrible as those words felt on her tongue, and as heavy as they weighed on her heart, she knew it was the right call.

* * *

"Miss Caelum, right?" The fair-featured, if not exhausted-looking, brunette receptionist greeted them as they stepped up to the counter. She glanced at Levi, who stood at Elissa's shoulder with his hands in his pockets, and blushed prettily before quickly refocusing her attention on the patient. "Dr. Lockwood is expecting you. Please have a seat in the waiting area, he will be with you shortly."

Elissa murmured a thank you before turning to the designated waiting area, Levi in tow.

"Are you feeling alright?" Levi asked her, as they settled down in the empty waiting room.

Elissa met his eyes, wondering what he was getting at before understanding dawned.

"She didn't tell you."

At his blank expression, she rolled her eyes. " _Of course_ , she didn't tell you."

She bit her lip, debating how best to explain. If Slayte was going to torment her with lies, then Elissa would do the same to her, but with the truth. She turned her back to Levi and allowed her cardigan to slip from her shoulders, revealing the shadow-markings to his gaze.

"What… is that?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"Ask your girlfriend," She seethed, shrugging her cardigan back on. "Maybe she'll tell you, if she's feeling generous."

Levi blinked at Elissa's back. Those inky symbols were like nothing he had ever seen before. Faint, like wisps of shadow, too faint to be tattoos. Too defined to be bruises, or an allergic reaction. Slayte probably knew exactly what those markings were, and had chosen to remain silent. It was hard to blame Elissa for her frustration.

Levi lifted his gaze at the sound of approaching footsteps and immediately scowled. "Oi," he called Elissa's attention, nodding in the direction of the hallway, "Shit-for-brains is your doctor?"

Elissa looked up and saw Cain approaching, his white doctor's coat flowing behind him as he hastened towards her. A stray lock of dirty blond hair hung over his forehead as he broke into a light jog to close the distance.

Elissa rose to her feet, relieved to see him, and Levi followed suit, shadowing her protectively.

"Elissa, darling! A sight for sore eyes!" Cain greeted her with his usual charm, but his smile was strained with concern. He turned to Levi, and nodded curtly, "Levi. Charmed." Cain's smile was a crude mix between a smirk and a grimace, as he added, "Nice to see you outside of your tea shop."

"Can't say the feeling is mutual," Levi muttered, giving Elissa a disbelieving look. It was bad enough the slimebag hung around Elissa in his free time, but was she seriously entrusting her health to him? Did she trust him enough to see him in a doctor-patient capacity?

"Cain," Elissa breathed, her expression lighting up at the sight of him, "I'm sorry to impose this way, but I really appreciate the help."

"Nonsense," Cain reassured her, "I'm more than happy to be of service." He casually wrapped an arm around Elissa's shoulders and began leading her down the hallway, dismissing Levi with a perfunctory nod and a polite, "Excuse us."

"Let's get you checked out," Cain murmured, his voice was warm and deep in her ear. "I'm sure that will make the both of us feel much better."

Elissa cast one last look over her shoulder at a scowling Levi, before Cain led her around a corner and her friend was out of sight. "I'm glad you chose to come by despite the short notice," Cain was saying, "I couldn't stop thinking about it ever since you sent me those photos. Are you in pain?"

Elissa shook her head no, and Cain pushed on, "Have you noticed any changes in appetite, lightheadedness, drowsiness, changes in temperament…" he counted off one symptom after another and it was all Elissa could do to follow along as Cain was, once more, in his element, already planning out a strategy to isolate symptoms and reach an accurate diagnosis.

"Cain," Elissa interrupted him, "I've only had this … issue… for a few hours. I don't know if any of those symptoms might still appear. Also, yes, I'm tired, but it's been a long day, so it's hard to say."

"Sorry," Cain relented with a disarming smile, "I'm getting ahead of myself."

He pushed open the door to an examination room and gestured for Elissa to enter ahead of himself. When she did so, stepping into the darkness of the room, he quickly followed and switched on the lights, before closing the door behind him.

"Have a seat," he gestured to the examination table, and Elissa hesitantly lowered herself onto it. She felt like a child, as she always did, when waiting to be examined.

"Nervous?" Cain asked, raising a brow at her, as he prepared a blood pressure monitor, "Don't be."

Elissa nodded mutely. She _was_ nervous. For more reasons than one. In the course of a day, she had nearly lost her life, had had her heart torn to shreds by someone whose face, voice, and memory she had secretly cherished in her most private moments, and had been stabbed in the back by none other than her best friend. Ex-best friend, she reminded herself. When she woke up tomorrow, many things would be different, but if she was honest with herself, she couldn't be sure they were going to be better.

Not to mention, the horrible inky-black tendrils on her back that refused to wash away. If Itachi was to be believed, they were permanent. She had been permanently disfigured by whatever he had done. She could never again wear a backless dress, or a swimsuit… she could never be intimate with anyone without being forced to provide paltry, meaningless explanations for a fact she could scarcely explain to herself.

Itachi was the one who had marked her in this way, she knew it within the marrow of her bones and yet, she doubted severely that he had an iota of understanding for the far-reaching consequences of his actions, for all the implications they would have on her life.

The touch of a warm hand on her shoulder stirred her from her contemplations. She lifted her eyes to Cain's sky-blue ones, clear and full of tender understanding. "It'll be alright, Elissa," he intoned gently, "Whatever this is, I will figure it out for you." His gaze was solemn and sincere, a stark contrast to his usual flirtatious manner and Elissa felt emotion stir in her chest. She wasn't all alone. Even if she had been allotted more than her fair share of trouble, of deceit and betrayal, there were still people like Cain, who actually cared about her and who would reach out to her when she was having a hard time.

She swallowed the frog in her throat and nodded, allowing Cain to take her arm and measure her blood pressure. He questioned her on various other side-effects and symptoms she might be experiencing only to frown when she was forced to admit, no, besides the appearance of the strange strains of blackness themselves, she was not ailing in any sense of the word.

"Strange," he muttered to himself pressing the end of his pen to his lips, as he contemplated over his notes. He had taken her blood pressure, her temperature, and some blood work for testing. With a shake of his head, he moved to disinfect his hands and nodded towards Elissa, "Be a dear and take that off for me, will you?"

It took Elissa a minute to register that he was referring to her cardigan, and she fought the fierce blush that stained her cheeks. She held onto the ends of her cardigan, suddenly insecure and nervous as she looked up at his turned back. What was the big deal? She had shown the markings to Itachi, and even to Levi, so why not to Cain, who was considerably more trustworthy than both of them?

Cain turned away from the disinfectant dispenser, distributing the liquid between his palms and fingers when he saw that Elissa had yet to disrobe.

"Are you uncomfortable?" he asked, immediately catching on to her distress, "Would you like me to call for a female nurse?"

His sweet and considerate manner was all the encouragement Elissa needed to shake her head and swiftly remove the cardigan. She turned her back towards him, allowing him a better view of the odd, wispy pattern.

She could not see his face as he approached, but felt a shudder pass through her when his fingertips unexpectedly made contact with her skin. "Curious…" he murmured, in a voice strangely distant and foreign.

"I've never seen anything like it. It doesn't seem to be an allergic reaction, it's so clear and defined. Not a bruise, either. It doesn't respond to touch, as an injury would. It has a clear beginning and radiates outwards, like a strike of lightning, but it curves and curls unlike anything natural."

Cain's fingertips traced the lines of Itachi's markings as he mused aloud in low, hushed tones. Elissa could feel his warm breath against the skin of her back as he spoke, and could not explain, even to herself, why her skin seemed to burn where he touched her. Was that simply a natural response to an obviously attractive male? Or was it something else?

"You don't need to tell _me_ it isn't natural," Elissa muttered bitterly, "I'm at my wit's end with this thing. My back is forever changed and I can't even tell why or how, I could never explain this to someone if they were to see it." Her voice rose in pitch, her agitation prevalent. After everything she had been through today, at the beach, with Itachi, and then Slayte… it was an agonizing day that didn't seem to want to end, and the all she had to show for what she had been through were these terrible, unnatural, horrifyingly permanent markings that she now had to accept were a part of her although she wanted nothing more than to scratch them off her skin, if she could.

"Do you have any idea what could have caused it?" Cain questioned gently. Elissa thought about the vision she had seen at the beach. She thought of Itachi's dark eyes beyond the gilded mask. _His_ fingers on her skin - she was almost certain now that she had felt them - decidedly different in touch from Cain's. Where Cain's touch was firm and confident, Itachi's had been gentle, feather-light and lingering. Her mind raced back to Itachi's one-word admission that all but confirmed he was to blame for her current predicament.

Elissa bit her lip, for reasons she could not explain, she didn't feel _right_ telling Cain all that. Revealing things about Itachi she herself clearly did not understand. In the worst case scenario, she might only end up endangering Cain or Itachi, or both. She decided she would keep it to herself until she had a better sense of what was going on.

Elissa shook her head resolutely. "I almost went under and when I came to, it was like this."

Her eyes stung with bitter, angry tears at the unfairness of it all. Why was all this happening to her? Why was one catastrophe after another let loose on her? What had she done to deserve all this?

"Hey," Cain said gently, taking hold of her shoulders, and turning her around to face him, "It'll be alright, darling."

"Easy for you to say," Elissa sniffled, her eyes fixing on a distant point on the mint-tiled floor, "You haven't been disfigured."

"Disfigured?" Cain grinned, "I daresay quite a few suitors would find the image quite attractive. You can always say it's a tattoo. That isn't hard to believe. The truth can stay between the two of us, hm?"

Elissa blinked up at him, trying to hold back the tears that welled in the corners of her eyes. He ran his thumbs over her shoulders reassuringly as he held on to her. She looked mentally and physically exhausted.

"Thanks, Cain," she mumbled, but despite herself, her tears spilled over her cheeks.

"Elissa, darling," Cain's unease at her distress resounded through his voice as he wrapped his arms around her and held her snug against his broad chest. Elissa inhaled shakily, trying to get a handle on her windswept emotions. Cain's unique scent of musk and disinfectant met her nose and she closed her eyes, gratefully accepting the comfort he was offering her. She needed it so very badly right now.

"There, there, it'll be alright, darling," he cooed, rubbing her back as she sobbed into his chest. "You have one of the best doctors this side of the ocean on the case. I'll get to the bottom of this, I promise."

"I'm scared," she admitted between shaky sobs, the first time she had given words to a feeling she had not even wanted to acknowledge to herself. Everyone was lying to her, and death seemed to shadow her every step. She was surrounded by the supernatural but absolutely no one was willing to shed any light on the situation. She was alone. More alone than she had ever been. Forced to try and make sense of one senseless situation after another. It was just too much. "I'm so, so scared."

"Shh… you don't have to be." His voice was steady, kind - like a balm on her soul, "I'm here." He held her close, offering her his warmth, his comfort, his self.

* * *

The moon shone on a restless world. A lost deity designed by the fates to be a guide - confident in duty, hesitant in confronting what dwelled within the walls of his own heart - roamed the surface and the underworld, never truly belonging to either realm. A nymph torn between escape and chase, clinging to what she cherished like sand between her fingers, wept bitterly into her pillow. A man who knew both sides of death paced up and down the barren waiting room, piecing together what scraps of information he was fed, helpless to protect the few individuals he had hesitantly, cautiously allowed entrance into his life. While the life he had sworn off as immoral was just a hand's reach away - a nostalgic temptation and an easy solution.

And if eyes dared to peer into the hospital window where flickering, fluorescent lighting kept the moonlight at bay, they would find a young, mortal woman unable to reconcile her mind and her heart. Desperate to understand, and barred explanations, desperate to escape. To reestablish a sense of peace, no matter how empty. She found comfort in the arms of a man who was reassuring in the way he symbolized the ordinary, commonplace life she had once known. She was more than willing to overlook his slights, his forward manner, his insistent touch. He spoke freely, he was available, he was there. It did not matter that his hair was too pale, his eyes too bright, and his words too direct. He was everything Itachi wasn't and for the first time since meeting Cain, Elissa found that to be a wonderful thing.

* * *

**AN: That's a wrap, guys! Please be so kind as to leave a review and let us know what you think! :D**


	21. Part XX: Salvaged From the Ashes

* * *

**Part XX: Salvaged From the Ashes**

* * *

Levi Ackerman tore open the sage green curtains to his bedroom windows, allowing the brilliant sunshine of high noon to sweep through the dark room, chasing out the shadows from every nook and cranny – save one. Slayte groaned in dismay and pulled the plaid-green comforter over her head, blocking out the light that seemed to mock her with its cheer.

"Oi. It's 12 o'clock. How long are you going to stay in bed?" He griped irritably. An early riser himself, he had already spent upwards of six hours waiting for Slayte to make an appearance.

When she failed to answer, he moved towards the bed and crossed his arms as he stood over her, unimpressed. "Slayte. Are you going to pull yourself together or should I call a tow truck?"

"Just let me stay here," she mumbled miserably from underneath the blanket, "I don't want to get up today. It's Sunday, anyway, you don't need me. Just leave me be." Her body felt like it weighed a thousand tons. Just the idea of getting up out of bed was exhausting. It felt futile, like an enormous burden that would do her no good, even if she forced herself to face it.

"Tch." Levi scowled at the stupid statement. Her presence meant all the more to him on weekends when they weren't distracted with customers. His gaze softened as he watched the lump on the bed curl in on herself. She had been through a terrible emotional upheaval the day previous and as much as the markings on Elissa's back and the things he had overheard the two of them talk about disturbed him, as much as he wanted answers, he wanted her to feel better first.

"How long?" he demanded.

A moment's silence passed before she answered quietly, "I don't think I'm coming down today." She lifted a pale arm out of the pile of blankets and gestured in the general direction of the window. "Can you close the curtains again?" Her voice was hesitant, pleading, and Levi had just about had enough of it.

Without warning, he slid his arms under her blanket-wrapped form and lifted her easily out of the bed as if she weighed little more than a sack of flour.

She squeaked in alarm, her head poking out of the blankets, "Levi! What are you- just let me stay in bed today! I'm tired! I don't want to get ready or eat or – "

Levi paid her no heed and left the room, smoothly descending the stairs before dumping her unceremoniously on a chair by the kitchen table.

"If you're going to be miserable, at least be miserable here where I can see you," he muttered, turning to place the tea he had already prepared for her on the table. He pulled open a kitchen drawer and extracted the latest book of poetry Slayte had been absorbed in and set it beside her tea before moving to the adjacent counter where he had paperwork spread out. Preparation for this year's taxes that he hadn't quite been able to focus on as long as he kept glancing at the clock, wondering when Slayte was coming down.

Her doe-brown eyes followed him as he turned away from her, one hand resting on the countertop, his raven locks falling over his face as he pored over the paperwork.

Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she tucked her hair behind her ears, smoothing down her haggard, fresh-out-of-bed appearance. She looked around the tea shop, it seemed to glow in an ethereal fashion as the sunlight streaming in from the windows on all sides illuminated the immaculate hardwood floors and granite countertops, not to mention the various appliances polished to a gleam. It was comfortable and familiar. Home.

She drew her feet up onto the seat of the chair and wrapped the blanket more tightly around herself. She truly hadn't wanted to leave her bed that morning. Her body had felt impossibly heavy and the thought of facing the reality of the events of the day before just made her want to erase herself from existence. But now, with the sunlight streaming in with such effortless radiance, and Levi working in his concentrated manner that usually made her want to tease him in hopes of shifting his attention onto herself, it almost seemed as if…

She frowned and did not allow herself to finish that thought. The truth of the situation that drove her to despair was not to be found in the safe haven of the tea shop. She felt for the metallic cuff on her left arm and traced the cool metal with her fingertips. The reality of her servitude had, by extension, made her an opponent of Elissa's even as she tried to protect her. So long as Elissa and Thanatos stood at opposite ends from one another, Slayte would be caught helplessly in the middle.

She crossed her arms around her knees, and as she rested her head against her forearms her gaze slid onto the cup of tea steaming by her side. The teacup was an ornamental one that she had fallen in love with on one of their research trips. Crafted masterfully out of bone-china and decorated with dark-blue flowers lined with gold, Slayte had been unable to tear her eyes away from it, as it decorated a shop window perched elegantly on a matching saucer. She remembered her surprise at finding the beautiful teacup sitting innocently on their own kitchen shelf only a few days later. It was one of the first such unassuming presents Levi had bought for her, and it always warmed her heart to see it.

The sweet, refreshing scent of lemon balm tea wafted up to her nose. A stress-relieving tea that was meant to lift moods and carried a note of peppermint, her favorite flavor. As always, Levi had selected the tea he brewed for her with great care. She reached gingerly for her favorite teacup and brought the hot liquid to her lips, savoring the delicious flavor of the tea. Its soothing blend was a delight to her taste buds and she blinked in surprise. Just this morning, she had felt there wasn't a single thing in this world worth opening her eyes for, worth living on for, and now, only a couple minutes later, she could name so many.

Sunshine, tea, Levi… she felt the cold metal of the cuff against her skin… Elissa.

Tears stung her eyes and she bit her lip to keep them at bay. Elissa's harsh words still rang cruelly in her ears and above all, the terrible accusation that their friendship had brought Elissa nothing but pain. As much as she tried to tell herself that those were words spoken in anger, she could not shake off the truth of that statement. Had Slayte brought all this misfortune on Elissa? Had she caused Elissa nothing but discomfort over the years with her awkward ways and her underworld aura? Had Elissa merely been tolerating her out of kindness, while suffering all the while?

Unable to chase away the terrible thoughts, she reached for the book of poetry and flipped it open, hoping to escape reality. Nearly an hour passed as she sipped at her tea and read from the book of clever rhymes and meaningful prose. The tension in her body seemed to fade away and her mind cleared, slowly, but surely, so that when Levi finally broke the silence, she didn't break with it.

"What are those marks on Elissa's back?"

With a sigh, Slayte closed the book and replaced it on the table. She considered her answer as she huddled under the blanket, curling her fingers around the now empty teacup.

"It's exactly what she thinks it is… but I'm in no position to tell her that." She answered glumly.

"And what does she think it is?"

Slayte did not immediately answer, contemplating, weighing the words in her mind like a stingy storekeeper weighs his wares. At length, she spoke slowly, as if searching for the right words, "They're proof that she's alive. The reason, actually, that she is alive."

"Did you do that to her?" he asked. There was curiosity in his voice but no accusation.

Slayte blinked at him, "What, no - How could I? I told you, I'm a nobody."

When he fell silent, considering her answer, she sighed and seemed to sink further into herself. She rested her forehead against her knees and mumbled miserably, "I'm a trash friend. She deserves answers."

Levi watched her undo his efforts of bringing her out of her dark mood with a frown of disapproval. "She does," he agreed, "that's why she demands them."

"Yeah…"

"You deserve things, too," he added, irked.

She pondered that a moment, before lifting her head, unable to make sense of it. "What do you mean?"

"You never demand the things you deserve." He turned back to the paperwork he had now begun filling out, pushing a pen behind his ear, before rearranging them in a chronological order.

"Like what?" she blinked, bewildered. It was a strange concept.

He angled a pointed glance at her before turning away again, "Patience. Respect. Understanding. You're allowed to demand those things between friends."

"Levi," she countered, appalled, "think of what I've done to her, how could I dare?"

"You saved her life," he shot back, "why are you both forgetting about that? Truth or lies, none of that matters if you're dead."

She stared at him wide-eyed, unable to believe her ears. Frustrated, he dropped the pen onto the paperwork and crossed over to her.

"What's holding you back? Why don't you ask for what you want?"

She could only gape at him. She was clearly in the wrong, so what on earth was he saying?

"I can understand why she's mad at me," she attempted, confused, "She has a right to - "

"She does," Levi cut her off, "But so do you. Friends fight, they don't just cower away because the other is mad."

Slayte was speechless. She didn't know what to think. What was he even getting at?

"Hey. I saved your life. Be grateful. There are things I can't talk to you about. It sucks, but that's the way it is." Levi's tone was cutting and matter-of-fact. "What's preventing you from saying that?"

At her prolonged, bewildered silence, Levi sighed and continued. "If you ask me, I would tell you to get your act together and tell her everything. But the difference between my decision and yours are our experiences. At the end of the day, only you know the reasons you have for keeping quiet. Only you know if they are valid or justified. If you've decided, then don't regret it." He frowned, and added "And ask for the damn things you want."

"You're… pretty talkative today," Slayte commented, surprised.

He raised his eyes heavenward. Had even a single word made it through that thick skull? Turning away, he replaced his paperwork in a folder, resigned to the knowledge that he would likely not be able to finish it today. "I'm a talkative type," he answered offhandedly, "Pull yourself together, Slayte. Start making demands."

She considered this. It was a most unusual idea. To demand what she, herself, wanted? It was so much easier to just do her best to provide for the wishes and needs of those she cared for. She delighted in the joy on their faces when she could be useful to her friends. What did  _ she _ even truly want?

Levi disappeared into the back office, likely to get some filing done, as Slayte mulled over the question she had posed to herself. By the time he returned, the blanket was neatly folded, the bookmark placed with loving care, and Slayte was nowhere to be seen.

"Tch," he ran a frustrated hand through his hair, "I told that brat not to go out alone."

Picking up her empty teacup, he supposed, if she had been able to protect herself so far, she would be able to do so again. Still, he was determined to have another word with her on her return.

* * *

The soft notes of a piano playing resounded faintly throughout Elissa's living room, accompanied by a vibrating that stirred her from a restless sleep. Opening her eyes blearily, Elissa pressed a hand to her forehead. Her head felt terribly heavy and her stomach turned with anxiety. What was causing that awful feeling? Something had happened recently…

All at once, the memories of the previous day came rushing back. The catastrophic end to what should have been a nice day at the beach. Itachi's icy dismissal - his admitting to having simply used her for the course of his investigation, her argument with Slayte… Elissa ran a hand through her wavy chestnut hair miserably. Would that she could have slept longer, or not remembered what had happened so soon.

Her legs were sore and, looking around, Elissa realized she had fallen asleep sitting on the floor of her living room, her head resting on the low table. All around her papers and pens were strewn haphazardly and Elissa recalled she had been graphing and mapping out what she knew thus far about Itachi and Slayte and their interference in her life. She had spent the better part of the night scribbling out plausible theories as to their true identities and their intentions towards her in a vain attempt at trying to regain control of the volatile trajectory her life had taken.

Achingly beautiful piano tunes met her ears as Elissa realized what had awoken her. She reached for her phone drowsily, still weighed down by sleep, and glanced at the screen to find the face of a middle-aged woman with shoulder-length hair the very shade of Elissa's own smiling up at her. The shape of the woman's blue eyes and the long lashes were nearly identical to Elissa's, but the resemblance ended there. Elissa had undoubtedly inherited both her straight nose and her full lips from her father.

Elissa quickly accepted the call before it went to voicemail, knowing her mother would worry needlessly if that happened, and pressed the phone to her ear.

"Hi, mum. Good morning." Elissa cleared her throat, trying to banish the tiredness from her voice.

"Good morning?" a pleasant laugh resounded in her ear, "Get to bed late last night, did you, honey?"

Elissa glanced at the clock at the wall and saw that it was nearly noon. "Oh, um, yeah, I was up late last night doing some… research." She glanced at the list of supernatural creatures at her elbow. The word werewolf had been crossed out vehemently but three question marks punctuated the possibility of Itachi being a vampire.

"Okay, love, but take care of yourself, alright? I hope you're eating and sleeping properly." The kind tones of her mother's voice washed over Elissa's heart like a healing balm.

"Thanks, mum," she whispered quietly, feeling more comforted by those few words than by anything else she had tried to find comfort in over the last few days.

"Elissa, baby, what's wrong?" The concern in her mother's voice was evident, and Elissa sighed. She hadn't wanted to worry her but knew it was impossible to hide anything from her mother.

"Nothing, really. Just tired," she replied, hoping to dismiss her concerns.

"Don't give me that. I raised you for twenty-two years, I know when something's wrong." Elissa wondered what she could possibly say about the current situation without sounding like she had lost her mind, as she heard her mother call out to her brother in the background.

"Cas! Here, take this coffee to your father, will you?" A moment's silence as her brother complained with words indecipherable. "No, I'm talking to Elissa." She heard her brother protest, "What? I want to talk to her, too!" Castiel raised his voice so Elissa could hear him, "Hey, Elissa! How are you? Mum won't let me talk to you!"

"Hush, Castiel! If you wanted to talk to Elissa, you would call her on your own time, like I did. Now, bring your father his coffee and let me talk to my baby."

She heard her brother mumble something about playing favorites and smiled, despite herself. It was true that her mother had always given her special attention, she was the only girl they had now. She had always been spoiled between the three of them, and by her older brother Gabriel, when he was home. Elissa had enjoyed the attention, even if she found it stifling at times, which was why she had made the decision to move across the country, hoping to better establish herself in life, and maybe, hopefully, truly find herself in the process.

"Alright, Elissa, out with it." She heard a door slide shut and assumed her mother had gone out into the garden to speak with her in peace.

"It's nothing, mum, really -"

"Is it boy trouble?" Her mother immediately hit the nail on the head and Elissa swallowed uneasily.

"Yeah…" she admitted slowly.

"What did he do?" Elissa could hear the rising upset in her mother's voice.

"Nothing, he…" Elissa sighed, resigning herself to the fact that her mother would not let up until she knew what was going on. "I was just getting my hopes up over nothing, mum. He cut me off yesterday and… I guess it just really hurt because I was getting more invested than I had realized and I still had so many questions…" Elissa felt tears well up in her eyes. Without the supernatural element, and the fear for her life, speaking simply of the relationship she had shared with Itachi, she was forced to face the truth of her feelings - to admit how much he had meant to her and how deeply his rejection hurt.

"Why did he cut you off?" her mother wanted to know, gathering all the facts before sharing her opinion.

"I don't know… I thought we were pretty close, we would talk often and… just really meaningful conversations, you know? But he suddenly clammed up yesterday after I questioned him on some things I guess he didn't feel comfortable talking about."

"Sounds like a shady character," her mother quipped disapprovingly. "He cut you off for asking questions?"

"I guess… I don't really know for sure. I never know with him." Elissa sighed miserably, resting her head against the cool surface of the table as she listened to her mother's soothing voice.

"Elissa, this guy doesn't sound very trustworthy. You deserve someone who is honest with you and fully appreciates you. Not some shady weirdo who freezes you out for asking a question."

"Yeah… I know…" Elissa muttered glumly.

"Elissa, you are beautiful, and courageous, and inspiring. Creative, kind, and a joy to be around… Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. And if they do, then don't you listen to them." Listening to her mother be upset on her behalf was a healing potion for her weary heart.

"This guy clearly didn't deserve your attention, I hope you told him as much."

"I did, mum, promise. I told him I won't ever be seeing him again." Elissa reassured her.

"Good. There are plenty of good guys out there…" Elissa heard her mother sigh in frustration, "I would like to give that young man a piece of my mind. What is he doing with someone's daughter?"

"Thanks, mum. Really, I appreciate it." Elissa closed her eyes and a small smile crept on to her face. She had almost forgotten what it felt like to have someone be unconditionally on her side.

"Forget about him, Elissa. Spend more time doing the things you love. Writing your story, going on walks, visiting your friends. Slayte is probably taking care of you, right?" Elissa ignored the twinge in her heart at that statement.

She couldn't admit to her mother the falling out she had had with Slayte. That would be considerably more difficult to explain and would only make her mother worry even more. Her mother knew how close they were, and would be gravely concerned to know they weren't friends anymore.

"Slayte can barely take care of herself, mum," she answered instead, rolling her eyes.

A sweet laugh, like the tinkling of a bell, sounded in her ear. "Alright, honey. Just know, you can always move back home if you like. Your room will always be here for you. There's no shame in coming back."

"Mum…" Elissa began with a warning tone, as if they had had this discussion many times.

"I'm just saying," her mother defended, "Just so you know."

"I know," Elissa admitted, "Thanks, mum."

"Anytime, love."

"Mum?" Elissa tried to contain the faltering of her voice as her throat constricted with emotion. "I love you."

"I love you, too, honey. So much more than you know. Everything will be alright, Elissa. Chin up."

Elissa drank in her mother's encouraging words, trying to summon the strength to implement them. By the time they had spoken through her father's new business ventures, Castiel's career prospects, and Gabriel's new girlfriend over an hour had passed. After they said their goodbyes, Elissa looked around the uncharacteristically messy apartment and found the strength to get to her feet, roll up her sleeves, and take her life back in her hands.

* * *

Slayte pulled her denim jacket closed against the breeze that tore at her as she made her way up to Elissa's apartment block. Sunshine never did last in this part of the surface realm. She hesitated in front of the panel lined with buttons and names as she held her finger over the one that read " _ A. Caelum".  _ Would Elissa open the door for her? Judging by how furious she had been the previous day, Slayte doubted it. With a determined expression, she rang the bell, her mind made up.

"Hello?" an elderly voice croaked.

"Mr. Hawthorne!" Slayte greeted enthusiastically, "It's Slayte. I'm here to see Elissa but her buzzer might be malfunctioning. Would you let me in?"

"Just a moment."

A buzzing sound met Slayte's ears and she pushed the front door open.  _ It wasn't a lie,  _ she tried to ease her conscience at having taken advantage of Elissa's neighbor,  _ I said  _ **_might be_ ** _ malfunctioning. That isn't an outright lie. _

Slayte took the steps two at a time as she made her way to the seventh floor, considerably out of breath, and seriously regretting not having used the elevator. She came to a stop outside Elissa's door and took a moment to catch her breath as panic welled within her.

What if Elissa wasn't home? What if she didn't open the door? What if she didn't want to talk to her? What if… Slayte shook her head. This was getting her nowhere.  _ Demand what you want, Slayte,  _ she reminded herself. She wanted Elissa to not leave her. She wanted the two of them to stay together no matter what.

She lifted her hand and rapped her knuckles softly against the door. Too softly, it would seem, in her nervousness, because nothing sounded from within but dishes clanking against one another and running water. Slayte knocked again, more firmly this time and heard the sudden stillness beyond.

"Elissa?" she questioned hesitantly, "It's me. Are you there?"

Silence met her ears. She could hear her own heart pounding against her eardrums in her nervous agitation. At length, a familiar voice called, "Go away, Slayte."

She hesitated, and the sound of dishwashing picked up again. She placed the palm of her hand against the door, desperate to bridge the gap. "I won't, though." She called through the barrier, not sure if Elissa could hear her.

"I'm here, Elissa. I'll always be here. If you want to vent, or yell at me, or…" she trailed off.  _ Demands, Slayte, make demands! Friends can demand things of each other! _

She clenched her fists and took a deep breath, "I also have things I want to say to you! I… I am going to stay here until you open that door!" She raised her voice as she had heard Elissa do, but it felt wrong.

Elissa ignored her, and Slayte sighed, closing her eyes in despair. She pressed her forehead against the door. The keys to Elissa's apartment weighed heavy in her pocket but she ignored them. What right did she have to enter Elissa's apartment when she didn't want her there?

She cleared her throat, drawing strength from Levi's pep talk. What did she want? What did she really truly want from Elissa, more than anything else?  _ Demands, demands, demands. _

"Can't you trust me?" The firm wood of the apartment door against her forehead was both foreign and grounding. Slayte clenched the hand resting on the door into a fist. What she wanted more than anything.

"Elissa, you know me. Don't tell me that you don't. We knew from the day we met that we were somehow connected. There was something there. Our friendship was fated, like our souls were intertwined. Or was I the only one who felt that way? You say… you may not know  _ what  _ I am, but… you know everything there is to know about  _ who _ I am. You know me through and through."

She took a deep breath.  _ Demands.  _ "Knowing me, can't you trust me?"

She heard Elissa shut off the water, the dishes stilled. "Can't you trust that I have reasons I can't be completely open with you, even though there's nothing I want more? Even though I wish I could be completely transparent with you, I can't. Don't you know me well enough to trust me? Elissa, please…" She squeezed her eyes shut.  _ Demands. _

She took a deep breath but before she could speak, the door suddenly swung open, revealing none other than Elissa herself. Her eyes narrowed irritably and her mouth was set in an annoyed frown.

"You have the keys. Why are you being so overdramatic?" Elissa crossed her arms in annoyance, "There's no need to shout at the entire neighborhood."

Slayte's lip trembled, Elissa was alive and whole and even her sarcastic annoyance was precious. Even if she was mad at her, at least she was talking to her.

_ Friends can make demands of each other. _

Slayte gathered her courage, and clenched her fists. "Elissa," she announced, but meeting her friend's hazel eyes, her resolve dissolved. "I'm sorry," she said instead. Her voice wavered with emotion. "I'm so sorry about all of this. The last thing I wanted was for you to be hurt."

She shook her head, she was done crying. Her tears had resolved absolutely nothing. She met Elissa's hazel eyes, usually so kind and tender, now cold and unmoved.

Elissa sighed, exasperated. "I don't have all day, Slayte. Say what you want to say and leave."

"Trust me." Slayte's voice carried, clear and calm. The tears battled away until all that remained was resilient determination.

Elissa lifted her chin, angry at the mere suggestion.

"Why should I?" she demanded, outrage in her voice.

Slayte's answer was immediate, unnerving in its confidence. "Because I would do anything for you." Slayte hesitated, her gaze steadfast as she took a chance, "And you know it." It was a time for truths. Perhaps not the truths Elissa wanted to hear, but they were truths all the same.

Elissa was taken aback. She had recognized Slayte the minute she had heard her footsteps on the stairs. She had thought it impossible; that her mind was playing tricks on her, even as the sound of Slayte catching her breath rang familiar. Her hesitant knock. Her ridiculous, theatrical statements. Everything about Slayte only made Elissa more angry. It only brought Itachi's heartless demeanor into sharp relief. The raven-hair, the otherworldly aura… it was nearly impossible to look at Slayte and not remember him.

She knew Slayte to be jealous of her attention, to pine for her affection, ever eager to please. She had always taken these insecurities into consideration and been especially gentle with her friend, choosing her words carefully to help build her confidence and not tear her down. Until now. Elissa did not care anymore, seeing as Slayte clearly did not carry the same consideration for Elissa.

And yet, who was the Slayte standing in front of Elissa at this moment? Straight-backed, eyes filled with steely resolve - solemn, hurt, but determined? Unafraid and unintimidated?

"I would kill for you," Slayte announced mildly, without intonation, "I would die for you." Elissa felt unease creep over her at Slayte's stoic declaration. What on earth was she saying?

"You know it. Please don't pretend you don't." Slayte dropped her arms loosely at her sides and her fists unclenched as she sighed.

"Big words, Slayte." Elissa shot back, finding her tongue again, "Is that what you came here for? To deliver your monologue? Well, bravo, now you can go."

"You'll do anything for me, just not tell me the truth, right? I've heard enough." Elissa turned away, ready to close the door on Slayte.

The black-haired nymph stood there, helpless, unable to cross the threshold. To block Elissa from closing the door. To grab her shoulders and shake some sense into her. To shout until Elissa understood her suffering, too. All of a sudden, she understood Levi's frustration from earlier. Slayte could not make demands of Elissa. She could not insist, she could not push, she could not fight her. She could only receive, could only comply, could only soothe.

The fact that Elissa did not want her to step past the doorway was an impenetrable barrier more solid than the door Elissa was about to close.

She glanced up at her friend, the hurt clearly visible in her almond-brown irises, and Elissa paused. She swallowed with trepidation. She was frustrated with Slayte, she was  _ furious _ with Slayte, but… did she want to break her?  _ Why would my rejection break her?  _ Elissa countered her own thoughts angrily. With dismay, she realized that deep down, she knew Slayte had spoken the truth. She  _ would  _ do anything for her. Kill… or die. And Elissa knew it. Perhaps she had known it all along and did not want to believe it. The fact did not provide Elissa any solace, however. If anything, it made her even more averse to Slayte's company. That intensity, that dark affection, was all too reminiscent of someone she was in a hurry to forget.

She narrowed her eyes at the young woman she had once considered her best friend. Slayte was the only one who had the answers to the questions that plagued her. Did she really want to push Slayte away when there was still a chance to find out what had happened? That was what Levi had said, right?  _ Drag the truth out of her, if you can. _

"Is this what you meant when you said he is dangerous?" Elissa tried. There was no point in wasting her time if Slayte was just going to clam up again.

"Yes," Slayte answered with only a brief hesitation. "But he isn't dangerous for you. I am certain of that. I would bet my life on it, at this point."

Elissa frowned, her gaze falling to the carpeted hallway floor. Sure, even she believed now, that Itachi would never physically hurt her, and yet… with the way he had stolen away all rationality, lured her close with his gentle kindness and then cast her out with unfeeling, cold, hostility... She had held her heart out to him and he had poured ice over it, poisoned it, crushed it. How could anyone claim he wasn't dangerous?

"Elissa?" Slayte's soft, concerned voice broke her out of her thoughts. With a sigh, Elissa stepped aside, allowing the other girl entrance.

"Come in," Elissa relented, turning to re-enter the apartment as well. Slayte closed the door gently behind herself before removing her shoes and setting them neatly to the side. She watched Elissa out of the corner of her eyes all the while. Her friend had retreated to the kitchen, where the pile of dishes awaited her. Scanning her surroundings, Slayte saw that the apartment was in a general state of disarray. The sofa cushions were strewn haphazardly, a knitted throw blanket trailing onto the floor. Books, notebooks, and pens were scattered across the living room table where an empty cup of instant noodles and a half-drained can of coke stood side by side.

The uncharacteristically messy state of the apartment, where Elissa was usually so neat and organized, was a sure sign of Elissa's tormented state of mind. Slayte felt a pang of guilt, knowing nothing less than absolute despair would drive Elissa to allow this mayhem. She could not begin to guess how overwhelmed Elissa must be.

Looking up the hallway into the kitchen, she saw Elissa had started back on the dishes, and was determinedly ignoring her. Slayte hung her jacket on the nearby hook and, rolling up her sleeves, set to work picking up the living room. She was glad there was something so simple she could do to be useful to her friend. By the time the living room was tidied, vacuumed, and wiped down, Slayte had just pulled open the balcony doors, allowing fresh late-summer air into the flat as Elissa appeared from the kitchen, apparently done with her task as well.

The girls' eyes met wordlessly. The myriad hazel colors of the surface, brown as the earth, green as life, with flecks of golden sunlight connecting with the dark, shadowed irises of the world beyond, a world shrouded in secrecy and timeless patience. The inevitable end of all things. Oceans of unspoken words seemed to separate the two pairs of eyes by miles. Slayte's gaze was searching and hopeful, Elissa's disillusioned and resigned.

Uncomfortable with the eye contact, Elissa cast a glance around the spotless living room. "Thanks," she breathed. It almost looked like life was okay when everything was clean and in order this way. Like she hadn't been scarred for life, like a supernatural being hadn't toyed with her, like her best friend wasn't leading her on.

"Don't mention it," Slayte replied automatically, causing Elissa's eyes to snap back to her. Slayte bit her lip, remembering the last time she had spoken those words after Elissa had thanked her for saving her life, and averted her eyes, suddenly finding something interesting on the carpet. She didn't want to remind Elissa of that. It truly hadn't been worth mentioning.

A tense silence passed between them that was suddenly interrupted by a curious mewl. The girls turned in unison as Vetty made an appearance in the hallway. "Hey, Vetty," Slayte greeted with a small smile, comfortable with the cat now, and somewhat reassured in the presence of another, friendly, underworld creature. She kneeled on the carpet and Vetty approached, allowing Slayte to pet her.

"You used to be so afraid of her," Elissa remarked, her eyes narrowing. "You wanted me to get rid of her. Tried to kill her. What changed?"

Slayte refused to raise her eyes to Elissa's, knowing they were bordering on information she could not give, and answered simply, "I was wrong. She's nice. She's good for you, right?"

Elissa glanced at the fluffy, black cat, even more suspicious now that Slayte had confirmed her approval. "Are you going to tell me anything?" she ground out, unsure herself, why she had let Slayte in at all and uncomfortable with the image of Slayte in her living room as if their friendship were uninterrupted.

Slayte stood up with a sigh. "I'll… try. As soon as I can, I'll tell you everything you want to know, Elissa. But it's just impossible right now. Please, believe me when I say that I've taken the consequences into consideration, and if you knew everything… I think you would agree with my choices."

"Well, not like I would know," Elissa muttered bitterly, "You're not the one who gets to decide, but I'm tired of telling you that."

Slayte rubbed her arm uneasily, swallowed by guilt. "I'm truly sorry, Elissa."

"Yeah, whatever," Elissa dismissed. She had no patience left for Slayte's endless apologies. "Tell me one thing."

Slayte met her eyes, warily. "I'll do my best."

"Why do you hang around me?" Elissa's hazel eyes were filled with distrust and suspicion that cut her to the quick.

Slayte faltered, the words she had never spoken weighing heavy on her tongue, but Elissa wanted the truth, right? "Because…" Her wide eyes looked uneasy, "Because I love you, Elissa. You're one of the best things that's ever happened to me. My best friend. I, when it's about you, I - I just can't think straight. I want you to be happy, I want to protect you, I- "

"There's no ulterior motive? No one set you on me?"

Slayte swallowed thickly, her heartfelt confession was so roughly cast aside, she felt foolish. "No," she confirmed, "I found you on my own, and I liked you."

Slayte sighed, and ventured a question of her own, "What happened with Thane?"

Elissa's eyes filled with an ache so poignant at the mere mention of him, it cut Slayte's heart to the quick.

"Oh, Elissa…" she breathed, "I tried to warn you."

"About what?" Elissa shot back defensively.

"Loving him is hating yourself." Slayte looked older in that moment, wise and world-weary, as if she knew exactly what Elissa was going through. As if it reminded her of old scars she had forgotten, like a reminiscing soldier who had left the war decades ago, but still heard the faint echo of gunfire on occasion.

"Don't be ridiculous." Elissa dismissed bitterly, "He's a stranger. I don't feel anything for him." She wasn't like Slayte, to casually believe herself in love with someone to whom she was invisible. Someone who clearly did not care for her. Someone who had set his hooks in her heart only to tear them out mercilessly. But her tense posture and the tears threatening to make an appearance belied that statement.

Elissa's tongue felt thick, her heart heavy with the ugly jealousy that hadn't left her since Slayte's confession the previous day. "Yeah, you tried to warn me, so you could have him to yourself, right? Was it fun for the two of you? Making a fool out of me?" Her voice rose in indignance, as bitterness swamped her.

"Elissa, what are you talking about?" Slayte blinked in confusion.

"You! Meeting him in secret this whole time, doing god-knows-what with him while Levi and I are oblivious! That's… that's disgusting, Slayte." Indeed, Elissa's expression was livid with a disgusted anger Slayte could not comprehend.

"He…" she hesitated, perplexed, "He is my master. He assigns me tasks." She cut it down to the very basics, hoping to clear the air, unsure what she was being accused of - and what Levi could possibly have to do with it.

"What kind of tasks, huh? Just say it," Elissa spat with bitterness.

"It… varies? What are you thinking, Elissa? I don't follow," Slayte gestured helplessly as she spoke.

"Are you seriously going to pretend you aren't sleeping with him? After you already confessed as much yesterday?" Elissa crossed her arms, feeling angry and betrayed.

"I'm …" Understanding dawned slowly, " **_What?!_ ** " Slayte's face turned a fierce scarlet. How could Elissa possibly entertain the thought that  _ she, a _ meaningless nymph, would be so intimate with the great Thanatos? What could have given her the impression that the cold deity could have even the slightest interest in her? How could Elissa think that Slayte would ever be anything less than loyal to Levi?!

"How- Elissa - Gods, no!" she sputtered in indignance. "Where do you come up with these ideas?" She pressed a hand to her forehead in exasperated humiliation, embarrassed to note that she was burning up.

Elissa glanced at the mortified Slayte and quickly connected the dots, realizing her mistake.

"You said services!" Elissa defended.

"Yes! He commands my services! Gives me tasks! How is that the same thing?" Slayte countered, surprised to find herself raising her own voice.

"Well, how on earth am I supposed to know, if you won't fucking tell me anything!" Elissa all but screamed at her.

Slayte was taken aback by Elissa's foul language, a sure sign that her friend was furious. "You should know, because you know me!" she replied, defensive, "Obsessive and devoted, remember?!"

"I  _ don't  _ know you, clearly!" Elissa retorted, "I thought I did but I was wrong. I have no idea who or what you are, or what you want with me. Everything you've ever told me has been a lie!"

"It hasn't!" Slayte insisted, "But you always push me for answers I am in no position to give! You never take no for an answer. You never leave things be! I want to talk to you, I want you to understand, but I  _ can't,  _ Elissa!"

"You don't have the privilege of deciding, when it's about ME." Elissa huffed, her anger spent. She was relieved, despite herself, to know that she had been mistaken about the nature of Slayte's relationship with Itachi. But the sting of Slayte's secrets and her betrayal still pierced her heart. It was clear, between herself and Itachi, on whose side her so-called best friend stood.

"I know, I know…" Slayte answered, pacing up and down the living room. "I'm doing the best I can, but I can't do what I can't do…" She was distracted, and tormented by her thoughts, gripping at her hair in anguish. "Oh, why were we so  _ loud _ ?" she groaned, "Do you think Levi heard? Do you think he understood the same thing you did?" She glanced helplessly at Elissa, who averted her eyes.

"How would I know? Go talk to him if that's what matters right now."

"No, no, it can wait," Slayte dismissed with a sigh, before glancing nervously at Elissa, not wanting to be sent away so soon.

Vetty's eyes flicked back and forth between the two of them, watching the exchange with amused interest.

Slayte hesitated, unsure of her standing with Elissa now. "Can you… trust me a little, Elissa? Even if you don't forgive me? I would never do anything to hurt you."

"Too late for that statement," Elissa muttered, giving Slayte a sharp look. "Don't push it, Slayte." There was no point in questioning Slayte further, she would undoubtedly just creep further back into her shell. There had to be other ways to get answers out of her. Would alcohol make her more loose-lipped?

Slayte fidgeted nervously, trying to think of something to defuse the tense situation. She wasn't in Elissa's good graces, but she wasn't being thrown out either. She would have to work with what she had.

"I know," she suggested brightly, "Why don't we work on your story together? It's been a while, right? You can show me all the progress you've made!"

Elissa didn't seem particularly enthused by the idea. "I don't know… it's been a while since I've seriously worked on it." The story she had poured her heart and soul into brought back unwanted memories of Itachi, the way they had discussed the plot together by the riverside, the way he had used it as a metaphor for life. She wanted to leave her notes in a drawer and forget about them. Or burn them.

"Come on," Slayte insisted, moving to the desk drawers where she knew Elissa kept her notes, and pulled them out. Reluctantly, Elissa followed Slayte to the couch. What was she even doing? Hadn't she told Levi just yesterday she was ending their friendship? She glanced at Slayte who was flipping through pages, looking for where they had last left off. The tense look in her eyes conflicted with the bright smile she directed at Elissa. Not even Slayte's smiles were honest.

Elissa determined she would find a way to get the truth out of Slayte before ending their friendship for good. It was the only option that made any sense. Slayte's presence, and her company that Elissa had once found so easy, so natural, were stifling now. To think she had once considered Slayte as something of a sister. How wrong she had been.

"Elissa…" Slayte breathed, an inexplicable emotion flashed across her dark irises, as they caught on a page of Elissa's notebook. "What's this?"

She held the notebook up for Elissa to see, and Elissa's breath seemed to catch in her throat as she saw the page that had commanded Slayte's attention. Beautiful, elegantly curved, symmetrical handwriting seemed to mock her from the paper.

"Ugh." Elissa reached for the notebook, "It's nothing." She tore the offensive page out. "Itachi wrote out some names for me in ancient greek. Won't be needing that anymore." Without another world she crumpled up the page and tossed it into the wastepaper basket. Slayte's eyes followed the ball of paper, stunned.

"Look, Slayte," Elissa decided, getting to her feet, "I don't feel like working on the story now, so please, just put the notebooks away."

"Oh. Yeah, sure," Slayte agreed amiably, abashed, and began piling them immediately.

"Great," Elissa commented, without the enthusiasm that would justify the use of that word, "I'm going to go make us some tea. Let's have a cup and then I think it's time for you to go."

Slayte blinked at Elissa, but accepted that it would not be that easy to go back to how they were before. "As you wish, Elissa," she appeased, attempting a smile.

Elissa nodded and stalked determinedly off to the kitchen, leaving Slayte behind. No sooner was Elissa out of sight than Slayte made a dive for the wastepaper basket, pulling out the page her friend had thrown away and smoothing it out on her lap to get a better look at the writing. Had she read it correctly?

Sure enough, there was a list of names, just as Elissa had said. Thanatos, Hypnos, Hades, Hecate, and the like… but underneath that, Thanatos had elegantly penned two short lines. Slayte's eyes drank them in in disbelief. It was a couplet, no doubt.

_ "Let it flower in the field," sage is the heart's command,  
_ _ "Quell your nature, this desire, to hold it in your hand." _

Slayte's eyes ran over the couplet again and again as if her eyes betrayed her. It was undoubtedly Thanatos' handwriting. The elegant prose, the deeper meaning, all of it was clearly from the hand of her master. And yet, her mind reeled, unable to accept what she was seeing. Unable to grasp the enormity of the fact that she held in her hands indisputable evidence, written by the hand of the god of Death himself, that her suspicions had been far closer to the truth than she had dared to believe.

If you love a flower, don't pluck it from the earth's bosom. The message was simple, and yet the significance of Itachi penning these words to  _ Elissa  _ was overwhelming. Coming from him it was as close to a confession as was at all possible for the deity who did not express any emotion other than cold wrath. Poetry was an honored endeavor in the underworld and Slayte was well-acquainted with the works of many, but these particular lines were not reminiscent of any poet that she knew. She admitted to herself that Thanatos must have composed them.

She had known that Elissa held a unique position in Thanatos' eyes, but had never suspected just how deep those feelings went. Was he… smitten with her? In  _ love  _ with her? Was that why he was so adamant on keeping his distance? Slayte folded the paper carefully and slipped it into her jeans pocket. She didn't know if a day would ever come when Elissa might want to read it, but she couldn't let her friend just throw it away, not knowing what it meant.

"What's wrong with you?" Elissa's voice sounded. She had reentered the living room with a tray of two steaming cups of tea and Slayte had not even noticed, so absorbed was she in her contemplations.

"Nothing," Slayte dismissed readily, "Thanks so much for the tea."

Elissa narrowed her eyes at Slayte's dishonesty but said nothing, telling herself she should be used to it by now. They sat side by side, keeping an awkward, cautious distance between one another. Slayte carefully attempted conversation, complimenting the tea, asking about Elissa's plans for the afternoon, commenting on the weather. Elissa answered in stilted, monosyllabic sentences and Slayte found that by the time she had drained the teacup at least a year must have passed.

"You're done?" Elissa asked the minute Slayte set the cup on the saucer. "Thanks for coming by, Slayte." The words were empty of genuine gratitude, and were a polite dismissal more than anything else. Elissa set her own teacup back on her saucer and Slayte's heart sank as she saw that Elissa had barely sipped at it, as if she was merely going through the motions, waiting for Slayte to leave.

"Right," Slayte stood, fearful of outstaying her welcome. "I guess I'll see you at the tea shop sometime soon?"

"Yeah, we'll see," Elissa answered noncommittally, standing as well as a farewell gesture. Slayte nodded quietly before turning to leave. She walked slowly towards the door. Each reluctant footstep felt leaden and she hoped against hope that Elissa would call after her, that she, too, wouldn't want her to leave on these terms.

"Wait, Slayte," Elissa stopped her, and Slayte's heart leapt into her throat at the sound. She turned expectantly towards Elissa, trying in vain not to hope.

"Yeah?" she met Elissa's solemn, hazel eyes eagerly.

Elissa stretched out an upturned hand. "Can you give me my keys back?"

Slayte blinked at the outstretched palm, nonplussed. Seeing, but not understanding. Her heart seemed to stop when the request finally registered in her mind.

"Oh, yeah, sure! Of course!" She agreed meekly, compliantly, trying to feign nonchalance, even as the request sent her mind reeling. She reached into her pocket and lay the cool metal gently into the center of Elissa's hand. "Take care, Elissa," she added tenderly, "Call me if you need anything."

Elissa said nothing to that, only returning Slayte's gaze blankly, a vague frown seemingly permanently in place. The nothingness in her gaze, void of affection or understanding, void of hurt and disappointment, reflecting what Slayte now was to her - nothing - was a heavier blow than any words Elissa could have chosen to speak. Slayte bit her lip, holding back impassioned speeches she knew would fall on deaf ears, before quietly turning away and exiting the apartment.

* * *

Itachi returned to the underworld realm and the darkness rose up to meet him as he entered. It's shadows seemed to wrap around him, claiming him as their own. He belonged to the underworld, that was a certainty. For all the days he spent roaming the surface, he would always be a stranger there. To pretend otherwise was foolishness.

As he made his way to the Styx, passing by the crowds of the dead huddled miserably at its banks, he acknowledged that his world was a world too severe for the living. To drag someone from the surface and ask them to live out their lives here would be cruel.

No, it was out of the question.

Angelissa had made her feelings for him painfully clear, confessions that had awoken both longing and trepidation in him. Confessions that made him realize that he had delayed far too long in establishing distance between them. Confessions that had only bolstered his resolve to put an end to their acquaintance.

There was no way forward for the two of them. He was no mortal. She was no deity. And although dalliances between deities and mortals were not unheard of, what did he have to offer her? Not the wonders of Olympus, but the gloom of the Underworld.

Where would such an affair end? Neither of them could promise the other eternity. Even if their mutual affection had unexpectedly taken firm root and ran deeper than was advisable, they had only known each other for a very short time. Anything could change at any moment. But the changes Itachi would have made to Angelissa's life in the duration of their hypothetical relationship, should he abandon propriety, would be irreversible. Not to mention that, despite whatever Angelissa may claim to feel for him, the devastating truth that loomed over them as unchanging and steadfast as the firmaments themselves, was that Itachi was the embodiment of that which Angelissa despised most in the world, she simply did not know it.

Suppressing his grave reflections, Itachi stepped onto the river's surface, beginning his trek to the other side. The dark waters bore his weight obediently. He spied the lampad waiting on the bank opposite, the torch held askew as she kicked absentmindedly at a stone on the path. He considered sending her away, as he did not have the mind for her incessant prattling this eve, but refrained, knowing how servants took dismissal to heart.

"Lord Thanatos," she greeted cheerily, catching sight of him, "Lady Nyx and Lord Erebus have summoned you in the banqueting hall."

Itachi swept a glance at the lampad, nodding ever so slightly in acknowledgment as he made his way to the palace. Casting aside the bitter memory of Angelissa's parting words, he reflected on his own actions, his choice of words. He had come to know Elissa as surely as he knew the shadows of the underworld, with as much certainty as he knew the paths a soul could take to leave its body. And as such, he knew precisely how his rejection would pain her. The expression on her face, like a stained-glass window shattered beyond recognition, had only served to confirm the accuracy of his estimations, the extent to which his actions had broken her. It was harsh, he acknowledged, and yet, what was right was often harsh, but necessary nonetheless. If she considered him cruel, her heart might cast him out all the sooner. That, in and of itself, would suffice to make the terrible encounter worthwhile, finally allowing her to begin healing from the devastation his presence had caused in her life.

He dismissed his lingering musings. He needed to put an end to those thoughts, just as he had put an end to their encounters. The investigation, instead, deserved his full attention. These attacks must be stopped.. What manner of ocean creature would dare attack an innocent mortal? Who was involved in this attempt on her life? He had suspected the underworld dwellers, but recent developments suggested that might have been too hasty a conclusion.

Even as he considered and weighed the various possibilities, the underworld palace loomed ever closer. For once, he felt ill-prepared standing in front of the imposing double doors. He had not yet been able to fully banish Angelissa's voice from his thoughts. " _ Slayte was right about you. All you do is break people."  _ His lips pressed together in a thin line as he passed through the entrance. Little did she know how right she was.

Itachi entered the imposing, luxurious dining hall, its surfaces gleaming, adorned with gold inlaid into the table and heavyset armchairs with gemstones embedded into the onyx floor itself, an imitation of a starlit sky. An elaborate mural depicting the Uchiha patriarch summoning the Underworld into existence stretched from one end of the ceiling on towards the other end, far removed. The space was intimidating in its extravagance. Built not for eating comfortably, but to be seen doing so. His gaze briefly scanned over those seated and onyx eyes narrowed imperceptibly upon seeing an unwelcome face. The seat to Erebus' right was empty, waiting for him. Sasuke looked up at him from his place, one seat further down from Itachi. Nyx was seated to Erebus' left and beside her was none other than Lethe.

There was mirth in the arrogant goddess's eye as her pale blue eyes fell on him and she lifted her goblet of ambrosia to her dark, burgundy lips. Auburn hair so dark it was nearly black tumbled down her back and framed her face in loose waves. Her posture was erect, regal and self-assured. She depended on no one to give her what she could easily grasp with her own hands.

Itachi resigned himself to the unexpected development with concealed distaste, pointedly avoiding his mother's gaze, who he suspected was to blame for this event. He strode smoothly to his designated seat, aloof and unreadable as ever.

"My love, so glad you could make it," Nyx smiled at him sweetly.

"Welcome back, my son," Erebus' voice boomed over the small gathering and Itachi nodded in return.

"I took the liberty of inviting Lady Lethe to dinner, dearest," Nyx patted the younger goddess' hand gently. "You don't mind, do you?"

Itachi met his mother's gaze for the first time since entering the dining hall and she held his weighty stare, a challenging spark in her own onyx eyes.

"Your guests are welcome at your table, mother." He intoned smoothly, dropping his gaze to the meal in front of him as he lifted his knife and fork.

"What a relief," Lethe intoned in a syrupy, silky voice, "And here I feared you might throw me out, Thanatos."

Itachi did not so much as look at her as he refilled Sasuke's glass with water, noting it had gone empty.

"Nonsense," Erebus dismissed, "We elders must look out for the younger deities. Especially when those of marriageable age have maintained solitude for as long as the two of you have."

Sasuke looked from his parents to his brother, who was undoubtedly radiating a displeased aura, trying to make sense of the situation.

"Quite so, husband," Nyx chimed in, "What good fortune it would be if the two of you chose to forge a union. Indeed, that would mark good fortune for the underworld itself, would it not, husband?"

Erebus blinked at this, observing his wife as he chewed slowly. What was she plotting now? She always seemed to be meddling in the affairs of others - tasting from every pot while leaving her own to burn.

"If that is what they desire," he responded gruffly.

"I cannot imagine a more fitting union," Nyx chirped, "My regal Thanatos and the highly sought-after Lethe." She smiled to herself, "Oh, forgive me for getting carried away, my dear." She added to Lethe, before slipping her gaze onto her eldest son, "A mother can dream, can she not?"

Itachi did, then, look up at his mother, the set of his mouth tight and displeased as his eyes remained aloof, the spark of anger in them undetected by the group at the table, with the exception of his younger brother, who stared at him in wide-eyed surprise.

"So long as she is aware of the distinction between fantasy and reality, yes, she may." Itachi's voice betrayed nothing of his irritation, its tone smooth and hypnotizing.

Nyx looked off-put at her son's harsh dismissal but Lethe laughed aloud, a rich, feminine sound that rarely graced their table. "I am quite fond of your son, Lady Nyx," she confessed confidently, "As he is well aware." She glanced at him over the rim of her goblet as she drained the last of her ambrosia.

"I fear the feeling may not be mutual, but as they say… what is meant to be, will be." She set her glass down gently, and smiled at Erebus. "The river writhes and tumbles as it will, but inevitably pours into the ocean at the end of its journey. Only time will tell."

Itachi's hands closed into fists, and he glanced down on them, surprised by the involuntary reaction. He made a conscious effort to relax his hands, to veil his feelings. As he looked down on his hand, unbidden, the memory of Angelissa's slim fingers boldly intertwining through his own, squeezing gently, hoping for some reciprocation from him, filled his mind's eye. What would have happened, if he had held her hand in return?

Lethe's irritating voice grated in his ears and he lowered his head to conceal his frown. Being in the presence of the insufferable goddess brought Angelissa's unassuming, genuine character into sharp relief. Lethe neither spoke nor moved without an ulterior motive. Everything about her was collected, calculated, to achieve an aim.

Angelissa simply  _ was.  _ Sincere, honest, straightforward. She demanded honesty because that was what she, herself, offered everyone. She was exactly the person she portrayed herself as. Kind, caring, sincere, brave.

He grimly recalled the hurt in her eyes. Mortals were quick to adapt. They were changing, surviving, enduring beings and Angelissa, too, would no doubt forget him and follow the path she had charted out for herself before he had so selfishly intruded on her life.

Letting Angelissa go, heeding wisdom over the foolish whisperings of baser instincts was one matter. Allowing himself to be manipulated into the company of a greedy, insincere goddess was another entirely.

"Unfortunately, Lethe has no parents to watch over her," Nyx continued to Erebus, "Lethe, dear, I hope you will come to us should you ever have a need."

"Indeed," Lethe murmured, amusement at Nyx's statements written plainly on her face. "Whether or not that is unfortunate is debatable. I see all of the underworld as my home and am met everywhere with kindness. But allow me to express my sincere gratitude for your generosity."

What seemed like simple dinner banter carried political meaning that likely went over Sasuke's head. Lethe refused to forge any personal alliances, and would remain a neutral party, just as she was to all underworld dwellers. Nyx heard Lethe's shrewd reply with approval. The goddess was no fool. Should she fail to find the Child of Prophecy… Lethe was a very decent alternative.

Itachi rose to his feet, "Excuse me," he addressed his father, "The hour grows late, I shall return to my chambers."

"Wait, Itachi," Erebus stopped him in his retreat, "Escort Lady Lethe back to the river, it is not right to allow her to go alone."

Itachi lifted brooding onyx eyes to the icy blue ones of the smug goddess in question. "I believe there is no need," he announced, "All of the underworld is her home, after all."

She laughed, not at all abashed by his open rejection, "Touché, my prince." She smiled at him, more pleased by his clever response than she would have been if he had acquiesced to his father's demand.

"Make no mistake, Lady Lethe," Itachi announced, his voice carrying clear throughout the expanse of the dining hall. Its smooth quality veiled a threatening undertone that was not lost on her. His voice washed over them, compelling, so that even Erebus stilled in his movements as Itachi spoke. "I will not suffer my solitude disturbed." The words,  _ by a goddess such as yourself  _ went unspoken, but Lethe heard them quite clearly and bore them with chagrin.

"Itachi," Erebus admonished, casting his eldest a disapproving look.

Itachi nodded humbly, "I will take my leave, father." Without waiting for permission, he strode smoothly out the door and beyond, making his way to his own chambers.

He had scarcely arrived at the smooth, ebony balustrade of the curving staircase that led to his private quarters when he sensed a familiar presence behind him.

"Brother."

Itachi would recognize that voice anywhere. The concern ringing evident in his younger brother's tone gave him pause. He turned towards the raven-haired youth, his protective instinct eager to dispel whatever worried the young deity.

"Sasuke, why did you abandon the gathering?" Itachi admonished gently, searching his younger brother's fathomless, ebony eyes for the source of his discontent.

"Brother, are you alright?" Sasuke asked instead, ignoring Itachi's question entirely. "You seem... upset."

Itachi paused, observing his younger brother through heavy-lashed eyes. Had he caused that look of unease in Sasuke's eyes? Had he been that transparent with his emotions that his little brother was now concerned for  _ him _ ?

"You need not concern yourself, Sasuke. All is well." He smiled reassuringly at the younger deity, intending to ease away his worries.

"Is it? Who is that goddess? Why did mother invite her? She's irritating." Sasuke glanced back down the hall in the direction he had come from in distaste before meeting his brother's eyes once more, hoping for an explanation.

"Mother's whims are fleeting, and irrelevant to us, rest assured." His words were spoken with simple candor and bold confidence, as if the combined scheming of the entirety of the underworld itself, could have no possible influence on their lives. Itachi would see to the truth of that sentiment. Sasuke needed to live like a deity in the truest sense. Unbound, worshipped, free. He approached his younger brother, bridging the gap between them as he spoke.

"I don't like the way she looked at you." Sasuke frowned in disapproval.

"She says she likes you… but I don't think she respects you."

Itachi ruffled Sasuke's hair fondly. His brother was young, but often more insightful than deities many times his age. "She will not disturb us again," Itachi promised. He could only smile as Sasuke pulled away from his touch with an irritated frown, flattening his unruly hair that now stood up on end, courtesy of Itachi's affections.

Lethe was done intruding on their family. Itachi would see to that.

* * *

Elissa placed the chopped onions and crushed garlic into the frying pan. The pleasant sound of sizzling filled the air as she stirred the finely sliced vegetables absently with a wooden spoon, watching as they grew progressively more golden in hue. Once they were ready, she added in the rest of the ingredients for the pasta dish she was preparing for dinner; chestnut mushrooms, yellow bell peppers and pieces of pre-cooked, diced chicken. Setting some meat aside for Vetty in her food bowl, she bent town to give her pet her portion.

"Here you go," she scratched Vetty's head affectionately, and was rewarded with an affectionate purr as her cat eagerly dug into her supper. Elissa then rose to rinse her hands in the sink. Seasoning the ingredients with salt, pepper and some spices, she then glanced toward the kitchen doorway at the sudden buzzing of the visitor entry phone-intercom mounted on the wall beside the front door.

Lowering the heat on the hob, she wiped her hands on her apron and made her way over to it, lifting the phone that allowed her to see who was standing outside the apartment block in the small camera interface screen built into the device.

"Cain. Hey." Her eyes lit up at the sight of him. Ever since the beach incident three days prior, he had been an enormous source of support and comfort, checking on her often, sending her stupid video links on her phone that made her laugh, and stopping by in person to check up on her after work. She found his presence reassuring, and he never failed to make her smile with his eccentric, outgoing personality.

Being around Cain was a welcome distraction from the dark, dwelling thoughts she was determined to keep out of her mind at any costs. When she was with him, she didn't think about the deceit and lies, about Itachi and Slayte. When she was with him, there were just the two of them and that was all she had to focus on.

"Elissa," he grinned into the camera. "I've got your test results. Figured you'd want to read them in person."

"They're out already?" Elissa asked in surprise. He had run some blood-tests at the hospital when she'd gone to see him last, but she didn't think they would have been investigated so soon.

"Of course," Cain drawled. "I told you I'd get to the bottom of it, didn't I?"

"You're amazing," she said gratefully. "Come on up." Pressing the button that would release the door-lock at the apartment block's entrance, she then returned the phone to its mount and popped back into the kitchen to check on her food.

The doorbell sounded a few minutes later. Elissa poured the pasta sauce over the cooked penne pasta, covered it with grated cheese and then popped the ceramic oven dish into the oven. Then, hanging her apron onto the wall rack, she made her way over to the front door and opened it.

Cain stood on the other side, his long, sandy-blond hair tied back in a messy bun, dressed handsomely in a smart-casual grey blazer. He wore a white top underneath, grey stone-washed jeans and white canvas sneakers. In one hand he held a brown envelope and removed the other from behind his back in a flourish to reveal a box of expensive looking chocolates.

"For you," he grinned sauvely. "Because nothing soothes the soul quite like indulging in some fine-quality chocolate."

Elissa smiled at him, touched at the thoughtful gesture. "You're meant to be a doctor. Those are bad for me."

"Everything in moderation, darling," Cain winked, handing her the chocolates as he stepped into her apartment. Elissa closed the door behind him, and blinked down at the selection in surprise.

"Hey. These are extra special chocolates," she realised.

"Naturally. Only the very best for you," he answered, before turning his head and inhaling. "Mmm. Something smells delicious."

"Oh, that's just the food cooking in the oven," Elissa informed him, as she stepped into the kitchen and placed the chocolates on the small rectangular wooden table in the middle of the room. It seated two people, and Cain immediately made himself at home, drawing a chair back and lowering himself into it.

"What's for dinner?" he questioned curiously.

"Chicken pasta bake," Elissa replied, as she checked on the food in the oven. It was almost ready. Glancing at Cain, who'd placed the envelope on the table before him, she said politely, "Have you eaten?"

"Not since lunch, no," he pulled a face in distaste. "Ghastly shift. Had to eat in five minutes. It's a wonder I've not got indigestion."

Elissa giggled. "I'd better feed you then."

"Feed me?" He rested his elbows atop the table and smirked at her. "I like the sound of that."

Elissa rolled her eyes at his flirtatious words as she took two plates out of the storage cupboard and placed them atop the placemats on the table. She'd found his flirting far too forward and awkward when they'd first met. Now she considered it hilarious and almost endearing. It was funny how much more comfortable she now felt around Cain, given their somewhat rocky start. When it came to medical matters, she trusted him entirely, but she was finding him to be a reliable and enjoyable person to be around, too.

After laying out the cutlery and glass tumblers, she moved to the fridge.

"What would you like to drink?" she peered at the options. "Let's see. I've got some coke, orange or apple juice…?"

"Water's fine, darling. Come sit. Let's look at your results."

Elissa took out a bottle of cold water and some apple juice for herself and joined him at the table. Pouring their drinks, she watched as he opened the envelope and pulled out a neat sheet of paper.

"Hmm." He scanned the page intently. "It looks like your blood-results are all fine," he informed her, pushing the paper toward her. Elissa picked it up, reading the numbers and the word  _ normal  _ besides each tested value. Cain took a sip of his water. "I also showed a senior consultant a photo of your back, and he had no idea what could have caused them underwater. For all intents and purposes darling, those marks look just like a tattoo to anyone who sees them."

Elissa was silent for a long moment as she stared down at the results. Then she said, "They're not tattoos. I didn't have them before being dragged underwater. They were there  _ after _ I woke up."

"I believe you," he said sincerely. Then, regarding her intently, he added, "Elissa. What happened out there?" His expression was serious and attentive. "You say dragged underwater. What do you mean? What was it that caused your accident?"

Elissa shook her head. "It was like... some kind of vine. I was just entering the water to go for a swim, and I know this sounds completely crazy, but that's what I saw. It was a plant that wrapped around my ankle and it pulled me under. I couldn't detach myself from it. That's what almost made me drown."

Cain's eyebrows arched upwards. He responded carefully, "Elissa, are you quite sure? Sometimes when we're in a panic, the mind can play terrible tricks on us. Or even to block out a trauma, can conjure all manner of hallucinations. It's not all that uncommon, really."

Elissa frowned. "Even if I had imagined that - which I know I didn't," she countered, "the marks on my back can't be explained. I didn't have them before. There are no tattoo parlours on that beach, Cain."

"Right," Cain nodded. "Of course, you're absolutely right. But those marks don't appear to be scars or wounds. There are no scabs or abrasions. They almost seem to be trapped beneath the skin. I've never seen anything like them, and all my superiors are just as baffled." He rubbed at the top of his head, looking regretful. "I'm sorry, darling. It seems like nothing medicine can explain, at least."

Elissa clasped her hands together in front of her and swallowed thickly, feeling tears burn at her eyes once again as she recalled the one-word answer Itachi had given to her when she'd asked whether the shadowy wisps would ever fade. " _ No." _ She knew who had caused them, and yet, not how. Not why. Itachi had seemingly, somehow, arrived at the beach out of nowhere to assist Slayte in healing her - and yet Elissa had no answer as to why he had bothered to do so because he'd cut her off so coldly, without explanation, right afterwards.

It tormented her knowing that she had just been an assignment to him in the end, even as her mind still struggled with the indignance of accepting that fact. Why would he even bother to take the trouble to assist a person he'd stated was just a means of acquiring information? It made no sense. None of it did. Anger at her own stupidity was eating her up alive and days later that pain hadn't eased.

"I know how I got them," she spoke quietly, desperate to confide in someone who would listen to her, even if it had to sound insane and impossible to anyone else. "But… you won't believe me."

Cain reached out and placed his large, reassuring, warm hand over hers. "Elissa," he said gently. "You can talk to me. If it's something that can help figure out what's happened to you, then don't hold anything in."

Elissa hesitated despite herself. Then she reasoned that she was never seeing Itachi again. What did it matter what she said about him? He hadn't spared a thought for her feelings, so why would she care about his?

"Do you remember," she began slowly, her chest constricting tightly at the verbalisation of his name, "I told you a while ago about the masked men I saw around the river? Shisui and Itachi? You said you saw them outside the vet surgery, too, remember?"

Cain withdrew his hand. He looked thoughtful. "Ah. Yes. That rings a bell. Whatever happened to them?"

"They were  _ investigating _ something in town," Elissa stated bitterly. "I stopped seeing Shisui as much… but would meet Itachi regularly by the river." Just disclosing that fact out loud filled her with unspeakable regret.

"Elissa," Cain admonished lightly. "Those two looked remarkably shady. You need to be careful with the company you keep."

"You're right," Elissa cast a sardonic glance at him. "I should've kept my distance."

The young doctor shook his head. "But regardless, what does this have to do with the markings on your back?"

"Well…" she bit her lower lip. "I think I was hurt underwater, and Itachi helped Slayte to heal me. I think he did something and those marks were left behind."

Cain looked dubious. "Did something?" he echoed skeptically. "Such as...?"

"I know, it sounds crazy," Elissa exclaimed. "Totally unbelievable, but he practically admitted it himself when I confronted him about it."

"Ah." Cain's eyebrows once again lifted. "You've spoken to this man recently? I thought it was perhaps a one-off affair."

"No. Like I said, we'd talk by the river. I went to confront him right after I saw the marks in the mirror the other day," Elissa supplied. "I don't know  _ how  _ he did it, or what he is, I don't know how he showed up at the beach at all, but I know he was the one responsible."

"What makes you so sure?" Cain questioned. "People can't just show up out of thin air."

"This man  _ does.  _ And because I briefly woke up after Slayte pulled me out the water and I  _ saw _ him leaning over me. I felt his hand on my back." Tears filled her eyes when Cain continued to stare at her incredulously.

"Of course," Cain murmured, his eyebrows furrowed together. "Only, you were unconscious when you were pulled out the water, weren't you? As I said, it's not uncommon to hallucinate."

"I'm not crazy, Cain. I'm not. I didn't imagine it." Her hands closed into fists. "I know what I saw. So I confronted him."

"Go on," Cain encouraged.

Elissa turned her eyes up to the ceiling. "He gave me the cold shoulder. He wouldn't tell me anything, other than that the marks won't fade. So I walked away from him and left him behind, and he just…" she was at a loss for words for a moment and gestured vaguely into the air as she turned her gaze helplessly back to the blond doctor sitting opposite her. "He appeared right behind me in like, a second." She snapped her fingers together. "Just like that. Cain it was crazy. I've never seen anything like it. Nobody should be able to move that fast."

Cain lifted a hand. "Wait, Elissa. You're saying you walked away from this man and he just- materialised out of thin air behind you?" He regarded her like he couldn't quite believe what he was hearing.

"Yes!" She nodded. At Cain's confused look, she insisted, "I know that sounds insane, but I swear to you, I saw it with my own eyes! He did it like it was normal for someone to move around like that."

"Why did he follow you?" Cain queried.

"I left my bag behind," Elissa explained. "He returned it to me. I just- I have no explanations. This guy just shows up out of nowhere and he does these...  _ things _ \- they're not normal. Even the way he speaks. And his clothes. None of it is normal."

"I thought you said they were detectives of sorts," Cain mused, visibly perplexed.

"That's what they told me at first, but there's no way they were just that. I mean, I don't know what he is. We spent hours, months talking by the river and I thought we were friends, but I never found out all that much about him, and in the end, he lied to me and told me I'd assumed it all. Said it was all part of whatever they were looking into."

"Terrible," Cain folded his arms disapprovingly.

"Yeah. I won't be seeing him or talking to him ever again, but I-" Elissa wiped at her eyes, ashamed that she was once again spending any tears on him. "I have to now live with these God-awful scars, not even knowing how he caused them to appear. All he told me is they'd never vanish."

"He sounds horrid," Cain shook his head. "And absolutely alarming. What on earth is it he could have possibly done to result in such marks?"

"I don't know," Elissa said dully. "The more I think about it all, the more I'm certain he isn't even… human."

Cain released a short, surprised laugh. "Elissa, darling. There are only humans and animals in this world. What else could he be?"

"It's not funny." Elissa folded her arms unhappily.

"I'm sorry," Cain's expression grew solemn once more. "That was insensitive of me. You just caught me by surprise with that statement. You obviously have proof, to arrive at such a strong conclusion."

"I only know what I saw." Elissa defended. "He appears out of thin air, seemingly anywhere and he can close distances in seconds. He wears that stupid mask that he won't ever remove. He never answers any personal questions about himself. Then these marks, and the day of the bridge incident… he was there, too. He did something then, as well. I felt weird for days after. Again, I don't know what it was. I just know it was him. And I know Slayte knows the full truth about him, but she won't say it."

"Intriguing," Cain remarked. "What makes you believe your friend knows anything about him at all?"

"She used to work for his family," Elissa disclosed with a heavy sigh. "Apparently, she still does." At Cain's baffled look, she shook her head once again. "I don't know any details. Slayte won't tell me that, either. She says he assigns her tasks and she carries them out. She's so hush-hush about it, it's unbelievable, and then she swears she cares about me and has my best interests at heart."

"While keeping things from you?" Cain commented. "An unconventional definition of friendship, I'd say."

"Exactly," Elissa scowled in frustration. "I'm meant to just accept her word for it, that she can't say anything because it's all so damned classified. She's no better than Itachi. Something's off about her, too, so many secrets. I'm just so fed up with people hiding things from me, Cain." She ran her fingers stressfully through her long tresses. "Treating me like I'm some child that needs to be wrapped in cotton wool, making decisions for me, deciding what's best for my welfare. I'm the one who gets to do that. I can't stand others trying to take charge of my life that way."

A pleased smirk graced itself on Cain's lips. "You're absolutely right," he agreed. "You've made a prudent choice not seeing that strange man anymore. I can see he's caused you a world of hurt already. It pains me to see you so upset."

"Whatever," Elissa dismissed. "I don't care about him. He's nothing to me."

He reached out and clasped her hand with his. Meeting her eyes earnestly, he added, "You deserve so much better, Elissa. Someone who can make you smile. Forget about him. Forget about your friend's lies. Let's have dinner, some wine and chocolate, and then, if you want, we can look into ways to cover up those marks. How about a tattoo over it?"

"I don't like needles," Elissa confessed nervously.

"Ah. A common phobia. Well, how about laser surgery? Perhaps that's an option," Cain offered. "I have a colleague who does the procedure to remove blemishes from the skin. I could get in touch with her."

"I couldn't possibly afford that…"

"Nonsense. Money's not an issue at all. I'll call her first thing in the morning for you."

Elissa looked down at their intertwined hands. She recalled the moment she had laced her fingers through Itachi's. He had not reciprocated the touch, though he had not immediately drawn away from it, either. In contrast, Cain gripped her hand firmly, offering her reassurance and comfort. A comfort she so desperately needed. Like an anchor that held her in place when everything else seemed to be falling apart around her in an ever changing ocean where nothing was as it seemed. Suddenly she was grateful for his easy company, and grateful that she wasn't alone in her apartment where dark, depressing thoughts could swallow her whole.

"I really appreciate it, Cain," said Elissa sincerely. "You've gone through a lot of trouble for me. Thank you. For everything."

He beamed widely at her, his eyes twinkling with mirth. "No thanks needed, darling. I'd do anything to help you. What are friends for, after all?"

Elissa returned his smile, and squeezed his hand back gratefully, before rising from her seat to take dinner out the oven.

* * *

Vetty sat upon the balcony broodingly, her dark eyes narrowing in disapproval as the mortal, fair-haired man exited the apartment block and walked out into the night. Once again, he had departed at an astonishingly late hour and she was most irked by the frequent-turns his visits had taken. Her mind cycled with a multitude of thoughts, trying to make sense of everything she'd discovered over the course of the previous few days.

She'd listened to a great deal of exchanges between Elissa and both her friend Slayte and this human  _ doctor  _ whose bright eyes lingered for far too long and far too intently on Vetty's human. From what she'd understood, a distressing incident had occurred underwater that had resulted in Elissa almost losing her life and being irreversibly and permanently marked by the shadows of the Underworld themselves. Thanatos himself had clearly intervened to save her life, something which pleased Vetty greatly. What pleased her far less, however, was the troubling news that Elissa had decided she would have no further contact with the God of Death, and her meaningless dispute and quarrel with the nymph who, Vetty's keen eyes had determined, had also been assigned by Thanatos to watch over the mortal.

It would not do, Vetty thought to herself, thoroughly displeased, to have Thanatos and the mortal he so clearly prioritised the welfare of, so divided. He clearly cared for her. Indeed, Vetty had witnessed that undeniable fact with her own eyes. Why, then, did he always maintain an infuriatingly careful distance? She had sensed his brief presence on the roof-top, on more than one occasion in the weeks that had passed, keeping short, contemplative sentry in the darkness outside the mortal's apartment, before his aura swiftly ebbed and faded, as silently and quietly as he had arrived. He thought he had not been noticed, or detected. But Vetty was Eldest in the world. She always sensed things. She always knew.

The gods were often fickle in their emotions, Vetty was aware. Quick to see favour in one thing and discard it the next. But Thanatos, ever proud, ever regal, ever wise and solemn and solitary, was not like the others. He would not stop by so often, for no purpose or reason.

What, exactly, had happened to compel Elissa to take such a decisive decision? To swear off seeing Thanatos entirely? And what had  _ he  _ done to warrant such a reaction? Vetty had caught scraps of meaning in the interaction her human had had with Cain, that Thanatos had not been open or truthful with her. And now the mortal man who was clearly more than interested in Elissa, was moving ever closer to her, swooping in like an eagle with talons extended to steal the unsuspecting girl away. She released a hiss of discontent as Cain rounded the corner and vanished from her line of sight entirely. He was irritating. He was ill suited to Elissa. Why was Thanatos being so difficult?

"Vetty," Elissa's voice called tiredly from inside. "It's time for bed. Come on in."

Vetty turned away from the balcony and re-entered the apartment. Her feline gaze fell onto Elissa, who had changed into a deep red, satin camisole top and matching shorts. She stood before the full-length mirror, absently brushing her long, beautiful wavy brown locks. There was a sadness in her hazel eyes that Vetty had never detected before, one that caused an aching twinge to lodge itself deep within Vetty's chest. She recognised regret when she saw it, mixed with anger and unresolved longing. Vetty knew those stifling emotions all too well, was acutely reminded of her own remorse in her abrupt parting from Indra. It pained her to see Elissa so discontent. She watched as Elissa pulled her hair to one side, and turned to regard the marks on her back. Tears welled in her eyes as she stared at the shadowy wisps in misery. Then she set the hairbrush down on the vanity table, climbed into bed, and flipped the bedside table-lamp's light-switch off, sniffling quietly to herself.

Vetty gracefully leapt up onto the bed and settled comfortingly beside her human.

"Oh, Vetty…" Elissa whispered tearfully, as she hugged Vetty close, burying her face into her pet's soft, dark fur. "I wish I'd never met him…"

Vetty meowed sadly and nuzzled her face gently, remaining faithfully by her side, until Elissa's breathing finally deepened and she fell into the waiting arms of slumber.

' _ Isn't this adorable?'  _ A sudden voice spoke telepathically in her mind. Vetty's ears instantly twitched and her narrowed eyes moved to the glass of water Elissa had placed upon the bedside table. Sure enough, a familiar face floated within it, smirking at her. ' _ If only you'd had such a cute bond with all the others, eh?' _

' _ What have you done?'  _ Vetty immediately questioned. Elissa had been hurt underwater. That was no coincidence in Vetty's eyes.

' _ I told you I'd take action, didn't I? Did you think I was fucking around when I said I would? C'mon, Furball. You know me way better than that.' _

' _ What did you do to her?'  _ Vetty demanded, irked. ' _ I will not ask again.' _

' _ You're so scary when you're annoyed,'  _ her visitor mocked. ' _ I'm terrified. But okay, we've known each other a long time, so I'll fess up. I intended to drown that pretty little thing. What's her name again? Elissa, is it?' _

Vetty telepathically hissed, outraged at this disclosure. He had dared to harm Elissa? To jeopardize everything that Vetty was working so hard to achieve?

' _ Unfortunately, things didn't go to plan.'  _ The individual tapped an index finger to his chin. ' _ Man, her friend is a persistent pest, isn't she? What a pain in the ass. Why's a shadow nymph in the company of a human, anyway? Isn't that against the laws of the Underworld? She's a meddling little shit who got in the way.' _

' _ Elissa is MY human. We share a blood-bond. You had no right to make an attempt on her life.'  _ Vetty cast him a withering glare.

' _Listen, you little brat,'_ he countered. ' _I tolerate you because we've caused a lot of mischief together in the past and had a tonne of fun, but don't think for a second I owe you or anyone else a damn thing. I look out for myself and my kingdom's best interests first and foremost. If something's a threat to that, I take them out, no exceptions. So I couldn't give any shits about you growing a conscience after thousands of years and playing happy families with this clueless little princess. But…'_ he conceded reluctantly. ' _I saw what happened after that nymph pulled her out of the water. That emotionally-constipated Uchiha prince actually saved her life. Surprised the shit out of me. Isn't his job-description the exact opposite_ _of that?'_

' _ I told you, I have things under control,'  _ Vetty glowered, incensed at his interference and the danger he had put Elissa in, the doubtless and needless horror and terror he had caused her.

' _ Yeah, yeah, whatever. Seems Itachi's more interested in the girl than I expected him to be. For the God of Death to heal a human? Guess you're not a complete lost cause, after all.' _

Vetty bristled. His arrogance grated on her nerves. ' _ Be silent,'  _ she snapped mentally. ' _ I am Eldest, and walked this world aeons before you first drew breath.' _

' _ So you keep reminding me, grandma,'  _ he rolled his eyes. ' _ Anyway, your clever little plan to get Itachi to notice this kid might have worked, but it's all gone to shit now. They had a little meeting at the river, and let me tell you, it didn't end so well. In fact, all that happened was it just fucking ended! Completely! They said their goodbyes! So what're you gonna do now, huh, you little smartass? Why don't you just let me kill this nuisance and we can laugh at it all the way we used to, before you got all emo and heavy on me.' _

' _ If you touch her again, I'll go straight to Lord Thanatos himself and reveal your treachery.'  _ Vetty threatened.

The face in the water sneered at her. ' _ Like you're innocent in this yourself, brat.' _

' _ I am not the one who attempted to drown the girl who holds Thanatos's favour,'  _ Vetty informed him, her cat-tilted eyes flashing with challenge in the darkness.

' _ Pfft.'  _ Was the response. ' _ Whatever. Like I give a shit if he finds out. But fine. I'll give you one last chance, for old time's sake. Find a way to fix this shit. If you don't, then I'll step in again. And next time, believe me. I'll finish the job and nothing in this world will be enough to save her.' _

With that, his face rippled out of sight, leaving Vetty fuming to herself angrily.

* * *

_ The water rippled tranquilly around her, like cool, liquid silk moving between her fingertips as the pristine turquoise waters shimmered with the lustre of sparkling jewels beneath the sun's radiant light. Elissa waded deeper into it, enjoying the feel of it against her skin. She turned her face up to the cloudless blue sky, basking in the warmth of the weather. _

_ All at once her state of bliss was rudely interrupted when she felt something coil tightly around her left leg and she was suddenly yanked violently under the waves in a movement far too swift for her to comprehend. Pure panic and terror exploded within her. It was happening again! She was drowning again! Endless bubbles of displaced water blinded her as she struggled against the tide, trying to break loose from what was dragging her deeper and deeper into the ocean's merciless depths. Her heart galloped uncontrollably, her lungs burned with the need to gasp in a desperate breath. She blinked and glanced down - to find that a shadowy tendril had wrapped itself around her calf. From the point of contact, her skin was being contaminated by wisps of darkness, thread-like veins of black that were snaking progressively higher, marking her entire body with inky, ominous swirls. _

_No!_ _She thought, terrified, wrestling in vain with her binds as she desperately sought to free herself. No, get away from me!_

' _ Angelissa…' _

_ Her name echoed around her, a fleeting whisper, and horror exploded anew within her chest. Only one person called her by that name. She stared into the horrifying cloud of darkness. Was he there? Was Itachi within the shadows, somewhere? Or was he the darkness himself? Pulling her under, dragging her to her doom, to her death? The wisps swirled ever higher, and soon every visible part of her flesh was stained with black, smoky veins. _

_ Elissa's mouth opened in an instinctive scream and the water immediately flooded into her lungs. To her horror, she did not lose consciousness right away, her eyes fixed on the swarm of pulsing shadows pooling beneath her feet. Another tendril had extended out and wrapped around her other leg, contaminating it with darkness. And through the blackness, she could glimpse crimson. Red eyes that glowed with a devastating intensity, stabbing through her mind. She could not look away. They held her prisoner, as red as blood itself. _

_ All at once the mass of shadows surged upward, enveloping Elissa's body entirely, and once again she opened her mouth to scream, screaming and screaming until the darkness swallowed her up whole. _

* * *

With a suffocated gasp Elissa bolted upright in bed, covered in a cold sweat, chest heaving to gulp down oxygen. Beside her, Vetty, startled, mewled and sat upright, blinking up at her questioningly. Elissa's mind spun, the horrible nightmare still lingering, sucking at her peace of mind like a preying leech. Her heart hammered thunderingly against her rib-cage. Flipping on the light-switch in panic, she senselessly threw her duvet-covers aside, staring wildly down at her slender legs. Relief flooded through her. The skin was smooth and flawless, blemish free. There were no new tendrils of shadow as she had seen in her awful dream.

Elissa placed a palm over her heart, willing the organ to settle in its frantic rhythm. It had just been a bad dream. She wasn't drowning. She was fine. The shadows hadn't swallowed her up and contaminated her entire body. She was fine.

A broken sob escaped her lips at the memory of heavy water closing in on her, stifling off her air supply. Of battling with every last ounce of strength she possessed to try to break free, to save herself, and yet no matter how hard she had tried, she had been unable to swim back up to the surface. Covering her face with her hands, Elissa wept, once again overwhelmed by the trauma of almost dying under water. It seemed she couldn't escape from it, even in sleep.

Vetty nuzzled her affectionately, trying to bring her comfort. Elissa slowly released a shaky breath, and lay back down, staring up at her ceiling, the haunting memory of red eyes ingrained into her skull.

Red like the flowers she had seen blooming around her when meeting Itachi's eyes at the bridge.

It took her a long time to fall back asleep after that, so fearful was she of falling back into the clutches of shadowy nightmares once again.

* * *

“She hates me,” Slayte groaned dejectedly, as she returned to the tea-shop following her thoroughly uncomfortable visit to Elissa’s apartment. The shutters at the windows had been closed, as Levi preferred to keep them for privacy on the one day of the week when they were not open for business.

She found her boyfriend seated languidly at one of the tables, one leg resting atop the other, with a steaming cup of tea in one hand and a book in the other. His stormy eyes rose to regard her coolly as she entered. Shrugging out of her denim jacket, Slayte released a heavy sigh and pulled up a seat before him. 

“She absolutely hates me,” she repeated, propping her elbows atop the table and covering her face in despair. “She would hardly speak to me, and she didn’t even want to work on her story.”

Levi placed the book-mark neatly inside the book to save the page he’d gotten up to before closing it and uncrossing his legs.

“Alright,” he sighed. “Let’s hear it.”

Slayte shook her head, peeking at him through her slender fingers. “She’s still mad at me, Levi.”

“She opened the door?”

“Well, yes,” Slayte began.

“She let you in?”

“Yes, but-”

“She didn’t throw you out?”

“Not in so many words, but-”

“Then it’s a start,” Levi regarded her levelly. “Back off a bit. Give her some space. We can keep an eye on her without hounding her.”

His words were sensible, to the point. But they did little to shake off Slayte’s trepidation. She clasped her hands together, fidgeting with her fingers anxiously. The paper she’d fished out of the waste basket seemed to burn a hole in her jean’s pocket, weighing her down with inexplicable guilt. How had she not guessed it sooner? She’d seen all the warning signs, and so desperately not wanted any of it to be true, and yet, how could it be anything but certain, now? Thanatos clearly held some manner of affection for Elissa. To heal her, to shield her as he had. How many times had Death saved her life, with Elissa wholly oblivious to it? Elissa, likewise, evidently had feelings for him, despite her vehement denial. It was all too apparent in the anguish that tormented her hazel-eyes at the mere mention of Thanatos’s name. 

Slayte’s mind spun, and disbelief rooted itself deep within her chest. Elissa was hurt and had been withdrawn, cold, nothing like her usual warm, bubbly self. Thanatos had left the crushing responsibility of looking out for her solely to Slayte and distanced himself. A big clue as to why lay in the two verses penned on the wrinkled paper she’d salvaged from the trash and it filled Slayte with absolute terror.

Suddenly, she saw everything with perfect clarity. The answers as to why Thanatos had lingered around a living mortal, his unexpected and uncharacteristic interest in her, why his gaze was drawn so often to Slayte’s dearest friend. To think that the very Death Elissa had feared all her life, had spent months keeping quiet company right beside her. It was cruel mockery, an awful paradox and suddenly, Slayte also understood why Thanatos insisted upon leaving the task of ensuring Elissa’s safety solely to her, why he was adamant to keep his distance. He was a wise deity. He was not one to act on a whim or rashly. He was choosing to spare Elissa any further heartache. But at the expense of what? The gods were always selfish and cruel. Was it possible that Thanatos truly was an exception of sorts in his compassion towards humans? His mercy and kindness toward Elissa certainly suggested as much.

Anxiety churned her gut. What if he  _ had  _ chosen to be selfish, though, as Slayte had been in claiming Levi for herself? What would have that meant for Elissa? For Slayte? What if one day the impossible happened, and Thanatos resolved to change his mind, as deities were known to be apt to do on a mere whim? What would happen then, if he, an Underworld dweller, were to decide he wanted her? Slayte couldn’t even bear to think of it. The gods were not known to take ‘no’ for an answer. She prayed that day would never come, for surely Elissa could never accept him for what he truly was.

Everything was a mess. And what Slayte feared most of all was that the damage done to her most precious friendship was irreversible. 

“Oi,” Levi’s eyes narrowed at her zoning out on him, and he reached out, placing a hand atop hers to quell her restless fidgeting. “Out with it.” 

“I’m sorry,” Slayte breathed. “I listened to what you said about demands. I asked her to trust me. But…” she shook her head miserably. “She doesn’t. And it’s killing me inside. I just want to keep her safe, but she won’t even  _ look  _ at me right now, Levi.”

“Don’t act so damned surprised. She’s been through a lot. Those marks aren’t exactly a small deal.”

“I know,” Slayte lamented stressfully, recalling, with intense pain, how frostily Elissa had received her visit. “I know. I just feel like… we’re losing her, Levi. Like there’s this sudden, terrible distance between us and she’s clamming up and drawing away from me. It’ll take just one second for me to be too late, or to make the wrong decision, and that’ll be it. She’ll be gone.”

“You can’t control that,” Levi replied, folding his arms across his chest. Slayte drew in a quiet breath, hearing the familiar logic and reason of his words, as his gaze locked with hers. “Elissa’s free to make her own choices. What we  _ do  _ have control over, is making sure she doesn’t do anything to hurt herself - and keeping an eye on her so that nothing else hurts her again, either.”

“Right,” Slayte nodded slowly. “You’re right. But she’s barely talking to me right now. She asked for her keys back too, that’s never happened before, no matter how bad things have got. I just don’t know how we’re going to keep an eye on her, when she doesn’t even want me around right now.”

Levi was silent. Asking for her keys back was a serious move on Elissa’s part, and wasn’t a promising sign.

“Give her a few more days,” he advised. “Don’t hog her, Slayte. I’ll call her up to check on her, if she doesn’t feel like speaking to you just yet.”

Slayte gave him a grateful look. “Okay. We can do that, right? Right,” she nodded again, as if trying to convince herself that everything would be fine.

Levi inspected her, seeing that there was clearly something else on her mind, bothering her. She wasn’t the only one. He had things weighing on his, too.

“Sounds like this serial-killer friend’s been hanging around you again, lately.” He began casually. “Elissa said he caused those marks. Care to explain?”

Slayte’s heart plunged to her stomach. Dread seized her in an ice-cold grip. Of course, Levi had heard their vocal exchange in their room earlier, when Elissa had all but been screaming at her. She flinched instinctively and snatched her hands back, rising to her feet. Grabbing his teacup and saucer, she walked to the counter and stepped behind it. Levi’s eyebrows furrowed together as he silently got up and followed her. She wasn’t going to worm her way out of explanations this time, he told himself resolutely. He’d heard things, things that had made him  _ angry,  _ and he was going to get answers if it took all god-damned night to pry them out of her stubborn mouth. 

“Slayte.”

She entered the kitchen and began to rinse the cup and saucer, in a clearly nervous action that sought to postpone the inevitable confrontation.

“Just give me a minute to wash up.”

“Slayte-”

“I’m almost done. You hate mess, so I’ll-”

“Give me the damned cup.” Levi took it from her, washed it much more speedily than Slayte had intended to, and then placed it neatly onto the rack beside the sink to dry. Then he turned the tap off and gripped her arm, turning her around to face him. Slayte gulped. Her warm brown eyes darted anxiously to the ground, fluttering around anywhere and on anything that wasn’t his face. 

“Slayte,” he repeated slowly. “Look at me.”

Slayte’s heart pounded to a sickening beat. He’d heard everything she’d said to Elissa, and now presumed the very worst. If Elissa had misunderstood so terribly, and misinterpreted her statement as Slayte having a relationship of sorts with the untouchable, unattainable Thanatos himself, then there was no imagining what Levi, her boyfriend, had to think. She flushed with shame at the very idea. 

“Master and servant?” As he spoke the words, Slayte cringed. “Services you don’t get to decline? You don’t get a choice? Where is this guy? I’ve got a damned bone to pick with him.”

“N-no!” Slayte’s heart jumped with fright. Thanatos wasn’t a deity one confronted. Not only because of his feared, reputed speed and prowess in battle, or his unrivalled skill in casting illusions - the reputation of which spanned across both the Underworld and Olympus - but because he was Death himself personified and held the terrifying power of paralysing mortals, of bringing them to their very knees, of ceasing their breaths and cutting off their lives, terminating their heartbeats and reaping their souls with no more than a single, passing thought. If he wished, he could sever a life in the blink of an eye. She couldn’t allow Levi to even entertain the thought of standing against one so dangerous - for his own protection. 

“It isn’t like that. It isn’t what you think-!”

“Then what is it, Slayte?” There was a glimmer of irritation in her boyfriend’s eyes, a streak of possessiveness that struck her speechless. She had always been the obsessive one. The one who held on too tightly. To see the displeasure on  _ his  _ face instead, caused the air to arrest in her lungs. “You sure made it sound like he  _ controls  _ you.”

“He- he assigns me tasks,” Slayte attempted to explain desperately. “I carry them out.”

“What kinds of  _ tasks  _ ?” At the look of panic that flashed across his girlfriend’s face, Levi felt the displeasure brewing within his chest intensify. Just who was this mysterious man, this elusive serial-killer who had somehow done something that had resulted in not only upsetting Elissa’s feelings but left her maimed by strange wispy inkings and kept Slayte in a perpetual state of terror simply discussing anything to do with him?

“Slayte,” he gripped her upper arms. “What tasks is he having you do, that you can’t say a fucking ‘no’ to?”

Slayte was overcome with horror. She had to say something. Anything. She couldn’t stand the possibility of him thinking the very worst, what Elissa had. It would crush her to know that the man she loved more than anything, the man she loved so jealously, with every fibre of her soul and being, would question her, doubt her integrity and commitment in any way.

“He asked me to watch over Elissa,” Slayte cried. “That’s what it is, I swear it, except I can’t  _ tell  _ her that!” Helpless tears pooled in her eyes.

Levi looked bewildered, the anger still palpable in his intense gaze. “Why the hell  _ not  _ ?”

“I-” Slayte stuttered, feeling trapped, and petrified that she had already revealed far too much by the simple admission alone. “It’s not my decision. I can’t say anymore.”

“You  _ said  _ he was in the past,” Levi’s voice held a tinge of accusation that filled Slayte with worry. He couldn’t misunderstand. She couldn’t have him withdraw from her, the way Elissa so clearly was. Her thoughts raced. Thanatos had specifically instructed her not to speak of the truth to Elissa, hadn’t he? Slayte reasoned that she could surely reveal parts of it to Levi, parts that it wouldn’t directly endanger him to know, without speaking of the Underworld itself? Because the alternative, to allow him to assume his own conclusions as Elissa had, was far too terrible, too unbearable to suffer.

“I did. He was,” Slayte babbled. “But he’s been hovering around Elissa for months, and he healed her at the beach and somehow, through Elissa, he’s found me again and I never imagined any of this happening!” Tears spilled from her cheeks. “I wanted to leave it all behind me, Levi! Him! The place I came from! Everything! But it’s all come back, and everything is falling apart. I’ve almost lost Elissa more than once, and if I were to lose you, I don’t know how I could ever-” her voice broke, hoarse with emotion.

“Shut up,” Levi’s grip on her arm tightened. “You’re not losing anyone. ” Staring grimly into her face, he demanded, “What’s with this guy? What does he want with Elissa?”

Slayte released a quiet sob. Once again, the crumpled note in her pocket felt unbearably heavy. How could she possibly verbalise it, explain it to Levi? When it defied all belief. Not because it was Elissa - to Slayte, Elissa was the most beautiful, most precious thing in the world, and she could understand, all too easily, how  _ anyone  _ would gravitate toward and be drawn to her friend’s warmth and grace and kindness. But because it went against all the laws she had known, in all the countless centuries she had spent in Thanatos’s service. Death did not love. Death did not allow any to breach the high, impenetrable walls that guarded his heart. Death was not a god ruled and swayed by his emotions. He was cold and aloof, reticent and stoic, and yet he had written those lines to  _ Elissa. _

She shook her head hopelessly. “I don’t know…” she whispered. And she didn’t. She didn’t know  _ how  _ Elissa had done the impossible and managed to capture Thanatos’s attention. 

“Slayte. Tell me the god-damned truth. Why does this guy get to control what you can and can’t do? Why does he get to control what you can and can’t say?” 

“Levi, please don’t-” Slayte whimpered.

But he was stampeding on, firing question after question, and with each one Slayte felt her agitation increasingly escalate, climbing to insufferable heights. “Why has he been hanging around Elissa? Why the fuck are you so frightened anytime you talk about him? Why has he roped you back into whatever his shady shit is? Who the hell  _ is  _ he, Slayte?”

“Death!” Slayte blurted out in anguish. “He’s  _ Death  _ , Levi!” She gasped, and her hands immediately flew to her mouth. Horror slammed into her, setting her heart rioting chaotically within her chest. What had she said? What had she just allowed to pass through her foolish lips?!

“What...?” Levi scowled at her in bewilderment. Death? What did she mean, the guy was  _ death?  _ Did she mean it literally? Like some form of Grim Reaper? Did she mean he was going to bring death down upon them? Was he some kind of ominous end? His mind scrambled, trying to fill in the blanks of what she wasn’t telling him, with the pieces that she already had. “Slayte-”

“Please,” Slayte clutched onto his shirt, burying her face despondently in his chest. Her entire body trembled against him, and Levi swallowed, deeply disturbed and frustrated by her distress. He wanted to find whoever this  _ serial-killer  _ son of a bitch was and teach him a lesson. Slayte’s terror was palpable in the tremors that wracked her body. Whoever this man was, Levi knew this much; he was undoubtedly dangerous and a man of considerable power and influence.

“Please don’t make me say anymore,” Slayte pleaded tearfully. “I beg of you. I’ve said too much already, and if he ever finds out-” she broke off, weeping, and Levi held her close against him, frowning at the remainder of the unspoken words that hung heavily in the air.

If he found out, would she die? Is that what she had meant before, when she’d told him that she would die if she didn’t heed this man’s orders? He rubbed absently at her arms, only to become aware of the hardness of metal beneath the left sleeve of her top. The cuff, he recalled, sucking in a sharp breath. She’d claimed it was just a piece of jewelry, but Slayte didn’t wear fancy adornments, and she had shown up with it so suddenly. And Levi already knew, with certainty somehow, that she was unable to remove it. It would be useless to try.

Did that accessory have something to do with her servitude to this mysterious stranger? It made sense, clicking into place in his mind with resounding clarity. The very idea that another man would mark  _ his  _ girlfriend in such a way filled Levi with an inexplicable emotion that seared through his chest, brewing like acid, corroding his throat and leaving behind a bitter, unpleasant taste in his mouth. He didn’t like it. It wasn’t something he could accept. It made him angry. Slayte was constantly giving into the demands of others, exactly as he had told her. That this unknown man had at his disposal the ability to command everything Slayte did and said, that seemingly disobeying him would beget consequences so calamitous that it had his girlfriend shaking so violently against him filled Levi with cold fury. 

And yet this man had instructed her to protect Elissa even as he’d apparently healed her himself. That was what she had implied the strange markings were, as impossible as that seemed. Elissa was to know nothing of it. Levi couldn’t think why. Why was it Elissa, specifically, who had to be left in the dark about things that were directly impacting her? The stranger’s behaviour defied rationality.

Levi stored those troubling contemplations for a later time. Right now, Slayte was inconsolable, and he needed to calm her down. Needed her to understand that nothing would happen to her. He wouldn’t allow it. Over his dead body, would anyone lay a finger upon her, threaten her - or hurt Elissa. Not on his watch.

“Hey,” he continued to rub at her arms comfortingly. “Just- calm down.” When Slayte continued to sob, his eyebrows knitted together. “Oi. You’re making a mess on my shirt and getting snot everywhere.”

“I’m s-sorry,” she wailed pitifully. “I’m so- so sorry…!”

“God, Slayte, stop apologising for things that aren’t your damned fault,” he exclaimed in exasperation. “Pull yourself together.” He pushed her back slightly, so that he could look down at her face, and felt his chest constrict at the sight of her so anguished, so wretchedly forlorn. Her eyes were red-rimmed from shedding tears and she suddenly looked so exhausted, so tired, so afraid.

“It’s all my fault,” Slayte cried nonsensically. “If I’d never come here and found Elissa, none of this would have ever happened to her and she’d be safe and happy and-”

“Stop.” Levi gripped her tighter, giving her a gentle shake. “Snap out of it. Always apologising, always giving into other people’s demands. That’s a shitty way to live. Where does that leave you?” When she shook her head, he went on, “In a shit pit, that’s where. Look at you. You’re miserable, Slayte. Get a hold of yourself. So Elissa’s throwing a goddamn strop. You’ve been told to watch out for her, but that’s no order. We would’ve done it anyway, and we don’t need any serial killer to tell us otherwise. So that’s exactly what we’ll do. Together. Life goes on. When are you going to stop worrying so much about what other people think and start living for  _ you?  _ ”

Slayte blinked up at him through her tears. He made it sound so simple. So easy. He didn’t have the burden of wielding Thanatos’s awe-inspiring powers. He didn’t have a god’s wrath or retribution to fear if he failed to utilise them effectively. 

“I…” she breathed, hiccupping. “I just want to keep you both safe. If anything were to happen to either of you, Levi, I would die!” 

“Slayte.” He scowled. Things were always so melodramatic with her. Nothing was going to happen to him or to Elissa, that controlling serial-killer be damned.

“It would kill me, more than any other death could!”

“Slayte, shut up-”

“I would die and I would never be able to forgive myself and I couldn’t  _ stand  _ it-!”

He kissed her. Unable to hear anymore of her sacrificial monologues, her maddening selflessness. He heard her surprised intake of breath and a slight mewl of protest, but he held firm, lifting a hand to the back of her head, closing his fingers around her hair as he deepened the kiss, frustrated, infuriated, overcome by everything he felt for her. At that moment, it was all consuming, and he didn’t want to waste anymore stupid,  _ stupid  _ words on trying to make her feel better, trying to convince her that she was worthy of making demands too, that she too was damned worthy of the love she so freely gave to anyone and everyone that wasn’t herself. If words didn’t reach her, he was left with no option but to  _ show  _ her.

She owed him one anyway, and he always collected on his debts.

Slayte’s mind reeled, all thoughts scattering to the wind as Levi’s lips moved against hers, his kiss hard, bruising, stealing away the very air from her lungs. She clung to him in desperation, tears pooling from her eyes, love swelling in her heart. He didn’t hate her? He didn’t hold it against her? How could he be so accepting? How could he be so understanding? How could she deserve anything as perfect as he was?

“Levi,” she gasped, as he briefly broke away from her lips, trailing kisses along her jaw. “Wait-”

“Shut up,” he repeated, his voice heavy with an emotion that set her pulse racing.

“Wait,” she pressed against his chest. Her mind couldn’t process that she had been crying in his arms a moment earlier, and he now had her caged between the heat of his body and the kitchen counter at the small of her back. “What are you doing?”

“Collecting that favour you owe me,” he muttered, his hands making it clear he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

“But Levi-”

He sunk his teeth into her lower lip, prompting her eyes to widen, instantly silencing her. “I said,” he repeated, his heavy-lidded eyes locking onto hers with clear intent,  _ “Shut up.” _

His lips captured hers again and this time Slayte squeezed her eyes shut and tiptoed up to wrap her arms tightly around his neck, as his tongue delved into her mouth, swirling around and sparring with her own. Pure feeling exploded from her heart and pulsed outward through the rest of her body, filling her with indescribable warmth. His touch was like a detonation, bringing her back to life, dragging her up from the chasm of her despair. 

Levi’s hands snatched and pulled at her clothing, and before her mind could even register it, she was stripped to her black undergarments. Levi pushed her back, so that her back arched uncomfortably against the counter behind her. It wasn’t a good place, Slayte thought to herself distantly, but her fingers were already unbuttoning his shirt with urgency, and the warmth in her body was replaced by a roaring, unbearable heat, one that only Levi Ackerman’s cooling touch could extinguish. He was the salving ointment to her scars. The rationality to her insanity. The reason why she lost her mind.

She pushed his shirt back and he assisted her in tearing it off, drawing in a laborious breath as her nails scraped over the toned muscles of his scar-blemished skin. Snaking an arm around her waist, he tugged her close, pressing the front of her body tightly against his, exalting in the way it just seemed to fit so snugly against him. She had always felt so right. He had known it, from the very first night, that her body was fully compatible with his. 

Slayte felt her bra loosen and seconds later it had been tugged away from her entirely. His hands lifted to her breasts, cupping and kneading at the pale globes of soft flesh, eliciting a needy, husky moan from her lips. 

“Levi,” she uttered hoarsely, and the sound of it was like a sacred prayer falling from her tongue. The huskiness of her sexy voice alighted his blood with desire, sent it raging through his blood-stream as pent-up emotions rose to the surface for them both, cresting into a dizzy concoction of lust and need. Her voice drove him wild. The way she said his name through the haze of want set his pulse hurtling. He wanted to hear more. He wanted her to let it all out - her fears, her insecurities, her demons. His touch would exorcise them all. 

Slipping a hand to the back of her neck, he angled his head to kiss her demandingly again, wedging a knee between her legs. He pushed upward, so that his thigh pressed up against her crotch. Slayte gasped as he rubbed his leg up against her, causing a bolt of pleasure to zig-zag through her at the delicious, tantalising friction. Her head fell back as another moan tumbled from her lips, allowing him open access to the slender arch of her neck. Levi wasted no time in hungrily claiming the sensitive flesh, nipping and biting at her skin with his teeth.

“Stop,” he whispered harshly into her ear, “thinking of everyone  _ except  _ yourself.”

“I’m-” she struggled to focus on what he was saying, near delirious with need as his rough tongue licked up the column of her throat. A fire was brewing in her lower belly, the sweetest, most torturous ache that stole away her ability to think clearly. “I’m sor-”

“ _ Stop  _ apologising,” he said angrily, and lowered his head to bite and suck at the junction between her shoulder and neck. The remaining clothes on them were a hindrance. It seemed Slayte thought so, too, for her hands grazed over his belt, and she fumbled to unbuckle it as he slanted his mouth over hers in another fervent, hungry kiss, gripping her jaw in one hand, the other ripping her lower undergarments from her body.

“W-wait,” she squealed breathlessly, uncertain about his choice of location. The small kitchen wasn’t romantic, or practical. “H-here?”

“Here,” he growled, yanking the belt from his waist, unbuttoning his jeans and pulling the zipper down. “ _ Now,”  _ he added, and gripped her hips, his fingers stroking over her silky flesh, over every curve his hands had committed to perfect memory. Hoisting her up onto the counter, he bent his head and began to place kisses along her inner thighs.

Slayte gulped, gripping the edge of the counter, her face aflame. Even despite all their years together, the countless nights of intimacy, she still felt an inexplicable shyness in exposing herself fully to Levi. He seemed not to have a care for it, and she stiffened when the warmth of his breath fanned against her most intimate of places.

“L-Levi,” she began automatically, her voice wobbling precariously.

“Just relax,” he muttered, and Slayte’s teeth sunk into her lower lip as his tongue licked up the length of her slit, before flicking over her clit in circular, rotating motions. She grabbed onto his dark hair, her nails digging into his scalp as the pleasure and throbbing ache between her legs intensified. Within her chest, her heart hammered, wishing that the moment could last forever, where all her worries and fears were frozen in time, evaporated, were contained by and within the man who had acted as her shield from the very first moment they had met.

His middle finger probed her opening, before sinking into her moist wetness, as his thumb continued to rub over her clit. Slayte bit her tongue as he fingered her, as his lips kissed along her hip bone, her abdomen, before rising to her breasts. He kissed and sucked at them, nibbling on her sensitive nipples, eliciting a gasp of pleasure from his girlfriend’s throat. He squeezed the mounds greedily, possessively with a hand, and instinct seized Slayte’s body, compelling her to grind herself needily against the hand that was pleasuring her.

“Oh,” she moaned, pulling harder on his hair. “Levi…”

“Shit,” he muttered thickly, his body burning with the need to bury himself to the hilt within her. She was so wet. So ready for him. So deliciously receptive to each and every touch. Unable to restrain himself any longer, he reached down, pulling his hard cock free, and yanked her down off the counter’s edge. He wanted to punish her for being so stupidly subservient to the needs of others, constantly overriding her own. For the way he couldn’t stand the thought of anyone else marking her, infringing on her free will, a free will he had always taken such pains to nurture within her.

Slayte gasped as he slid inside her, filling her with his warmth, filling the ache within her heated core in the way only he could. She wrapped her arms around his neck to steady herself and finally discarded all her inhibitions. Weeks of suppressed emotions, of despair and fear and frustration and longing crashed to the surface as her lips ravenously claimed his, kissing him with wild, reckless abandon, the meeting of their lips and the sparring of their tongues broken only by Slayte’s gasps and his heavy pants as he bucked his hips and thrust up hard inside her. Her fingers clawed at his back as he shifted, knocking aside a utensil pot in his haste to adjust his position. He cursed at the mess, but didn’t care for it at that moment, as he rammed her harder, faster, pouring all his passion and frustrations at the injustice of her turmoil into each forceful thrust.

Slayte gripped onto him as if he were her anchor, the only thing keeping her grounded and afloat in a sea where waves of uncertainty threatened to drown her whole. Half-sobbing, half moaning his name, she rocked against him, wrapping her legs around his waist tightly as he ploughed deeply into her, his every rough stroke causing the toes of her feet to curl as sweet shocks of pleasure sparked through her. Her hands cupped his face tenderly, her lips ghosting over his features, haunting everywhere she touched. He swallowed at the gentleness of the gesture, feeling himself hurtling toward the edge, closer and closer to the summit of ecstasy with each drive in and out of her slick, wet, velvety core. 

“Slayte,” he breathed heavily, his heart pounding from exertion, from the thrill of their intimacy and union. “ _ Fuck.  _ ”

The way her walls gripped him within her, the way her arms held him so close to her, the way her lips tormented his with kisses so sweet Levi was certain they had to be laced with addictive poison. Because he could never get enough of them, of Slayte. Of the way she drove him mad. There was no living without her. Nothing made sense without her.

Faster and harder he slammed into her, rattling the drying rack on the counter with the force of his movements. Slayte felt pleasure spike through her at each dominating thrust, the coil of tension in her lower belly winding tighter and tighter, sending tremoring tingles through her body. Louder and shriller her pleading cries climbed, filling his ears like an exalted symphony, until she was crying out his name, sending him toppling over the edge as they both reached release together. She threw her head back, screaming his name, her back arched with pleasure. Levi gripped tightly onto her and cursed as he rode out the intense waves of spiralling euphoria, filling her deeply, the residues of their love-making spilling out between them at the point at which they were joined as one.

When the ascent to heaven finally waned, he gently lowered her down to the floor, and Slayte embraced him tightly, listening to the frantic rhythm of his heart as she pressed her ear against his chest, proof of the fact that he was alive - and that she was unconditionally the one who owned it.


	22. Part XXI: A Silent Guard

* * *

**Part XXI: A Silent Guard**

* * *

The mouth-watering smells of a collection of spices, vegetables, fish, and rice frying in a wok with sesame oil filled the little kitchen of the Wings of Freedom tea shop. Slayte stepped out of the storeroom to see Levi standing in front of the stove, a black apron tied neatly at his back, a casual expression on his face. He was a man comfortable in the kitchen - the effortless, practiced way he tossed the vegetables in the wok was evidence of that.

She felt a warmth creep into her cheeks as her eyes roamed over his form, from his dark hair, to his piercing grey eyes, to his strong hands. Affection for the handsome man in the kitchen made her all but melt at the sight of him. Her skin still tingled where the memory of his touch the day before lingered and her blood still sang at the recollection of his passionate, mind-scattering kisses. She entered the kitchen noiselessly and wrapped her arms around his waist, indulging in the feel of him.

"Oi," he reprimanded, suddenly limited in his movement, "What's gotten into you?"

"Nothing," she answered hastily, burying her face into his back, fearful he might look at her, peer into her mind, and know precisely where her thoughts had taken her. It would take just one look at her flushed face for him to piece it together.

"If you don't have anything to do with your hands, go set the table," he instructed, emptying the contents of the wok onto two plates.

"I _am_ doing something with my hands," she countered with a pout that he felt against his back as she tightened her grip.

He glanced over his shoulder at her, "Everything okay?" There was no knowing when the next storm would hit with Slayte, but she seemed to be doing better… or at least, so he had thought.

"Mm-hmm…" she hummed into his back, before releasing him with a sigh. She moved to set the table as he had requested, and Levi cast a glance at the roman numerals of the large, stained-wood clock hanging on the wall.

"What time does Elissa get off for her lunch break?" he asked offhandedly as he carried the plates to the table. They closed at 12:00 on the dot, whenever possible, and reopened an hour and a half later. Did the same stand true for Elissa?

"Elissa?" Slayte felt swamped with guilt. How could she have forgotten about Elissa, even for a moment? The buzz of happiness, an afterglow of their intimacy, that had haloed her time with Levi, clouding the anxiety that had receded to somewhere in her subconsciousness, quickly fizzled out as her legitimate concerns came back in full focus. There was no way to know what Elissa was up to. No way to shadow her or watch over her and protect her from whatever was coming next. Levi had offered his help, but it was the help of a mortal. Limited.

"I called her this morning, but she didn't pick up," he provided, setting cutlery beside the plates. "Guess I'll try again after lunch."

Slayte blinked at him, her pulse quickening with worry. Why had Elissa not picked up in the morning? Was she angry? Or in danger? Or dead? She glanced at the clock on the wall and swallowed thickly, accepting reluctantly, that there was little she could do at the given moment.

"I'll call her again," Levi reassured her, meeting her concerned, brown eyes as he took the glasses out of her hands. "Don't worry."

Slayte cleared her throat, trying to subdue the rising panic, "I didn't say anything."

He scoffed in return as he pulled out a chair for her, "Like you need to say anything. It's written all over that stupid expression that you're going into panic mode again."

Slayte's gaze fell on the table spread before them with a resigned look in her brown irises, "I can only do so much," she answered, hiding her trembling hands beneath the table. "I have to believe everything will be okay."

"Oi," he gestured at her with a fork, "I said I'll call her, alright? Now eat your food, it's getting cold."

With a nod, she contained her anxiety and partook of the meal Levi had prepared. It was delicious, as always. A delight to the senses, but Slayte felt as if her tongue was numb and she could barely taste it as her mind raced with a thousand possibilities as to Elissa's well-being. Phone calls would not be enough. Especially seeing as Elissa was not inclined to speak to either one of them. She needed to think of something else. She was failing in her duty if she allowed the situation to carry on this way.

They ate in silence, Levi observing Slayte's absentminded, thoughtful expression grimly. At least she wasn't crying anymore. What was Elissa doing, not picking up the phone? She had to know they would be concerned. Or did she want to cut them out of her life completely?

When they had finished their meal, Slayte quickly rose to clear the table, eager to distract her mind by keeping her hands busy. Levi slid his phone out of his pocket and scrolled down to Elissa's cell phone number. An image of the two girls, arms draped around the other's shoulders, grinning at the camera, met his eyes. With a sigh, he lifted the phone to his ear and leaned back, one arm draped over the backrest of the chair as he stared blankly out the window and listened to it ring. How long would it take before Slayte and Elissa were that comfortable with one another again? On the fifth ring, Elissa's voice met his ears.

" _Hello. This is Elissa Caelum. Unfortunately, I am not able to take your call at the moment. Please leave a message after the tone."_

Levi frowned as he ended the call and rang her number again. By the time his call had gone to voicemail for the third time he stared at the phone in annoyance. He got to his feet with an irritated, "Tch," and turned to find Slayte standing just beyond, worry radiating from every inch of her, from the furrowed brows to the clenched hands - but her lips remained silent. Her coffee-brown eyes fixed on him, waiting expectantly.

"I'm going to check it out, don't lose your head over it," he chided, turning away from her to get his jacket.

"I didn't say anything," she repeated, wringing her hands.

"Oi," he shrugged on his jacket, "Who would I be if I needed you to actually tell me? I told you it's that stupid expression." He pointed at her face as if it were a slug. "Everything's written on there."

He paused at the display counter, "If I'm going to ambush her at the workplace, I'd better bring a peace offering, I guess." His eyes surveyed the wares, searching for something suitable.

"Coconut cakes," Slayte provided instantly, "She owes Adam some." Slayte immediately disappeared into the kitchen before returning with a basket in which she laid the coconut cakes in a careful, artful arrangement.

"Pack her a blueberry muffin, too," Levi added, reaching for one of their business cards on the counter before adding it to the basket.

"Got it!" Slayte called, gently placing the muffin upright in a parchment bag she tied up lovingly with a blue ribbon. She held it to her heart for a moment, as if saying a silent prayer, before handing it and the basket to Levi.

The stoic, raven-haired man nodded at her as he pulled open the front door. "I'll be right back."

Slayte, too, nodded at his retreating back, and as soon as he had disappeared from her line of sight and she heard his car pulling out of the driveway, her eyes narrowed in determination. Levi was going to do the best he could. It was time for her to do the same.

She pressed a hand to the cool metal of the cuff around her left arm. Closing her eyes, she attempted to open a channel of communication as Thanatos had demonstrated.

A faint hum rang in her ears and she concentrated, hoping she was doing this correctly. " _Thanatos…"_ she called telepathically but frowned. When begging for Elissa's life, she had resumed his correct title. The epithet he deserved by virtue of his status, and by the nature of their relationship. She was loath to acknowledge his mastery over her, but whether or not she acknowledged it, it did not change the truth of the situation. Either way, he had saved Elissa's life, and for that alone, she owed him eternal gratitude.

" _Lord Thanatos,"_ she tried again, " _Can you hear me?"_

Silence met her ears, and she groaned in frustration. It was not uncharacteristic for him not to answer her. But how was she supposed to know if she was getting through?

" _Please. Give me a sign. I need to speak with you."_

When further silence followed, she carried on regardless, " _There are too many secrets. We've been silent on too much. Elissa can't take all this mystery and these lies. I wish you would give me permission to be honest with her. As it stands, she refuses to see me or speak with me. Because of your orders, I – I'm losing my…"_ Slayte hesitated, what right did she have to complain to Thanatos? He had saved Elissa's life, how much more could she ask of him? How could she expect him to understand? The poem he had written weighed heavy on her mind, but she didn't dare to address it.

" _I need your help. I need to be able to watch over her without physically being beside her. She won't allow for that anymore. You must have some means, right? That make it possible? Otherwise, I won't know when she's in danger, and I won't be able to do a thing."_ The unending silence was infuriating. Was she doing this wrong after all? Was a word even getting through? " _I'm not responsible for this alone, am I? Do something."_ She bit out the last words in frustration, nearly certain he wasn't hearing her and cut off the connection before she could rethink it.

Angrily, she retreated into the kitchen, preparing for the second wave of customers when they reopened the doors. So far, reaching out to Thanatos had proven useless. She could only hope Levi was having more success.

* * *

Levi walked the gray-carpeted hallways leading to Edison Publishing with a vague frown of distaste. A gray, concrete block, housing bland, gray offices full of bland, gray people glued to computer screens. He shuddered. It was exactly the kind of place he would hate to work in. An odd, drab place for a girl as vibrant as Elissa.

He approached what appeared to be the reception, and saw a slim, gray-haired woman with half-moon spectacles attached to a beaded chain resting on the bridge of her nose. He didn't know those things still existed. The middle-aged woman looked up as he approached. "Good day, Edison Publishing, how may I help you?"

It was clearly a phrase repeated so often it had lost all meaning to the poor woman chained by a contract to this miserable place.

"Yeah, hey," he responded, forgoing all formal greetings, "Where can I find Elissa Caelum?"

"Miss Caelum?" the woman blinked as genuine surprise sounded in her voice. Miss Caelum was fairly private by nature, but she thought she would have heard _something_ about her having a boyfriend. Judging by the basket of sweets the handsome young man carried in his hand there was no doubt as to the nature of their relationship.

"How charming!" the woman gushed, "You should have said you're not here on business! Come along, I'll take you to her. I'm Martha by the way." The woman led the way down the hallway and up a flight of stairs. "She never told us about you!"

Levi ignored the odd statement. It would have been strange if she had.

She led him to an open floor where cubicles were arranged as far as the eye could see. Levi swallowed in discomfort. What a nightmare.

"Would you like me to take your basket?" she questioned.

He handed it over without question, "Something for the employees, courtesy of the Wings of Freedom Tea Shop."

"Oh! How cute. I'll bring this to the break room," she laughed, taking the basket with her as she gestured to a corner of the long hall, "Miss Caelum is just by that window." Levi frowned at the talkative woman's back before marching in the direction she had indicated.

He found Elissa seated in a cramped cubicle, her hazel eyes caught on something in the distance beyond the window. The resigned frown on her face was just the same as it had been the last time he had seen her. Wordlessly, he placed the blueberry muffin on the desk in front of her, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Levi!" she exclaimed, surprised beyond all belief to see him there. She glanced around the hall wondering if others could see him too, as if he were an apparition. "What are you doing here?"

"You weren't answering my calls," he replied simply.

"But - that doesn't mean…" her gaze fell onto the package on her desk, "What's this?"

"A blueberry muffin. There are coconut cakes in the break room." He gestured over his shoulder with a thumb and Elissa was touched, despite herself.

"Wow, what a coincidence! You know I owed -" she trailed off, understanding dawning. "It isn't a coincidence, is it?"

"No," he agreed.

Elissa sighed. Of course Slayte had known that Elissa still owed Adam a bag of coconut cakes, she suspected Slayte was the one who had tied the ribbon on the muffin as well. That wasn't their usual packaging.

"Can't you tell her to leave me alone?" Elissa asked glumly.

"I could," he agreed readily, "but would that make a difference?"

"She listens to you."

He shook his head, "Not when it's about you."

Elissa frowned, before calling out to the sandy brown haired man seated at the cubicle in front of her. "Adam! There are coconut cakes in the break room, if you like. I'm in the green now."

"Oh, wow," Adam responded, immediately logging off and getting to his feet. "Better help myself before they're all gone." He glanced up in surprise at Levi standing at Elissa's shoulder. "And this is…?"

"Levi," was the curt self-introduction.

"He's a friend," Elissa clarified, nipping any misunderstandings in the bud. "He owns the tea shop."

"Oh!" Adam's eyes lit up, "I'm a big fan. You guys make the best cakes."

The compliment brought a twinkle to Levi's eye as he crossed his arms and questioned Elissa's coworker about what cakes he specifically enjoyed and why. Elissa, not being able to take any more of this, cut in, "Adam, they'll be all gone if you delay any longer."

"Oh, right!" he agreed, making an exit for the break room.

Elissa sighed, rubbing her temples. "Are you going to tell me why you came?" she muttered.

"You weren't answering my calls," he repeated. A look around the hall revealed that most of the cubicles were abandoned as the employees had likely gone off to lunch.

"I thought it was Slayte." Elissa admitted, "You never call me, and I'm not picking up her calls right now."

"Did she mess up that bad, that you need to cut her off entirely?" he wanted to know.

Elissa frowned, staring bitterly at the bright blue ribbon.

"She's on his side, not mine. You, too. You're on her side. I need people I can trust in my life. People who are on _my_ side."

Levi said nothing to this, suspecting it would be pointless to argue with her once her mind was made up. "She's worried about you."

"No one asked her to be."

Levi reclined against her desk and crossed his arms with a frown. "How's your back?"

"It doesn't hurt," she dismissed, "It just looks terrible."

He nodded, relieved to hear that at least she wasn't in pain. "You need to stop ignoring my calls. If you want space, that's one thing, but we need to know that you're safe."

Elissa rolled her eyes, "You guys could just try minding your own business for a start."

Levi's impassive expression showed that he was unimpressed with her childish response. "You want Slayte to leave you alone. I want her to stop panicking. Let's the two of us help one another out."

Elissa lifted hazel eyes to his suspiciously, "How?"

"Pick up when I call you. Let me know when you leave a place and where you're headed. Then inform me again when you get there." His instructions were spoken calmly and simply as if there was nothing unusual about them.

Elissa glared at him, unable to believe her ears. "Why should I have to do that? Am I on parole, or something? What the hell, Levi?"

"You keep getting caught up in danger. We have reason to worry. Of course, you don't have to do it just because I said so. Then just accept the consequences."

"What consequences?"

"When Slayte asks me if I've heard from you - and she _will_ ask me - I'll tell her you're not picking up the phone."

Elissa blinked at him. "You wouldn't…"

"I would. Even better, I'll tell her that I'm worried about you. I'll ask her if she thinks something happened to you. So what if she scours the streets until she finds you? That's your problem."

He reached for the package on her desk and undid the blue ribbon, recognizing that it was the reason for Elissa's reluctance in accepting it. "It's up to you. Check in with me every now and then, or have Slayte hunt you down every day. I don't have to tell you that that's exactly what she would do, right?"

Elissa groaned as she rested her forehead on the palms of her hands. It sounded just like Slayte. She wouldn't even tire of chasing Elissa down everyday. Maybe it wasn't so bad to have someone know where she was and where she was headed. It could prove useful, if she ever _did_ find herself in danger again.

"Fine," she relented, "I'll do it. Just tell her to leave me alone."

Levi pocketed the blue ribbon and nodded. "Glad we had this talk."

Elissa scowled at him as he rose from her desk. He pointed at the package once more before turning away to leave. "Eat your muffin."

She frowned after him, but before she could think of something clever to say, he had turned the corner and was already gone.

* * *

The park was quiet at night, and Elissa enjoyed the stillness that befell it. The perfect hush and absence of activity that accompanied the daylight hours was a welcome, soothing change. As she walked through it, she passed the occasional couple holding hands, or laughing friends who were out late in the evening together. It was well patrolled by security and park wardens in the evenings, which made it a relatively safe spot. Elissa had been thrilled upon moving to the town several years earlier, to find what equated to a huge garden a short walk away from her apartment. Indeed it had been one of the main selling points of her decision to rent out the property.

How could she have had any idea back then of how significant the park would end up being in her future? She took a bite of the delicious blueberry muffin she'd saved from Levi's unexpected visit to her workplace earlier in the day and began to cross over the grass. She'd circle the eastern route one last time, she decided, before heading home for the night.

Walking had always filled her with a sense of tranquility. It afforded her the opportunity to sift through the tangled threads of her thoughts, to unpick them and restore order to her mind. Lately, however, she was more overrun than usual with particularly troubling, darker musings. She'd been avoiding Slayte for several days since the beach incident already, and was doing her best not to think of Itachi and the coldness of his rejection of their friendship anymore. Her sleep at night was plagued with restlessness and she'd had more than one nightmare already of dying under water. Each time it happened, she'd bolt up in bed, terror in her eyes and the unsettling sensation of her heart drumming wildly in her chest.

She was distracted at work and spent the day watching the minutes on the clock crawl by. In truth, Elissa knew she was dissatisfied with a lot of things in her life. Was she reaching the point where she'd just had enough? Of everything? A point where she needed to make drastic changes, to move on? If she left town, and started over with Vetty elsewhere, would that bring her happiness?

She felt a twinge of regret for even entertaining the thought, followed by a trickling anxiety. She'd set down roots in Canterbury. She liked the town. Her job wasn't great, but her apartment was. She'd made nice friends here. Not all of them were liars like Slayte. Would it be fair to pack up and just go? Surely that would worry her parents, too, who assumed she'd settled there for the foreseeable future?

Elissa sighed, consciously taking the path that led farthest away from the river. She definitely didn't want to go back there anytime soon. Maybe not ever. It reminded her too much of Itachi and the countless talks they'd had sitting at those grassy banks. Of turning her head and gazing at his handsome side-profile as he'd stared pensively ahead into the water. Listening to every wise word that had left his lips-

She shook her head, banishing his memory once more from her mind. It had been a lie. A mission to him. Nothing more. They'd said their goodbyes and that was that. It made no difference that looking in the mirror and seeing the marks he'd left on her skin served as a constant, painful reminder of him and what he had done to her. She had to find a way to cope with it, accept it, and move on.

Cain had called his colleague as promised and she'd spoken to Elissa about the possibility of removing the blemishes with a laser procedure. Elissa had agreed to consider it. If there was any hope of restoring her skin to how it had been before the shadowy wisps had tainted it, then she was willing to go ahead with any medical operation required.

Her thoughts turned to Cain. He was over at her apartment almost every other night now. They played board-games, and dance-off video games. She discovered that he had an appreciation for wildlife, too, and watched documentaries and movies together. He was good company, and always lifted her spirits with outrageous stories of his adventures at medical school. She'd found out more about his family; that he had a brother and two sisters, and his parents owned a plot of land about a two hour drive from town where horse-riding lessons were offered to locals and tourists. He'd offered to take her along to see the place whenever she wished.

A faint smile touched her lips. There was certainly a lot more to Cain than she'd initially anticipated. He wasn't just a shameless flirt. He was conscientious, playful, intelligent, fun-loving and had a go-getter approach to life which Elissa found to be thoroughly refreshing. He wasn't afraid to dive into situations head-first and take risks. He was loud and lively and confident and seemed to live every single day to its maximum potential. He was unconcerned with what others thought about him. He was unapologetically himself, and all those traits made him interesting and exciting.

A sudden, shrill bleating sound in the distance caused Elissa to slow in her movements. It seemed like a distressed animal. She turned her head, trying to locate its source, her eyes scanning the darkness around her. The lamp-posts in the park were stationed at irregular distances apart, which meant that some areas were darker than others once the sun set. She ventured toward the noise, following it with her ears, until she passed through a cluster of trees and found a fallen bough on the grassy ground.

Her eyes widened. Beneath it was a beautiful young doe, greatly distressed and trapped under the weight of the heavy branch. It had landed right on her hind legs, and she was scrambling, struggling to free herself, clearly in great pain and discomfort. The sight of Elissa caused the deer to panic even further, and she fought more desperately, writhing and twisting pitifully on the ground, causing even more damage to her injuries.

"Oh, you poor thing!" Elissa gasped in dismay, lifting her bag strap over her head so that it rested across her chest and would not slip off her shoulder. Without thought, without hesitation, her inherent instinct to preserve any life-form, to protect the wounded kicked in and she was automatically moving toward the agitated animal. She couldn't possibly leave it in such a terrible state. "It's alright." She approached it slowly, one hand held out to signal that she was no threat. "I'm going to help you."

The doe bleated again in agitation, continuing to kick out with her front legs. Elissa bit her lower lip. The unnatural angle at which the deer's body was contorted didn't look good. Even if she managed to get the branch off her, there was no telling what the extent of her injuries were.

The creature's eyes were large and panicked. Elissa kept making reassuring noises as she inched carefully closer, until she was near enough to walk around and get behind the animal. She looked grimly down at the bough and attempted to shift it, gritting her teeth. It was much heavier than it looked and she couldn't lift it unassisted. She glanced up to find a tree directly above her head. Had it fallen from up there? What had caused it to do so? Large, heavy branches didn't just snap off trees. Maybe lightning had struck it? It was hard to tell the state the branch was in, in the dimness.

"Come… on…" Elissa tried to push at it instead, heaving at the branch with all her might, and after several attempts, finally succeeded in shifting it slightly. The deer cried out in pain once again, and Elissa worried that she had inadvertently caused further damage. She drew back anxiously, watching in distress as the animal writhed in agony. She didn't want to try moving the branch again in case she made things worse. She couldn't even see what she was doing too well, and who knew if she was pushing in the right direction? She wanted to save the doe, not hurt her further.

She fished in her bag, thinking that surely Cain would be able to help. Hadn't he volunteered at the vet surgery? Before she could take her phone out, however, she heard a menacing growl and peered over the branch - only for her heart to plunge to her stomach.

Black, feral dogs were slinking toward the deer. There were four of them, and they were bulky and large in frame, a breed Elissa had never before seen. Her eyes widened in alarm as they snarled threateningly, their eyes impossibly dark in the dimness. There were no strays in this part of town. Where had they come from? As they parted their jowls, Elissa glimpsed razor sharp teeth that were capable of not only ripping the deer to shreds - but a human, too.

She gulped nervously, fear sending her heart careening within her chest. The right thing to do was to run, she knew. She had to save herself. But if she ran, the deer would be done for.

 _Are you crazy?_ She yelled at herself. _Those aren't nice, reasonable dogs. Get out of here right now!_

 _But… if I run, and they chase me, I'm as good as dead, too,_ she countered to her own argument.

Did they want the deer? Or her? There were four of them, and they all looked angry and hungry. She nervously acknowledged that it was most likely that the canines maybe wanted to feast on both of them for dinner. Her heart hammered and she inched behind the branch, her eyes darting around the immediate area surrounding her. There were no people nearby. The exit gate was still a ten minute walk away. What did she do? How did she always find herself in such reckless, stupid situations when it came to helping animals?

' _Are you in the habit of sheltering every life but your own, this way? Taking home danger? Flirting with death?'_

Unbidden, the words Itachi had spoken to her back when they had first met drifted through her mind. Every life was precious. How could someone who had ended them ever appreciate or understand that? The memory filled her with anger and before she could hesitate any further, Elissa stepped out from behind the trapped deer and courageously stood in front of her, picking up another smaller, stray branch that lay on the grass.

"Get lost!" She yelled at the approaching dogs, jabbing at them with her makeshift weapon. She remembered hearing something about exerting dominance over wild animals, not playing weak and letting them catch onto the fact that their challenger was scared - even though at that moment, Elissa was utterly terrified. She grabbed the pepper spray she carried in her bag with her other hand, ready to use it. "Shoo!" she ordered. "Leave this poor animal alone!"

The dogs snarled and continued to close in, before splitting to circle around their intended prey. Oh, Elissa thought to herself, trying not to give into rising panic. This surely wasn't good. She hadn't factored in the possibility that they would surround her. Clearly they were no form of domesticated dog, but more akin to wolves who hunted in packs and configured their hunts very strategically.

 _Ok,_ Elissa thought to herself, trying to keep an eye on them all as they prowled ravenously toward her. _Ok, I think staying was a really dumb idea, and you probably need to run no-_

One of the dogs lunged toward her. Elissa caught her breath and instinctively lifted the branch to strike the animal. But it was large and heavy and before she had time to react, she had been knocked back to the ground and was pinned beneath its powerful paws. Her heart exploded with terror, her wide eyes lifting to find saliva-dripping jaws that had veered back and aimed straight for the jugular at her neck.

She lifted her pepper spray and spritzed it wildly up at the dog. The creature snarled then whimpered and fell back, pawing at its face in irritation. Elissa rolled away, her entire body shaking from rushing adrenaline and how close she had come to dying - _again_ \- in the space of just a few days. She leapt to her feet and bravely lifted the branch, striking the animal with all her might upon its head. The dog fell back, dazed, and she whirled, charging at the second that had pounced toward the terrified doe.

She reached it just in time, and gasped when its powerful jaw clamped onto the branch, ripping it easily free from her grasp. It flew into the air, and the canine lunged at her, its eyes full of killing intent. Elissa once again sprayed the contents of the pepper dispenser desperately at the dog. Particles of spray caught its face, causing the dark hound to shake its head angrily in an attempt to regain its disorientated senses. Elissa kicked at its side and grabbed another branch, tossing it at the other two. They barked loudly and regrouped, no doubt communicating to each other about how they intended to rip her throat out. Elissa jumped behind the branch the deer was trapped under and with all her strength, heaved once more at it. Adrenaline lended her a much needed boost of extra strength and she finally succeeded in pushing the bough off the deer's hind legs - only to stare down at what she saw in dismay.

The legs were completely crushed, the bone snapped cleanly through the skin. The deer could not move regardless, and bleated aloud in pain and fright. Elissa swallowed, realising that she had made a grave error in choosing to stay. There was far too much blood matting the doe's tawny fur. She couldn't save the unfortunate animal anyway, and now it was likely that she couldn't save herself, either.

Two of the dogs charged at her and she jumped aside, breaking off one of the fallen branch's offshoots and stabbing it at one of the hounds. But another of the vicious canines collided into her back, sending her sprawling roughly onto the grass and the pepper spray - her only weapon - tumbled out of her hand. Her head spun as she landed on her front, the force of her heart-beat so strong that she heard the rushing of blood in her ears. She turned, blinking in a daze, to find that she had landed right in front of the doe.

She met the deer's large, terrified eyes and saw her struggle to rise to her feet, helplessly unable to move anything but her head and front legs, too exhausted by her frenzied attempts to break free to even drag herself along the ground. A savage growl filled the air as the barking hounds leapt right at them, closing in for the kill. Elissa screamed and closed her eyes, her hands flying up instinctively over her head in one last frantic attempt to defend herself, pure desperation racing through her veins. A strange, prickling humming sensation washed over her, as she acknowledged that this was surely the end, that there was no way she could fight off four of them at once, and waited for the piercing pain of sharp fangs to sink into her flesh and sever vital arteries.

But the pain never came. The barking suddenly stopped and everything grew unnervingly silent. Even the deer's agonised bleating had stopped. After a few uncertain seconds, an astonished Elissa opened her eyes, to find the hounds had grown as still as statues, and were staring at her, their ears flattened, as if something had spooked them. They looked at each other and whimpered suddenly, before slinking backwards, gnashing their teeth as they turned away to run. Elissa watched, in bewilderment, as their forms quickly grew farther and farther away, until they vanished completely in the night.

She gaped after them. What in the world had just happened? What had startled such dangerous, rabid animals so suddenly? Elissa shook her head and let out a gasp, collapsing back onto the grass, relief rendering her immobile as she fought to catch her breath. Her eyes looked up to the twinkling, starry sky. It didn't matter what had frightened them off. She wasn't complaining, and it was surely a stroke of luck that she was still alive at all.

"Oh, thank God," she exhaled shakily. "Elissa, you absolute _idiot_ ," she then hissed, admonishing herself furiously, placing a palm over her thundering heart, willing its chaotic rhythm to settle. She was out of her mind, there was no doubt about it. She couldn't believe she had almost given up her life - for a deer that was as good as dead anyway.

The doe's head nudged at her face, as if in gratitude, and Elissa lifted a trembling hand, touching the deer's neck gently, surprised, touched and saddened by the purity of the doomed animal's gesture.

"I'm sorry," she began to apologise. "I just wanted to help you."

Slowly, she sat up, and glanced to her right to examine it - only for her breath to catch in her throat in astonishment as she watched the deer rise gracefully to her feet.

"What...?" she whispered, staring at the animal's hind legs in confusion. But she had seen that they were twisted beyond repair. The bone had been protruding through the bloodied flesh. What in the world? How was she suddenly fine? Elissa scrambled back up to her feet, gawking, stunned. It was impossible. Once again, she had been certain of what she had seen, and yet the reality before her was showing her something else entirely.

"That's impossible," she spoke to the animal in staggered disbelief as the doe blinked innocently at her. "Your legs were completely broken, how did you…?"

Remembering that deers didn't talk, Elissa clamped her mouth shut, swallowing thickly. Was she losing her mind? No, she told herself, her eyes falling back to the heavy log she had managed to push off the deer. She hadn't imagined it. Somehow, the animal had made a full recovery, even though that fact completely defied all belief and possibility.

She looked around, finding herself to be alone. Nobody else had intervened. Her gaze turned back to the deer's hind legs. Besides the dark patches of blood on the fur, she seemed absolutely fine.

The deer calmly began to walk away from her, before breaking out into a joyful sprint and disappearing through the trees. Elissa could do nothing but stare after her in bewildered, troubled confusion - glad that her life had been saved after all - but disturbed in not knowing exactly _how_.

* * *

In the shadows, a cloaked figure looked on in amazement, slender hands clasped tightly together at the base of a pale throat in disbelief. A trembling breath escaped crimson-painted lips, as she came to terms with the scene that had just unfolded before her very eyes.

There was no mistaking it. She had staged the event perfectly, without flaw. An injured doe, to appeal to the kindness in the girl's heart, a kindness she had hoped to confirm existed and had seen for herself. The human, _Elissa,_ had stepped selflessly before the wounded deer, sheltering her with her own life, willing to risk her own existence to save the wretched creature.

The hounds that had been set upon the girl had been shadow-forged, feral and blood-thirsty. The mortal had attempted to ward them off bravely, foolishly, even despite knowing that it had been a lost cause, she had still persevered and done her very best to defend the animal.

She had watched the struggle ensue, cloaked out of sight by her element, and had been all but ready to turn away and assign the girl to her demise after she had been knocked to the ground by one of the hounds, when something most remarkable had transpired. The girl had flung up her hands - and Nyx had watched, with seized breath, as the air itself had shimmered around her, as if rippling with cosmic dust, pulsing outwards and forcing the hounds back.

Immediately, Nyx had commanded them to halt in their advances. The hounds, alarmed, had instantly retreated at her order. Then, she had watched in wonder, as the girl sprawled on the grass had merely touched the doe - and the creature's legs had smoothly mended, restored to her previous youthful majesty and glory, fully healed and mobile once again.

She saw the shock on the mortal's face, clearly oblivious to what she had done. The expression was surely mirrored in Nyx's own. And yet her eyes did not deceive her. She knew what it had to mean. It was the sign she had been waiting for, the sign she had been seeking all along. Inexplicable joy exploded within her pounding heart, rushing through her veins like liquid sunshine, the light of which never touched her dark Kingdom. There was no doubt in the matter. This was her. This was the girl she had waited an eternity for! Scoured the entire globe for millenia trying to find. At last, here she was in the flesh. The Child of Prophecy, the woman who would end her son's solitude and bring a peaceful and just reign to the Underworld.

Tears welled within Nyx's eyes, her heart rejoicing, overcome with happiness. Excitement bubbled within her, sheer elation at her long, painful, taxing search being over at last, and she resisted the great, senseless urge to run forward and scoop the girl up in her arms, to look at her, to touch her face, to speak with her. This was the precious thing that would capture her noble Itachi's heart, and nothing filled Nyx with more jubilation than knowing this.

She stepped back, watching as the girl picked leaves out of her hair and continued along her way, hurrying in her haste to leave. Cronus would be pleased, she thought to herself, biting her lower lip, unable to contain the smile of delight that danced upon her lips.

The Child of Prophecy had been found, and she had preparations to make.

* * *

The beauty of the underworld, the lush expanse of her gardens, the myriad colors, iridescent lights and submissive servants looking on in astonishment all seemed to pass by in a blur as Nyx all but floated through the realm, intoxicated with her newfound knowledge, the culmination of centuries' worth of efforts.

The Child of Prophecy. At long last, Nyx had found her. Had seen her with her own eyes. She was a mortal and yet, seemed to possess a strength of character and virtues she knew her son would not be able to help but admire.

Her son. Her cherished, stalwart, noble, patient son would at long last open his heart to another, find someone to stand tall by his side. The image she saw in her mind's eye of Itachi's arms wrapped around the Child of Prophecy's slim waist as she stood on tiptoe to whisper sweet nothings into his ear set Nyx's heart alight with joy. She was near to bursting with excitement. What she had craved, what she had wished so ardently for, was within arm's reach.

All that remained was to convey the young mortal to the Underworld. She might be averse to it, at first, but soon she would see all the magnificence their realm had to offer. She would learn to love it. Nyx would see to that.

Having arrived in her rose gardens, she wandered among the arches in search of a familiar face. How she wished Vetty was there! Surely, her loyal feline companion would have rejoiced with her at having finally found the chosen one. Barring Vetty, who could Nyx possibly turn to? With whom could she share her overwhelming joy?

The dark shadows of the underworld shrouded her gardens - abandoned at this hour - in some semblance of night and no sooner had her mind turned to him than she felt his large, warm hands encircle her waist. He was power and chaos personified and his touch was firm and close to bruising, even when he was gentle. She felt his lips at her ear and an uncontrollable shiver passed through her when he spoke. "I have need of you, Nyx."

There was a time when those words would have terrified her. Spoken so darkly, even his affection felt threatening, but now, she relished it. Just as she relished the warmth of his breath against the shell of her ear, his lips on the exposed, creamy pale skin at the side of her neck as she leaned back against him, angling her head to allow him better access. His hands roamed familiarly, confidently, over her body as if he had not a care who might see them.

"I wait for no one," he growled into her ear, implying that she had, in fact, dared to keep him waiting. One arm snaked around her waist, pulling her snugly against him, while the other reached up to cup a full breast, squeezing forcefully, eliciting a gasp of pleasure from her throat. Pressed against him as she was, she could feel the "need" he spoke of pressing against her back.

"Where were you?" the voice that purred in her ear, dark and seductive, demanded the truth. How this encounter between the two of them would transpire, depended on her answer. She knew both possibilities well. He could leave her bruised and shaking, or screaming with pleasure. Her face burned scarlet as she was forced to admit that she had come to crave the one as much as the other.

"Lord Cronus," she voiced in a raspy, breathless whisper, her mind already consumed by the passion he had awoken in her.

The hand at her waist reached lower and began bunching up her skirts, exposing her long, fair legs to the cool night air. This was too public, too risky, too _dangerous._ Anyone could chance upon them, and then what? Swallowing nervously, she acknowledged that regardless of who saw them, there was no one who would dare challenge the Uchiha patriarch. Possibly, not even her husband himself.

"Speak, woman." The voice in her ear, still hauntingly seductive, terrifyingly dangerous like a lion's purr demanded immediate answers. His fingers trailed up the inside of her pale thighs, drawing a path that set a quickening alight in her stomach. Anticipation set her pulse racing.

"I've found her, my lord." Her breathless confession broke the night's silence and the hand between her legs, only a few, tantalising inches removed from her womanhood, stilled suddenly. She craved his touch in that moment like a drowning man craved air. All too soon, however, he removed his hand, allowing her skirts to fall back in place.

The loss of the warmth of his bruising fingertips on her sensitive skin left behind a physical ache. Nothing but tormented emptiness settled in its wake. Nyx swallowed, disturbed by her own body's betrayal. Her desire for him was maddening in that moment, and his slow retreat made her want to pull him back, to take matters into her own hands and finish what he started.

Scandalous. Blasphemous, even.

Cronus would never allow it. It wasn't simply about pleasure, she knew, it was always about power. And Cronus guarded his power jealously. To challenge it, to dare try and claim it, even in the harmless whims of desire, was to ask for his wrath to rain down upon her. She would not know the euphoria of his touch unless he deemed she deserved it, and once his decision was made, there was no way to convince him otherwise.

Sucking in a shaky breath, she turned to face him. "My lord?" she murmured, the hurt of being left wanting apparent in her voice despite herself.

His hand rose to take hold of her chin, his grip firm and bordering on painful as he lifted her face to meet his eyes. She was helpless to look away, confused by the aloof expression in his jet-black irises. Was he not pleased?

"How have you come to know of this?" The threatening tone in the simple question set her stomach clenching in alarm. Was this not what they had been hoping for?

"I…" her mind was still reeling, and she took a moment to compose herself. She had been too ecstatic, too emotional, and emotions were never anything but a weakness. Her joy at having found the Child of Prophecy had led her to forget the true nature of her relationship, if one could call it that, with the Uchiha patriarch. She needed to be wary of him. To play the part of the demure, succumbing queen he wanted her to be. It would not do to return to the naivete of her youth.

When next she spoke, her eyes were blank and there was no feeling in her voice. "I saw her powers manifest themselves. Hounds attacked her, and she called upon the force of the stars to deter them. She healed an injured animal. There can be no doubt. She is..." Nyx took a deep breath, the weight of the words she was about to speak heavy on her tongue, "... the Child of Prophecy."

Without warning, Cronus' grip tightened, his fingers digging painfully into her flesh. She cried out in alarm, fearing her jaw would break, and he released her suddenly. Nyx collapsed to the grass and pressed her hands to her face, willing the tears away as the pain still lingered.

"You must speak of this to no one," Cronus boomed as he stood over her.

"I have none," she confessed, lifting her midnight eyes helplessly to his, "No one to speak to, other than your Lordship."

His gaze softened ever so slightly as he stepped forward, "Well said, sweet Nyx." He rewarded her by brushing her hair behind her ear as he spoke, "You need not take further action. I will further our aims from this point on."

Nyx felt the breath rush out of her lungs in dismay. They were so close! Just an arm's reach away from the fulfilment of everything she had hoped for! And he was telling her to retreat? To abandon everything to him? Desperation burned in her chest but she stilled her tongue, knowing it would be fruitless to protest. Her mind reeled. What was the meaning of this?

Glancing up at him, she saw that his gaze was distant, as if he was not truly seeing her. She wished for nothing more in that moment than to be able to read the contemplations hidden behind those hooded eyes. She wondered what his true intentions were. Just as she had not disclosed to him that the Child of Prophecy would lead her son to the throne ruling over the Underworld, he, too, doubtless had secrets of his own he kept hidden from her. She was not fool enough to believe that Cronus actually trusted her.

In the distance, raised voices approached. Her gaze sought him, panic in her eyes at the fear of being discovered, but he knew no haste. "To your chambers, Nyx. Your service is no longer required this eve."

The dismissal hurt in its bluntness. She blinked at him, confused. If there was naught else between them, she had believed, with certainty even, that at least their desire was mutual. But the foreign voices were fast approaching, and left with no choice other than to obey, she cast one last, fleeting glance at the enigmatic King of the Underworld, and fled.

* * *

The ocean waves crashed angrily against the bottom of the cliff-face far below, appearing pitch-black under cover of darkness. Itachi's eyes narrowed. It seemed the King of the Seas was in a less hospitable mood this eve. He'd had little interaction with Suigetsu in the past, could not distinctly recall ever exchanging words with him beyond disasters that befell humans at sea, but the many accounts he had heard painted the ocean's monarch to be mischievous and mercurial in nature, foul-mouthed, selfish and cut-throat in prioritising the well-being and interests of his Kingdom and its denizens.

In a heart-beat he had alighted onto the large boulders at the shoreline, his keen, perceptive gaze watching the lapping of the water against rock.

"To what do I owe this great pleasure?" A cool, liquid voice addressed him lightly, holding within it an almost condescending lilt. Itachi looked up to find Suigetsu, seated upon a regal horse constructed entirely of water. Its eyes glowed silver, its mane rippling a pale, luminous blue in the darkness. He had materialised without warning, without sound - as was to be expected, given that the ocean itself responded to his every command. "We've crossed paths before, whenever our roles have happened to intercept and pitiful mortals have lost their lives to the perilous sea. But that's not what you're here for, is it?"

"Lord Poseidon," Itachi greeted politely, uttering the formal name of the sea-deity's role as propriety dictated, since they were neither family, familiars nor friends.

"Thanatos," Suigetsu cocked his head and grinned. "What's an Underworld Princeling doing on my turf so late at night, huh?"

"Forgive the late hour of my intrusion," Itachi replied smoothly. "There are matters I wish to discuss, if you would be so inclined to spare a moment."

Suigetsu's eyebrows arched upwards at the formality with which he was addressed. "You sure are fancy in that get-up," he remarked, his gaze trailing over the mask and richly-stitched cloak that adorned the death deity's form. "And so _polite._ " He pulled a face in distaste. "The Olympians could sure learn a thing or two from you. And not just them." He added. "Your dick of a ruler, too. Cronus. Full disrespect intended. He always spits in my oceans. If _he's_ the one who sent you-"

"He did not," Itachi interrupted calmly.

"No? I find it hard to believe you Uchiha can even blink without him being aware. I have no way of knowing whether you're telling the truth, other than your word."

"Does that not suffice?" Itachi questioned mildly, as if he could not quite understand why his honour was being called into question.

Suigetsu eyed him warily, trying to figure him out. What was with this god? Deities weren't known for upholding promises, given that they could do whatever they wished. Thanatos had to be deluded if he believed words provided enough reassurances of sincere intentions.

He'd heard all the tales of Thanatos and the famed, feared ocular prowess of his Sharingan, his reputed excellence in battle and wisdom and strategy. But unlike most of the other Uchiha Suigetsu had had the utter misfortune of meeting over the course of his existence, the God of Death was not at all arrogant, or haughty, or anything unpleasant and irritating; not the swaggering peacock of an Uchiha he was so accustomed to seeing.

The ocean deity's silver eyebrows drew together slightly. Thanatos was instead composed, courteous, well-spoken and clearly very dignified in his bearing. How could he be so different to Cronus, when they shared the same blood? Suigetsu found himself oddly unsettled by that musing. He was known to tease and irk anyone he did not care for. But it seemed inappropriate, somehow, to do so with Thanatos.

"I don't trust the Uchiha," Suigetsu sneered. "But anyway, just because you're much more respectful than all the others, I'll hear you out. So? Out with it, then," he gestured. "I don't have all night. The ocean's don't exactly rule themselves, and I gotta make sure all my pets are behaving."

"Of course," Itachi nodded, getting straight to the point of his visit. "It has lately come to my attention that there has been a degree of outside interference within my domain."

Suigetsu raised an eyebrow. "Your domain? You mean, reaping souls and killing people? That's just the shittiest role ever, isn't it? But you know, you're a lot less depressing than I imagined you'd be. Also... a lot less crazy. Those voices of the dead and the shades and everything have gotta drive even the sanest god mad. I'm almost impressed. Almost," he snickered.

Itachi ignored this statement, as he continued, unperturbed, "Several incidents have occurred, one of which manifested within the ocean itself."

"Oh, yeah?" Suigetsu tilted his head curiously, his eyes glowing lavender in the dark. "Is that right?"

Itachi's dark eyes met his levely. "A mortal was dragged beneath the waves by a snapping vine not five days past. She sustained grievous injuries, and a servant of mine also lost a limb while attempting to retrieve her from the water."

"A snapping vine?" Suigetsu frowned, before rolling his eyes. "Oh, yeah. They're always misbehaving. The fuckers. Where'd this happen, exactly?"

Itachi regarded him intently. "A beach. Not five miles whence."

Suigetsu appeared thoughtful for a moment, then shrugged. "Can't say I saw anything. My vines get bored sometimes, but it's not like them to snag humans unless they're way out at sea. What's this mortal look like?"

The abruptness of the question gave Itachi pause. The image of the young woman in question was ingrained in his mind eye with such vivid clarity that speaking her likeness aloud would pose him little trouble. Hair that rippled in silky waves around slender shoulders, warm-chestnut in hue, glinted with golden strands when it caught the sun's light. Large, expressive, doe-like eyes, framed by long, dark lashes, were a mesmerising combination of green and brown and twinkling gold, ever-shifting and bright. When she smiled, those hazel windows to the world illuminated with light. When she was upset, they darkened considerably, as though a storm were brewing within them. And always, the fierceness of her soul shone through, in its sweetness, its honesty, its kindness and bravery. Angelissa was everything radiant and inherently good. But he would not ever speak such words aloud. The thought of her, the memory of her, of her loveliness, of her earnestness - he would cherish and lock away forever in his mind, immune to the passing of time and the spoils of life. Not even the end of time itself would ever steal that from him.

Silently, he lifted a hand, calling into being wisps of shadow to paint her likeness to the deity that was awaiting his answer. Suigetsu blinked, watching as the coils of darkness coalesced to form an image of a beautiful young woman with hazel eyes and brown hair.

"Hey," he remarked, as he stared at the rippling portrait. "She's really pretty."

Itachi lowered his hand, instantly calling the shadows back. Immediately the image dissipated, dissolving into the air.

"Aww, c'mon," Suigetsu pouted toothily. "Coulda let me stare a bit more at that. I was enjoying the view!"

"I believe we do not have all night," Itachi answered nonchalantly, but there was a pointed edge to his voice that suggested they get back to the subject at hand.

"Hah. Smartass," Suigetsu smirked at him. "But I _have_ seen that girl before, come to think of it…"

Itachi remained still, waiting to hear what he would disclose. How he chose to answer, would affect how Itachi chose to act.

"Now where was it?" He turned his eyes up to the clear, starry night sky in thought. Then his face lit up with sudden recollection. "Oh, yeah, that's it!" He snapped his fingers together. "I saved this chick once when she almost drowned in some river. I remember her pretty face. She had this crazy cat climbing all over her."

Itachi distinctly recalled the day when he had first laid eyes upon Angelissa. On the verge of drowning, with Vetty clawing wildly at her face and hair. He had always found it odd that the girl had been spared on that occasion, when she had clearly almost gone under the water entirely. He'd been summoned to collect a soul by the river - only to find she had been unexpectedly saved.

And now he knew why.

"Why did you choose to intervene?" he questioned.

Suigetsu shrugged. "Like I said, she's cute. And honestly? I wanted to see the cat torment her some more. It was pretty funny," he chuckled in memory. "She was so riled up and flustered. I happened to be passing through, was nothing more than a whim."

"I see," Itachi murmured quietly.

"She seems to be hell-bent on getting herself killed in water though, huh? Did she make it?"

Itachi blinked. "She lives," he confirmed.

"No harm done then," Suigetsu folded his arms. "I'll have a word with those vines, though. Unless she was in the middle of the ocean, they shouldn't have pulled her under. Their bad. I'll ground 'em."

"You say they act of their own accord," Itachi said.

"Yeah. They have their own minds, even though they're plants. Like to catch unsuspecting things floating about in the sea. Like I said, fuckers."

Itachi's gaze moved to the water. "There is no other, to your knowledge," he concluded, "that could have commanded them."

Suigetsu shook his head, casting the death deity an incredulous look. "Why the hell would anyone bother to do that? She's just a mortal kid. I'm the only one who commands things underwater. This was probably just a shitty accident. Though..." he narrowed his amethyst eyes suspiciously. "You _seriously_ came all this way to ask about _one_ mortal? So what if she had died? Humans have stupid fatal accidents all the time. You would know, right? What's the big deal?"

Except it wasn't _just_ one accident, Itachi thought to himself, displeased that his encounter with Suigetsu had proven fruitless. Angelissa was being targeted specifically by something or someone. He still had yet to discern why danger seemed to shadow her every step. Harpies had attempted to steal her away. They were both surface and Underworld creatures. The vines were undersea flora. It seemed nowhere was safe for the girl.

But these were not matters he would disclose to the unreliable King of the Oceans. The matter at hand was none of Poseidon's business - and Itachi had lingered by the shore for long enough.

"I thank you for your assistance, Lord Poseidon," he stated politely.

"Uh. Yeah. Whatever. Get outta here," Suigetsu waved dismissively, feeling awkward. He wasn't so accustomed to being addressed so courteously. It made it decidedly more difficult to insult or attempt to rile the reserved, calm-natured Thanatos, when he did absolutely nothing to warrant it. His humility was unexpected. Refreshing for an Underworld dweller. Suigetsu was caught quite by surprise by it - something that did not happen often.

Itachi nodded graciously in parting and stepped back, turning away to take his leave.

Suigetsu watched him a moment, before calling out, "Hey…"

The God of Death paused in his retreat, his head angling to the left, signalling that he was waiting respectfully for the ocean king to finish his words. Suigetsu's eyebrows drew together, before he offered, "You're… not exactly like the other Uchiha, are you?"

"..." Itachi remained silent at that remark. A moment later, he vanished noiselessly from sight, before Suigetsu could even think to say anything else.

After Death had departed, Suigetsu lingered by the shore, uncharacteristically grim in expression. Thanatos certainly _appeared_ to be different to the other Uchiha he had encountered - but it didn't change the face that he _was_ an Uchiha, through and through. Suigetsu knew who was truly after the Child of Prophecy. Vetty had chosen to bond to the mortal girl, which left no doubt in the sea deity's mind of Elissa's identity. She was the one to fulfil the prophecy that Nyx had sent Vetty scouring the surface for countless centuries to help her bring to fruition. That meant she could not fall into Cronus's hands under any circumstances. If the prophecy was true then she would afford the Uchiha Patriarch absolute power over all. Including the oceans. Suigetsu couldn't allow that to happen under any circumstance.

His oceans had already been used as mass, watery graves for the doomed young women Nyx and Vetty had identified in the past, girls of all colourings from all nations, who had met unpleasant demises entombed in stone, dumped underwater when they had proven not to be the sought after Child of Prophecy. There were more than Suigetsu cared to count, each addition a littering insult to his reign as King. He had no hand in the cruelty of their ends and yet they populated his terrain. Buried in the deepest depths of the oceans was evidence of Nyx's unforgivable crimes over the centuries, and she had been assisted in concealing the mortal girls' petrified states from Thanatos's eyes by none other than Cronus himself. And though Suigetsu was certain that Thanatos would not be pleased to know who it was that infringed on his domain, he also had no way of discerning just how loyal Thanatos was to Cronus. He had no way of knowing how much he could reveal to him, how much the death deity could be trusted. What if he was searching for the Child of Prophecy for adverse reasons that would assist Cronus, too?

Suigetsu had seen evidence of Thanatos certainly caring enough for the girl to go out of his way to heal her, it was not enough of an assurance of his intentions to court her - especially given the finality of the goodbyes they had spoken to one another by the river.

If Thanatos would not have her, then Suigetsu had no choice but to do everything in his power to ensure Cronus didn't step in and steal her away. He wouldn't risk any harm coming to his Kingdom and its inhabitants. Suigetsu's eyes narrowed angrily. To protect his own interests and that of his subjects, he did not care which deity he slighted or angered. The oceans were all that mattered and he would see to it that they were guarded. At any cost.

* * *

Shisui's hand passed over his face, summoning the mask that kept his eyes concealed from anyone beyond his immediate family circle. Fastening his cloak, he then turned back toward the bed, set within an opulently carved, four-poster frame, his lips curving into a small, fond smile at the delicious sight that met his eyes.

Pasithea lay beyond the gauzy, golden drapes, tangled in the bed-sheets, her long dark hair fanning out around her in luscious curls. She was sound asleep, no doubt worn out from their earlier, impassioned tryst. He walked quietly over to her, and gently pulled the silk sheets over her slumbering form. Leaning down, he pressed a soft kiss atop his wife's head, before exiting his private chambers.

As he walked through the corridors of the palace, passing many servants who bowed and curtsied respectfully to him along the way, Shisui pondered how much his life had changed since Pasithea had entered into it. They'd met on the surface long ago, by a great temple, before the world had changed. She'd been all tanned, sun-kissed skin and bright, mischievous, enchanting dark eyes. His gaze had been drawn to her immediately, though he'd initially found her to be obtrusive and far too forward a goddess in comparison to what he was accustomed to encountering within the quiet stillness of his world. Perhaps it was precisely that, as well as how well her role complemented his, which had drawn him to her at the very outset. How different she had been. He'd found it refreshing. Invigorating. She'd been so wholly unexpected and a piece to his existence he had not known he'd been missing, until they had met.

Time had passed and his visits to the temple grew less of coincidences and more planned in nature. In Pasithea's company, he would forget his burdens. In her smiles he would bask, in her laughter and playful teasing, he would find the simplest of joys. When he had asked for her hand, and she had accepted, he had found contentment. She was his sanctuary, a safe-haven away from the world and its tribulations. With her, he was not Hypnos the god, but simply Shisui, himself.

Shisui felt a twinge of regret within his chest. He wished his cousin could find such happiness, too, and yet Itachi seemed resolutely determined to exist in solitude. It pained Shisui to see him alone, not knowing the wholeness and completeness of a fulfilling, steadfast, romantic love. It was not that Itachi _needed_ it. His very role was isolating in nature and demanded that he keep his emotions in check, after all. But he certainly _deserved_ to have it, more so than any other, for his unrivalled patience, sincerity and honesty. His function, though punishing, was no reason to deny himself happiness. His role did not define _who_ he was. Shisui wished he could make him understand that.

He loved and respected Itachi dearly, more a younger brother to him than a first cousin, and so he had never before attempted to infringe upon his personal affairs, or to pry too deeply as to his reasons to remain unattached. Their meeting with the young mortal on the surface, Elissa, however, had set the gears in Shisui's clever mind turning. She clearly felt attraction toward Itachi. His shrewd eyes had been quick to perceive the way her gaze darted to his cousin so often. Would it be so far-fetched an idea for Itachi to begin to notice her, in kind? Since no goddess would clearly do? An Underworld cat itself had chosen to mark the girl. Surely that made her more interesting than most?

He thought that perhaps his plan had worked, for it had not escaped his notice that Itachi had been spending increasingly more time on the surface - alone - than he had in the past. Shisui wondered just how much of that was related to his meetings with Elissa and could not help the small smile that danced upon his lips. Itachi had been even more withdrawn than usual as of late. Shisui knew his mannerisms like the back of his hand, and he knew when something was distracting him. He'd given his enigmatic cousin enough time and space. It was time to find out what progress had been made.

It had been a while since he had discussed surface matters with his kin, and sought him out, tracking him through the bond they shared to the Underworld's resplendent gardens. Sure enough, he found Itachi standing thoughtfully beneath a decorative arch of white, blooming flowers.

A genuine smile graced Shisui's lips. It was always good to see his kin.

"Cousin," he placed a hand on Itachi's shoulder in affectionate greeting. "Well met."

"Shisui," came the quiet murmur.

Shisui perched on the edge of the stone well beside the arch and turned his face to his cousin expectantly.

"So? How goes it? What news from the surface, from your meetings with Elissa?"

His cousin was silent for a long moment, as he continued to observe the flowers around him. Then he replied smoothly, "I have ended them."

Shisui blinked in surprise. This was unexpected, and not what he had been hoping to hear. "What?" he questioned. "Why? Is something amiss?"

Itachi turned his head, meeting his cousin's gaze levelly behind the barrier of his gilded black mask. "They revealed nothing of consequence," he answered matter-of-factly.

Shisui's eyebrows furrowed. Nothing of consequence? Had he had no interest in the girl at all, then? Disappointment settled within his chest. That was a shame. He would have hoped that their meetings over the months would have led to some form of mutual affection being established - but it seemed his cousin had once again resisted the very idea and stuck to the propriety he wore so well.

"A pity," he sighed, though his words had nothing to do with Itachi failing to find anything out.

"There have been other developments," Itachi continued. "A harpy attack on the surface."

Shisui's eyes widened, shocked by the revelation. "Harpies?" he echoed dubiously. "How? What happened?"

"They attempted to steal the girl. Her friend was able to disable them."

"Elissa?" Shisui looked at him in bewilderment. "The harpies targeted her? What do they want? Someone must have sent them. Have you managed to find out anything else about who it might be?" When Itachi shook his head, Shisui frowned, "Why haven't you told me about this until now?"

Itachi paused, then looked away, his gaze settling back to the flowers. "You have been otherwise occupied."

Shisui turned his eyes upward. "Itachi…" he said in light exasperation. "I was giving you space. You are welcome to intrude upon me, anytime. You know you are never, in fact, an intrusion at all. You should have come to me right away."

"I did," Itachi informed him calmly. "As I stated. You were occupied."

Shisui scowled behind his mask. "You are far too considerate. We are kin and can call upon me whenever you wish." Then a thought occurred to him. "Wait. You said her friend was able to disable them. This being the same friend we were told about?"

"Slayte," Itachi confirmed. "An Underworld nymph."

"What?" Shisui exclaimed incredulously. "Her friend is a _nymph?_ Is Elissa aware of this?"

"She assumes her human," Itachi supplied.

"Indeed…" Shisui shook his head. "That would likely explain how she recognised the risk in Vetty, and her attempt to kill her. But tell me. How came she to be on the surface?"

Itachi's lips thinned. "She was a Lampad under my service, who chose to flee."

Shisui released an amused chuckle. "Bold of her to risk your wrath - if you cared for such things as wayward Lampads."

"There was a further incident," Itachi added, turning toward his most trusted companion. "Angelissa was attacked by a snapping vine and pulled under the ocean not five days past."

Shisui blinked, visibly alarmed and disturbed by the news. He presumed 'Angelissa' was Elissa's full, formal name of sorts, and responded, "A snapping vine? Are you saying it tried to drown her? By Elysium. Did she survive?"

The image of Angelissa's bruised, bloodied body drifted into his mind's eye, filling Itachi with a rare surge of anger. He needed to discover who it was that was ordering these assaults on an innocent, unassuming mortal. Who was desperately trying to bring about her demise before her intended time?

"Itachi?" Shisui had stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Is she alright?"

"She lives," his cousin reassured him shortly. "Suigetsu has stated it was an accident. He is not aware of anyone else who may have commanded them to act without his knowledge, and informed me that snapping vines are temperamental creatures known to ensnare stragglers at sea."

"You met with him?" Shisui was unhappy with just how much he had missed, how many details had escaped his notice. "And do you believe him? I doubt Elissa was in the middle of the sea, to justify such an attempt on her life. Mortals always swim close to the shoreline of beaches, do they not?"

"It is no coincidence," Itachi answered, "that several attempts on her life have been made."

"Someone must be after her, for sure. We need to figure out why. And we can't simply stand back and allow creatures to target a human. They are to remain unseen to mortal eyes. We should inform Cronus and Zeus of this development, should we not? The harpies dwell both in our world and above it." Meeting his cousin's onyx gaze, he continued, "You said you have brought these meetings to an end. Is that the right course of action? Then who is now watching over the girl?"

"The nymph," Itachi replied. "I have granted her the ability to wield shadows, to guard Angelissa while I search for answers."

"We," Shisui insisted. "While _we_ search, cousin. I do not intend to sit this matter out any further. I believed there to be nothing else amiss - but I admittedly should have asked you about this matter much sooner." Shaking his head, he added, "How did you come to learn of these attacks? And who got Elissa out the water?"

"The nymph," Itachi responded again, answering both questions with two words.

"I see. Then you were wise to lend her your abilities. But we must get to the bottom of this, before anything else occurs. We should speak with Cronus and Zeus first. Perhaps they may know something we do not."

"You may go," Itachi glanced at him. "I have another avenue in mind I wish to investigate."

Shisui tilted his head, intrigued. "Oh? And that is...?"

His cousin met his gaze and responded simply, "The Fates."

* * *

_Tap, tap, tap._

The jarring, rhythmic sound awoke Slayte from a deep sleep. Drowsily, she opened her eyes, searching the dark for the source of the disturbance.

_Tap, tap, tap._

Something seemed to be rapping at the bedroom window, and she froze in alarm. Her mind instantly conjured harpies, erinyes or the like until she realized the tapping was too gentle, too soft, to be anything quite so dangerous. Levi's arm weighed heavily over her waist and she wiggled out of his embrace before padding softly over to the window.

Pulling the curtains apart, she blinked in surprise to see a crow hovering just beyond the glass, tapping gently as if requesting entrance. Gathering herself, she hastened to unlatch the window, as quietly as she was able, and pulled it open. The crow fluttered inside, coming to an easy perch on the windowsill.

Slayte cast an uneasy glance over her shoulder and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Levi was sound asleep, showing no signs of having been disturbed by her actions. She turned back towards the midnight visitor, beaming brightly. There was no doubt as to whose messenger the crow was.

Her eyes fell on the jet-black feathers glistening in the moonlight, and the intelligent eyes turned towards her solemnly.

"Oh, wow," she whispered breathlessly at the handsome, regal creature. "I've seen you guys around, but up close, you're certainly beautiful aren't you?"

She reached out, carefully stroking the crow's feathers, who closed his eyes, seemingly to allow her touch.

"I would very much like to give you a name," she mused in admiration, "but I suppose you already have one. One that is unknown to me."

 _You are as one of these now. Nothing more, nothing less._ Thanatos' words seemed to echo through her mind.

She sighed, feeling her chest constrict for the little bird, "Why do I assume you are free, simply because you can fly? In truth, you're just like me, aren't you?" She smiled sadly at the black bird who seemed unperturbed by any illusions of freedom or servitude.

She wished she had something to feed the crow, but she would have to retreat to the kitchen to find anything suitable. She doubted the little messenger had that much time to spare.

"You're here to help me, aren't you?" she whispered softly, "That's a relief. Thank you."

The raven blinked wisely at her before lowering its head to nip at her index finger. She bit her lip to keep from hissing in surprise, the last thing she needed was for Levi to wake up and ask more questions. She saw the blood pool on her fingertip and stain the crow's beak.

"Oh, yes," she agreed, "That is wise."

They may both be creatures formed of Thanatos' shadows but they required a connection of sorts, in order for Slayte to cross whatever distance remained between them when she was summoned.

"You'll watch over her for me, won't you? And let me know when she needs me?"

The raven nuzzled against her hand and Slayte's heart flooded with affection for the kindred creature.

"Please be vigilant. She is reckless, sometimes," she sighed, and confessed to the proud creature, "I worry for her."

The crow turned tail, lifting its head to test the wind, as if responding to her concern by immediately springing into action. Slayte observed with bated breath, and as the crow took flight, she leaned out of the window to watch it go, noting with satisfaction that it took the direct route to Elissa's apartment where her good friend was no doubt sleeping.

Slayte remained, her eyes fixed on that point in the distance, considering the wings that carried one to freedom and the burden that weighed one down in servitude. Although, she admitted begrudgingly, it was that very servitude that had granted her the power to protect those dear to her. She lingered by the window, the midnight breeze teasing her raven hair, completely oblivious to the piercing grey eyes that observed her keenly from the darkness.

* * *

The goddess of night stood before the arched floor-to-ceiling windows of the abandoned hallway on the third floor of the palace. Pale, elegant fingers held back the heavy, velvet damask mauve curtains as hooded midnight eyes peered at the small gathering in the gardens beyond. The Uchiha patriarch stood at the center of a small group of young deities that gestured animatedly, emphasizing their outrage.

Nyx rubbed at her upper arms absentmindedly as she observed them, chasing away the chill that had overcome her from the moment of Cronus' uncharacteristic dismissal. They had drawn nigh to the realisation of her aspirations, and she could not, for the life of her, understand why he had suddenly ordered her to step back. To trust him would be foolishness to the highest degree. She had convinced herself, for years, to shield her family by means of containing his chaos - with varying degrees of success - but she was not simpleton enough to entertain the notion of truly placing her trust in him.

Her eyes narrowed as she watched Cronus cast a glance at their surroundings before gesturing for the group to enter the palace from the side entrance, curtained in ivy. Nyx's shrewd mind raced, surmising his intentions from that sliver of information. There was a meeting room in the west wing of the palace that Cronus seemed to favor, not far removed from the entrance he had indicated. From where she stood, she was likely to reach it before the succinct entourage - provided she made haste.

Her eyes lingered on the bold lines of the Underworld King's retreating back for mere seconds before she turned on her heel, swiftly, silently, flying through the corridors, her silken, violet skirts trailing behind her. She pushed open the royal-blue double doors, wincing as they groaned at the disturbance, and cast a final glance over her shoulder to be sure she had not been discovered. She entered the room, closing the doors carefully behind her.

No sooner had she done so, than she heard footsteps approaching. The candles on the chandelier overhead burned brightly, casting flickering shadows along the walls. A heavy, oak table lined with no less than twenty-five oak and royal-blue velvet armchairs stood imposingly in the center of the cobblestone floor. It was a space not often used, and although generous in its furnishings and massive, like all things Uchiha, it was not quite as illustrious as other rooms in the palace.

The footstep drew ever closer, and Nyx's ebony eyes raced over her surroundings as her pulse raced with dread, searching desperately for a place to conceal herself.

"This way." Cronus' deep voice seemed to ring in her very ears and she pressed a hand to her mouth to stifle a panicked gasp. At last, she spied an opportune hiding place at the far end of the chamber, where folding screens were lined up at the opposite wall for storage. She rushed towards the screens, employing the aid of her element. She was certain that her ability to fade into the night, alone, would not suffice to cloak her from Cronus' watchful eyes.

Just as she pulled her skirts towards herself as she slid between the mahogany-framed screens, she heard the heavy doors creak open as the group of men entered. She breathed a silent sigh and closed her eyes in relief at having remained undiscovered.

"It is nothing short of an outrage, my Lord!" one of the deities whispered fiercely.

Nyx concentrated, but could not place the voice. She assumed it was one of the younger deities who had come into Cronus' following from an early age.

"We live in the Underworld, we are not its prisoners!" hissed another.

"Indeed," Cronus agreed darkly.

"We have done no wrong. They are to blame for seeking to bar us from our rightful gains," a third voice entreated.

"Underworld deities have just as much right to hunt on the surface as any other!"

Cronus did not reply immediately and Nyx knew why. There was a long upheld Olympian tradition that forbade hunting in the early weeks of fall to allow the forest wildlife to seek out their lodgings for the upcoming harsh winter season. Had these Underworld deities rebelled against that tradition? And that, too, on the surface?

"And how…" voiced Cronus silkily, "... did they seek to bar you from your good right?"

Nyx frowned. She knew Cronus had his own reasons for exacerbating the conflict between the Underworld and Olympus, and usually cared little for the politics of the situation. She wondered now, however, if they played a role in his sudden change in demeanor regarding the Child of Prophecy.

"The dryads," a youthful voice spat bitterly, "They sought to free the antelopes. They dared to hold us back, laying their filthy hands on us."

"And you…" Cronus murmured, his voice suggestive and dark, "... did not stand for that disrespect, did you?"

"Certainly not, my Lord!" The heated retort chilled Nyx's blood. What had they done?

"Would we allow mere dryads to commandeer us? To touch our divine bodies? Impudence! We punished them as was befitting of their crime."

Silence reigned beneath the flickering candlelight.

"They shall not disturb us again." A voice clarified. There was no doubt to his meaning. The dryads were dead.

Foolishness. Utter, ignorant, foolishness. Nyx frowned deeply. This irresponsible, despicable behavior put all the underworld dwellers to shame. And now, there was Artemis' retribution to consider. She was a deity not easily pacified. Especially considering that innocent dryads had been put to death for no crime other than attempting to uphold her regulations. How many dryads had been killed? Her eyebrows furrowed at the thought. These hotblooded young deities deserved punishment, and yet, she doubted that was what they would receive from the Uchiha Lord.

"You need not fear Artemis, so long as I am your master," Cronus promised. "Remain in the Underworld for the time being. I will attend to the affairs of the surface. Rest assured," he sneered, "Artemis has no power over my followers."

They seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief. Nyx closed her eyes and allowed her head to fall back onto the screens. It was wrong. She knew it. Wrong to intrude on the domain of another, to disregard their divine rulings, to murder their servants… and yet, Cronus was vilifying the wronged party.

What was it to her? She was hard put enough merely seeking to carve out a life of peace and security for herself and her sons. Her misplaced pity for the surface goddess would serve no one.

"My Lord," a voice entreated, "How much longer must we resign ourselves to the shadows while the Olympians mock us? When will we resume our rightful places?"

"Soon," Cronus promised ominously, "Very soon, the advantage we require will fall into my hands, and we will reclaim what is rightfully ours."

Nyx's eyes flew open. Advantage? What advantage? Cronus couldn't possibly be referring to the Child of Prophecy, could he? But what use would a poor mortal waif possibly be to the God of the Underworld himself? What could he hope to gain from her? Or was he referring to something else entirely?

A shudder passed through her as a cool breeze from the open window beyond blew strands of her midnight hair away from her face and over her shoulder. She frowned and struggled to decipher what that information had to mean. What was Cronus planning? Why wasn't she privy to his intentions?

A hand of hardened steel closed around her wrist in a merciless grip. A startled breath of panic escaped her lips as horrified eyes flew to the owner of that hand. She found herself surrounded by the young deities had been engaged in conversation with Cronus only moments before. They stared down at her, as surprised as she was. Nodding at one another, they dragged her out of her hiding place, lips set in grim determination.

"Unhand me, you fools!" she commanded, struggling to retain an air of authority, "I am your Queen!"

They threw her coldly to the cobblestone floor at Cronus' feet. The young deities said nothing, although their expressions revealed that they were clearly uneasy with the fact that the spy had turned out to be none other than their revered Queen.

"Well, well, well…" Cronus drawled, looking down on Nyx with a blaze of subdued anger in his eyes. "What do we have here?"

"My Lord…" Nyx breathed, terror seizing the very air in her lungs. "Please, I can explain…"

Cronus stepped forward, and in one smooth movement took a merciless hold on her raven hair, dragging her to her feet. Nyx bit her lip to keep from crying out in pain as she struggled to find her footing. Cronus raised a hand to dismiss the gathering as he tilted her head back mercilessly. "Eavesdropping is frowned upon, Lady Nyx," he seethed, "Or did you not know?" He growled the question as an undeniable threat and Nyx felt dread settle in the pit of her stomach as the double doors closed behind the small party that had hastily made their escape.

Without warning, he threw her bodily backwards onto the oak table. She felt a dull ache as her back collided with the wooden surface but it was nothing in comparison to the icy fear that paralyzed her very senses. She gasped in horror as Cronus stood over her, his eyes devoid of anything but bitter wrath.

"I have been far too lenient with you as of late, it seems," he murmured, his voice dripping poison as he reached for her.

"My Lord," she whimpered, recognizing the look in his eyes, a look she knew was a precursor to punishment, cruel and agonizing. No further word could escape her lips before his hand closed unforgiving around her slim throat, immediately applying ruthless pressure, cutting off her airway.

"Sweet Nyx," he drawled as she gasped for air, "You seem to be deluded about your position."

She clutched at his hands desperately as her lungs burned for air, her face turning livid from lack of oxygen.

"Precious, precious Nyx…" he growled, his fury echoing across the barren room, "When will you learn?"

Her feet kicked out desperately, scraping across the table. Her pleading grip on his hand loosened, as her body weakened due to the lack of oxygen. She felt her vision fading to black and knew that this was only the beginning of her chastisement. He would not forgive such a betrayal so easily. There would be tears, there would be a begging for death, there would be screaming for forgiveness, before he was through with her.

All at once the double doors slammed open and although Nyx could not look to see, something within her knew that a savior had come.

"My Lord," Erebus' voice boomed throughout the room as he levelly met the Uchiha patriarch's eye. "My wife requested a meeting here." He pointedly avoided the sight of his betrothed writhing on the table beneath their King's grip. "I pray she has not disturbed you."

Cronus' eyes narrowed at Erebus. "Your _wife_ …" he spoke the word with utter disdain, "Sought to meet you here, you claim?"

The eyes of the god of chaos slid back to the goddess fading underneath his palm, her eyes rolling to the back of her head. A moment that dragged on like an hour passed before at long last, he loosened his hold. "Is that so, Lady Nyx?"

She sucked in a desperate breath of air, coughing violently as she turned to the side, desperately filling her lungs with much-needed oxygen.

"Y-yes," she choked out, gasping even as she hastened to reply, "I wished to surprise my Lord Husband, I did not know… your Lordship would be…" she coughed violently, pressing a hand to her chest, "... convening here. I assumed these parts to be abandoned."

She hastened to descend from the table, eager to restore at least an appearance of decorum before the two men. Her breathing was still rapid and irregular as she smoothed down her hair, her eyes darting from Cronus to the floor as her shoulders trembled with trepidation.

Cronus' lips turned in a cruel smirk as he stepped closer to her, but before he could so much as speak a word, Erebus stepped between the two of them pushing Nyx behind himself, effectively shielding her from the irate god's wrath.

"I beg forgiveness for the actions of my wife. I understand how they could have been misconstrued as an act of rebellion. I assure you, my Lord, my family and I are most loyal to you." Erebus' reassurances were delivered in measured tones, calm and resolute.

Nyx could not see Cronus beyond Erebus' broad back and she felt a foolish illusion of security, hiding behind her husband this way. She knew it was meaningless, that no one could protect her from the rage of the god of chaos and yet, slim fingers reached up for Erebus' cloak despite herself, clinging to him for some sliver of protection.

Trembling, she leaned into him, safe in the knowledge that Cronus did not see her. Dimly, she wondered if Erebus always spoke to Cronus in such a reserved manner. If his voice should not have been more subservient when begging forgiveness from the god of chaos. But her mind was clouded from what she had just endured and she dismissed the thought.

Silence weighed heavy over the trio and Nyx could not discern what transpired between the two deities as their eyes met wordlessly.

"Very well, Erebus…" Cronus intoned silkily, "Do discipline your wife on the implications of espionage. I should hate for the Underworld's Queen to be put to trial for treason."

"Certainly, my Lord," Erebus responded in even tones that betrayed nothing of what went through his heart. He reached behind him for Nyx's frail wrist and, as he turned, pulled her in front of himself as he led her to the door, carefully positioning them so that he shielded his wife at all times. Husband and wife spoke not a word as he led her through the corridors, her gaze downcast and her hand in his, trembling.

Not until they reached Nyx's gardens did they speak. Erebus led them to a familiar pond, where the light of the faux-moon of the underworld was reflected in all its glory as moon-fireflies, glowing in a pale silvery-white, lingered around them as they made their way through the tall grasses before coming to a stop beside an ivory bench, just at the bank of the pond. Moonflowers and white lilies dotted the perimeter of the body of water and Nyx recalled dimly that this section of her gardens had been one of her favorites, before she had come to neglect it in favor of the thorny rose arches she tended to so devotedly.

He gently led her to be seated on the bench as he stood in front of her, his onyx eyes meeting hers in an unbreakable hold. Concern and anger mingled in his fathomless eyes. Nyx wondered why she had considered them to be devoid of emotion when now, a thousand unspeakable feelings seemed to simmer there. If she cared to, Nyx thought she could name each one.

"What were you thinking?" his brusque tone washed over her, comforting and familiar, despite its roughness. He lifted a hand to her chin, very gently raising her face to his as his eyes scanned her for injury.

Bitterness swamped Nyx. Erebus was a fool. He knew nothing of what she had had to endure for _centuries_ , for his sake. For the sake of their family. Always pandering to Cronus like he was a herald of salvation, ignorant of the truth of how the Uchiha patriarch made use of his own wife. How often their limbs had been entangled, slick with sweat and the residue of their heated passions. How Cronus saw Nyx as his very own, more than Erebus' tender, hesitant hands ever did. How he bent and broke and pushed and filled her to the brim with himself, with his will. How he drove her to the brink, gasping, moaning, screaming as the whim struck him, blurring the line between pain and pleasure, punishment and reward, until the dark-eyed goddess no longer knew which was which.

Erebus was her husband. He should have known. He should have seen. He should have done _something._ Something other than look at her in that tender, affectionate way as if she were a rose he dared not pluck. Others would. Did he not know that?

"Oh, how could I have the _audacity,_ Erebus?" she seethed, meeting his eyes coldly as an unjustified, cold anger flooded her veins. "To spy on our esteemed Lord, who clearly deserves our _unconditional_ trust?" She rolled her eyes in exasperation, furious with him, furious with herself. Furious at their combined helplessness.

"Hush, woman," Erebus chided, "The shadows have ears."

"We can't all be like you," she murmured bitterly, her eyes falling to the moon's reflection on the water's surface, "Ready to sacrifice our bodies and souls to his name."

"Indeed," Erebus answered, an odd, dark tone laced in his voice. Nyx felt an inexplicable _something_ creep up her body and settle on her throat. Only when the dull ache that had pained her started to recede, did she realize that it was Erebus' powers of darkness easing away the bruises Cronus' punishing hands had left behind.

" _We can not_ ," he finished, dismissing the darkness in a cloud of smoke, revealing her pale throat glistening in the moonlight, unblemished.

Horror spiked through her bloodstream, her stomach turned, as his words dawned on her. Her head shot up as her eyes sought his. What did that mean? We can not all be ready to sacrifice our bodies to his name? Did Erebus _know?_ Her breath caught in her throat and her heart beat wildly in her chest as if begging to be freed from her endless, unbearable hypocrisy. She met his unfathomable onyx eyes with widened midnight irises.

"Erebus…" she began, her voice trembling in fear. Was she imagining it? What did he know? How _much_ did he know?

A warm hand came to rest on the fists clenched in her lap and she remembered to breathe as she looked down on their joined hands.

"Do you remember this place, wife?" he asked her, his voice low and soothing. The hypnotizing quality of that familiar voice seemed to ease her terror. The way he kneeled in front of her, the calm, patient way he spoke with her, it _did_ all seem vaguely familiar.

She felt a hand brush past her ear and looked up, wide-eyed, at her husband. The weight that settled at her ear was familiar. The stem of a moonflower, she recognized, and all at once, she remembered.

_Nyx, my betrothed. You shall want for nothing. I am the darkness and you are the night. We shall worship one another for time eternal. My heart is bound to yours. My love is spent, in its entirety, on your name and yours alone._

The feeling of warm lips on hers, always asking, always confirming, always ascertaining that she wanted this as much as he did. His passionate, tender embrace. His loving, forgiving ways. The gardens, in all their lush expanse, that he had gifted to her. The generous, affectionate manner he had with their children.

"My love for you is eternal. It is blind. It is deaf. It is yours." Erebus's voice washed over her as her eyes filled with helpless tears. What did he know? What had she been careless enough about for him to pick up on?

"What is the meaning of this, Erebus?" she questioned quietly, praying that she had misread him, that he was as ignorant as ever.

He did not answer, lifting her chin instead to lay claim to her parted lips, proving in the lingering, affectionate way that he kissed her, that his words were nothing but the truth.

* * *

**AN: Aaaand? Do you guys ship EreNyx? Come on, you know you do. :D**

Erebus & Nyx by Em (https://emilyisnursebaymax.tumblr.com/)


	23. Part XXII: Separate Ways

* * *

**Part XXII: Separate Ways**

* * *

The car's engine rattled pitifully, refusing to switch on after the seventh attempt to turn on the ignition.

"Noooo!" Elissa released an exasperated groan, resting her forehead against the steering wheel in frustration. It seemed like her trusty vehicle had finally decided to kick the bucket. It had been plagued with issues over the previous few weeks, always indicating new lights on the dashboard that required attention. Elissa had foolishly chosen to ignore them, reasoning that as long as the car moved, all had to be well. It seemed her vehicle had finally had enough, however, and now Elissa was paying for it. Her car had broken down. On a dual-carriageway. On a work day. She was going to be late. Again.

Grabbing her phone, she sent Adam a quick, apologetic message asking him to let their dragon of a boss know about her early-morning stroke of misfortune, before calling her breakdown cover. She watched the hazard light indicator blinking repeatedly, and her eyes turned to her side mirror, catching the reflection of cars that switched lanes to avoid the obstruction of hers. At least it had come to a stop in the slowest lane, Elissa thought to herself. Still, it was an anxious feeling, sitting in a vehicle whilst fast-flowing traffic passed her by.

"Hey," she spoke into her phone as the breakdown company answered after several rings. "My car's broken down, could I get some help, please?" She listened, before providing her reference number and details of the address of the incident. The lady on the other side of the line informed her that a mechanic and recovery vehicle would reach her within the hour.

As Elissa hung up the phone, she released another frustrated sigh. A whole hour of sitting around? Should she get out of the car? There wasn't really anywhere safe to stand. She hadn't pulled up on a hard-shoulder. What was she going to do for a whole hour?

The tinkling bell sound of her message notifications drew her gaze back to her phone. Adam had responded, informing her that he would happily let their manager know about her accident - if she brought in some more of those delicious treats from The Wings of Freedom tea shop. A frown settled on Elissa's face. She supposed she  _ could _ stop by briefly to collect some treats later. It wasn't like she had to talk to Slayte any more than what was absolutely necessary just to make her order then leave. Levi would also get off her back a little if she made a brief call at theirs. She texted a quick response, thanking Adam, updated him on how late she would potentially be and assured him that she would get him some of those cakes he so cherished.

Her phone rang and this time she smiled as she set it to loud-speaker.

"Someone's an early bird today."

"Elissa, darling." Cain's voice greeted smoothly. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

Elissa recalled the previous night. She'd not had any nightmares, so she guessed that qualified as 'sleeping well'.

"Yeah, thanks, did you?"

"Like a baby. I have an afternoon shift today, so I have time to kill. Are you at your ghastly office yet?"

Elissa sighed again. "No, I'm going to be late, and I'll probably get fired this time."

"Why's that?" He asked.

"My stupid car's just gone and broken down in the middle of the dual carriageway."

"Broken down?" Cain echoed. "Are you stranded somewhere?"

"Yeah," Elissa replied glumly. "I'm waiting for the recovery vehicle to arrive They said it could take an hour, so I'm just sitting here, watching all the cars speed by."

"Tell me where you are," he offered. "I'll come and pick you up."

"No way," Elissa shook her head, but was touched by his thoughtfulness. "I have to wait with my car until they arrive anyway."

"But at least you won't be waiting alone?" Cain pointed out.

"Cain, you have the morning free, I'm not letting you waste your time with me."

"Time with you is never wasted, darling. I have nothing to do and am bored out of my mind anyway. Just tell me where you are."

"Cain, seriously," Elissa bit her lower lip at his insistence. "You really don't need to-"

"Elissa," he sang. "I'm already out the door. I'm not about to let you stay in the middle of the road all by yourself."

"I'll be fine! I have my hazard lights on."

"It takes one imbecile on his phone to miss it and he'll hit you. Have you not gotten out of your car?"

"No." Elissa admitted. "There's nowhere for me to stand."

"I'm coming to get you." Cain said decisively.

She heard a door shut behind him, and sighed in defeat. "Okay, fine. If you really want to sit in boredom with me waiting for a towing truck. You're a real sucker for punishment, aren't you?"

"If it's from you?" Cain flirted back suavely. "Then yes, I am."

Elissa scoffed, but relented and provided him with the address.

Twenty minutes later, he had reached her, pulling up in his white sports car. Parking behind her broken down one, Cain placed his hazard lights on, and exited his vehicle. He looked good in casual wear; a white T-shirt, canvas trainers and khaki jeans. An expensive looking watch adorned his left wrist.

"Elissa," he greeted with a grin, peering through the window she rolled down for him. "We really need to stop meeting like this."

Elissa cast him a rueful smile. "I feel bad for dragging you out all this way on your morning off."

"Nonsense. You might need a hand, and I've two free ones." He tapped the top of her car. "Come on out, get some fresh air while you wait."

Elissa unbuckled her seat belt, grabbed her handbag and carefully exited the car, smoothing down her midnight blue silk blouse and grey pencil skirt as she joined Cain by his vehicle.

"They shouldn't be long now," she glanced down at her watch. "I hope."

"They can take a while, depending on where they're sending the mechanic out from. Want me to take a look in the meanwhile?" He offered.

"Oh no, I'm paying for breakdown cover, let them put in the work," Elissa scoffed.

"Fair point," Cain replied, as they leaned back against the front of his car, waiting. Turning his eyes to her, he continued, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright," Elissa stifled a yawn. "Kind of tired. I'm not sleeping that great these days."

"Because of what happened?"

Elissa shrugged. "A lot of things. But anyway, I'm not going to be all doom and gloom on you first thing in the morning."

"Nothing you say could possibly be doom and gloom, darling," Cain smirked. "How was your weekend?"

Elissa recalled what she had done. Contacted a few of her other friends, gone shopping for groceries, ate a lot of comforting ice-cream, aimlessly switched television channels looking for something interesting to watch - and had almost gotten herself killed protecting what she'd been sure had been an injured deer from rabid dogs - only for the doe to make a miraculous, sudden recovery. Elissa internally cringed. Cain didn't need to know about the last incident. It was too strange, too unexplainable, and Elissa didn't want to sound any crazier than she suspected Cain was starting to think she was, with all her unbelievable, supernatural talk of masked men who showed up out of thin air, travelled distances in the blink of an eye and who had shadowy, spooky abilities to heal grievous wounds.

"It was quiet," she shrugged. "Nothing exciting. Just the regular grocery shopping, house chores… what about you?"

Cain's lips curved upwards in memory. "It was a blast."

"What'd you get up to?" Elissa asked curiously.

"I went to a club I frequent at. It has a great vibe," he replied. "The next night, I found a new place. It's a lot different, but has a fantastic atmosphere."

Elissa blinked. "You party often, do you?"

Cain lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug. "I like to work hard and play hard… life's too short to waste our youth while we have it. Don't you agree, darling?"

"Right," Elissa looked away pensively, contemplating his words. She'd never been much of a clubber. On the few occasions when she'd gone out with friends to experience the nightlife circuit, she'd found it to be loud and suffocating and not at all what she preferred. She loved music and to dance, but preferred concerts and theatres to the pulsing, deafening music and flashing lights of a club.

"And you?" Cain's voice drew her from her thoughts. "Do you enjoy the party scene?"

Elissa hesitated. "Not really… I mean, I don't really have time for it, with my work hours. I have to get in so early each morning, I can't even stay out late, anyway."

Cain released a snort. "Always so practical and sensible. You're so young, Elissa. Life is for living. You need to learn to loosen up and have some fun."

Elissa shrugged. "You're right. My life's pretty boring," she confided. "Well, compared to yours, probably."

"Let's liven it up," he suggested. When she glanced questioningly up at him, he grinned, "How about we start next weekend? What are your plans?"

"Uh…" Elissa scoured her mind. She didn't think she had any, now that she was actively avoiding Slayte and the tea-shop. "I don't know yet."

"Free? Then come with me to a concert. How about it?"

Elissa tilted her head thoughtfully. "Who's playing?"

"A new band called Hounds of Hell. At the Crabble Stadium. It's an exclusive, invite only event."

"Hounds of Hell?" For an inexplicable moment, Elissa found herself remembering the strange dogs that had attacked her, and shook the thought off. "They sound like they're dripping in sunshine."

"They'll make your ears bleed." Cain smiled wryly. "So, what do you say?"

"Sure," Elissa shrugged. She didn't have anything better to do, and an exclusive event sounded fun. "Sounds like a good time."

"It will be," Cain promised.

"How do you get hold of all these exclusive events and deals?" Elissa eyed him suspiciously. "Like the beach cabin, you totally rented that out for me last minute."

Cain shrugged. "Comes with the perks of having parents in high society circles, I suppose."

He was well-off? Elissa had suspected it from the car, watches and even the manner in which he spoke.

"What, are they a Lord and Lady, or something?" she asked.

"Nothing like that," Cain pulled a face. "My father struck gold working in the oil industry, and my mother has many contacts within fashion and media."

"Oh, that's pretty cool," Elissa nodded. Her own parents were relatively humble in comparison. Her father was a well-respected Physics lecturer at a university, with a particular interest in space, and her mother was a free-lance artist.

"Finally," Cain then gestured as he glanced behind them, to see a truck pulling up in front of Elissa's car. "It looks like your recovery vehicle is here at last."

* * *

An hour later, Elissa got into the passenger side of Cain's sport's car, marvelling at its spaciousness and how comfortable the red-leather seat was beneath her. The dashboard was fully customised and compared to her small humble vehicle, she felt like she was riding in a car fit for royalty.

The mechanics had been unable to fix her car and informed her that they needed to tow it away to the garage. They'd told her that she would be contacted regarding a replacement courtesy car over the course of the following day. Cain offered to take her to work, and Elissa accepted - but told him to stop by the Wings of Freedom first to pick up some more sweet treats for Adam.

"Are you alright going over there? I know you were upset with your friend after what happened," he said.

"I still am," Elissa folded her arms unhappily. "I'm really not in the mood to deal with Slayte right now, but I promised Adam those treats." She hesitated, and glanced at him. "Would you... mind coming in with me?"

Cain shook his head. "Of course not, darling."

"Thanks," Elissa muttered, gazing out the window at the world that passed them by as he drove.

Her stomach knotted with dread. She didn't really want to drop by the Wings of Freedom at all, especially not to face Slayte. But she owed her colleague cakes and the longer she left it, the more she would be averse to going at all. At least if Cain was with her, she could focus on him and have an excuse to be busy.

They chatted amiably on their way to the tea-shop, and by the time Cain parked up outside it, it was almost lunch-time. Elissa got out of the car, smoothed her outfit down, and took a deep breath. She wasn't the one at fault, she reminded herself fiercely. Slayte was the liar. Slayte was the one who was on Itachi's side. Slayte was the one keeping things from her.

She pushed the tea-shop door open and stepped inside, Cain right behind her. Despite her resolve, she felt an unpleasant twinge within her chest. She'd never avoided both Slayte and Levi like this before. The uncomfortable truth of the matter was that before Vetty had entered Elissa's life, she and Slayte had hardly fought seriously at all. Slayte was always so eager to please, always so accommodating, always threw everything down to rush straight to Elissa's side whenever she called. Elissa had found that endearing in the past. But now it just irked her. Slayte acted so concerned for her safety, and yet made no attempt to give Elissa the answers they both knew Slayte had.

Her eyes fell on the dark-haired girl almost immediately. She wore an apron over her regular uniform consisting of a black T-shirt and skinny jeans, with her long hair tied back into a messy bun and was busy taking payment from two college-aged customers. An old man and lady stood in the queue behind them, talking quietly amongst themselves. Elissa's lips pursed together as she and Cain joined the back of the queue. She'd been all but ignoring Slayte's messages lately, and had been responding briefly to Levi's, doing the bare minimum to ensure him that she was fine and safe.

Safe. As if something were after her. As if she ought to be running from something that intended her harm, and yet she had no idea of what that was. Elissa shifted from foot to foot, growing more irritated the longer she remained in the cafe. All the reasons she had to be angry at Slayte were running through her mind all over again, reminding her of why she didn't want to talk to her so-called  _ friend _ at all.

"Elissa," Cain's voice snapped her rudely out of the storm of her thoughts. "Are you alright? You seem on edge."

Elissa blinked. She was trying to feign nonchalance, but evidently her displeasure was clear. She inwardly cursed and reigned in the tempest of her inner turmoil. She had to lose the terrible habit of wearing her emotions on her sleeves.

"I just don't want to be here," she mumbled to him - only to tense when Slayte finally caught sight of her and called her name in tones of such relief and affection, Elissa felt her anger spike even more. She didn't want Slayte to speak as if everything was fine between them, when things decidedly weren't.

"Elissa!" she exclaimed. "It's so good to see you!"

"Is it?" Elissa responded sarcastically, rhetorically, her gaze only briefly meeting Slayte's, before shifting away again.

Confusion passed over Slayte's face. "Of course," she answered, failing to understand why Elissa would ask her such a thing. She bit her lower lip at the frostiness of her friend's less than enthusiastic greeting, but tried again to reach out to her. "How have you been?" she asked gently, carefully.

"I'm fine," Elissa responded tersely, barely sparing her another glance, as the old couple in front of them made their way to a table to await their order. Focusing on Levi, she then said, "Can I get some of those coconut cakes and a few more treats for the office?"

Levi nodded at her. "Morning to you, too," he greeted flatly.

Elissa winced. He'd said it on purpose, to bring to her attention that she had completely misplaced her usually impeccable manners.

"Yeah. Hi. Morning," she answered, stubbornly refusing to meet Slayte's gaze, which she could feel was locked onto her. "I need some more treats for work."

"Again?" Levi raised an eyebrow at her. "They finish the last batch already?"

"On the same day," Elissa informed him. "My car just broke down on the way to work and was towed away to the garage. Adam covered for me, so I owe him one again."

"Your car broke down?" Slayte worried. "Are you alright? How are you going to get to work?"

"She has me," Cain met Slayte's dark gaze, and offered her an easy smile. "I'm taking her to work, and will be picking her up, too."

Slayte bristled and opened her mouth as if to say something - but seemed to think better of it, her eyes darting in concern to Elissa. Elissa stared defiantly back, seeing the open disapproval painted all over Slayte's face,  _ daring  _ her to object. But Slayte merely exchanged a brief glance with Levi and remained silent. Her boyfriend turned away from the serving counter, disappearing into the kitchen to collect a selection of cakes at Elissa's request.

Elissa fished her purse out of her bag and held up her debit card. "I'll pay," she informed Slayte curtly.

"Oh, no," Slayte shook her head, refusing the way Elissa had suspected she would. "That's not necessary, Elissa. Please, it's on the house-"

"I don't want it on the house," Elissa's eyes glinted with challenge. "Bill me."

She was satisfied at the look of hurt that flashed across her friend's face. Slayte swallowed, and looked down at the till. Her hands closed into fists upon the counter, and she answered, "No."

"Fine, bill me," Cain interjected, waving his card at her. "Double, if you like. I also want an espresso coffee, a melted tuna sandwich and one of those delectable-looking lemon muffins. Would you be so kind? Slayte?"

"Cain," Elissa warned him. "Those treats are for my colleagues, I insist-"

"Stop making a god-damned scene," Levi, who had returned with a half-filled box of cakes, narrowed his eyes at them, having overheard the dispute. "Take the damned cakes.  _ He _ can pay." At the protesting look on Elissa's face, he held up a finger. "Oi. Don't argue, or leave the cakes here and get lost."

Disgruntled, Elissa allowed Cain to pay for his order, and the cakes.

"Can I use your bathroom before I leave?" she asked Levi, once again refusing to directly address Slayte.

"You know where it is," Levi nodded, as he continued to collect items to place in the take-away box. Elissa muttered her thanks and turned away to head toward it.

Slayte watched Elissa walk away, and glanced at Cain, disgusted to find the way his eyes followed her friend's movements so intently. They lingered for far too long on Elissa, clearly checking her out from behind, and Slayte felt a simmering rage bubbling in her veins.

As Levi ventured back into the kitchen to grab a ribbon to tie the box with, she snapped heatedly at Cain, "Can you get any more obvious?"

Cain blinked, his gaze returning to her. "Pardon me?" he enquired, but the smirk on his lips informed Slayte that he knew precisely what she was talking about.

"Stop staring at her like that," Slayte glared. "She's not a piece of meat."

Cain leaned an elbow casually atop the serving counter. "And whatever's wrong with admiring a beautiful, elegant woman?" he queried, hiking an eyebrow up at Slayte's censuring words.

"That's not all you're doing," Slayte hissed back. "Maybe she doesn't see it, but I  _ do _ ."

"Hmm. I'm not at all sure what you mean. But do you know what she does see?" Cain tilted his head, his blue eyes glimmering as a taunting smirk continued to dance upon his lips. "You. Lying to her."

At Slayte's surprised expression, he pounced, "Oh, yes. She told me all about what happened at the beach. Of the two of us…  _ Slayte _ … I believe I am far more transparent in my intentions."

Slayte gaped at him in open-mouthed astonishment. The audacity he had to speak of things he knew absolutely nothing about filled her with fury. "Why you-!" Floundering for words, she bit out, "You're not her type! You're beneath her. In every possible way!"

Cain's smirk deepened for a moment, becoming suggestive, as if he found great amusement in her words. "Beneath her…?" he murmured. "Maybe she might like that…?"

Slayte inhaled sharply, all but ready to lunge at him and claw his eyes out for his shameless innuendo - when all mirth abruptly vanished from his lips. He regarded Slayte intently, before supplying, "Do you always interfere in Elissa's other relationships? Always assuming you know what's best for her? I can see why she would want some space from you."

Slayte couldn't believe what she was hearing and stared speechlessly at him.

"It really must be somewhat stifling, to have someone always frowning at the company you choose to keep, imagining she knows what's best." Leaning forward, he added, "And how would you know what Elissa's 'type' is? Surely only Elissa would determine that herself? And if she has no objection to my company… why should you?"

"Her type  _ isn't _ you," Slayte repeated heatedly. "Elissa deserves someone who respects her, and I know you don't!"

Of all the men Elissa could possibly be with, Slayte thought that Cain surely deserved her the least. He was nothing but a swaggering, unbearable peacock in her eyes and she was at an absolute loss to understand why Elissa put up with him when he was clearly really only after one thing.

Cain's eyes narrowed. "Respect?" he drawled. "I respect her enough to check on her frequently, following the lies you've told her that left her really quite upset. It's funny how you speak of respect, when you aren't treating her with any yourself."

"You don't know a thing about it," Slayte argued back.

"I know enough. In any case, your concern is misplaced. I'm doing nothing wrong." He shrugged casually. "I find Elissa to be adorable. I've come to care for her and she happens to be single. I happen to be single. We get along well. I think you've caused her enough trouble as of late without putting your nose into our affairs too, wouldn't you agree?"

If Slayte had disliked him before, she positively hated him right then.

"Listen, you slimy piece of-" she began to fume. "Don't think I trust you for a minute, just because I'm tolerating you being here. When you slip up," she pointed threateningly at him. "And you  _ will  _ slip up - just know I've gotten rid of far bigger pests than you before."

Cain blinked, looking utterly bored. "Terrifying," he drawled, unperturbed by her threats. Then he chuckled in amusement as Slayte glowered angrily at him, and his eyes turned back to Elissa as she returned to his side.

"Elissa, darling," he said aloud, knowing his words would serve to rile Slayte up further. "About that concert we're going to this weekend. Tell me which seat you'd prefer."

Elissa pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. "Oh, I don't know," she shrugged. "Whichever one is left? They must be close to being sold out now, right?"

"For you? Any seat is available," Cain purred smoothly.

Slayte all but slammed the toasted sandwich and muffin in a brown takeaway bag in front of him, followed by his takeaway coffee. They were making  _ plans  _ together, now? She could hardly believe it. Was Elissa doing it on purpose, Slayte wondered to herself, or did she genuinely like what Slayte perceived to be an absolute creep of a man?

Levi returned to the counter with the neatly tied box of cakes and handed it over to Elissa.

"Thanks," Elissa said sincerely, nodding at him. "I'll see you around." Her eyes darted briefly to Slayte, and she said nothing else, turning away to exit the shop.

"Have a good day." Cain lifted his coffee in salutation, gave Slayte an amused, smug smirk, before following after Elissa.

After the door had closed behind them, Slayte turned to Levi, infuriated. "He's taking her to a concert this weekend." She complained. "How does she not see what a slimeball he is?"

"She does," Levi answered. "She just doesn't care." He shook his head as they both watched, in concern, as Elissa got into Cain's sports car, before the young doctor pulled away from the kerb and whisked their friend away.

Slayte stood frozen in place, her hands clenched into fists as she glared at the spot they had last seen Cain's vehicle.

"I'm going to kill him," she growled through gritted teeth.

Levi cast a glance around the crowded tea shop, but no one had seemed to pick up on Slayte's statement.

"Oi," he reprimanded, his voice low enough that only she could hear, "You never kill someone unless you know exactly what you are going to do with the body."

She dragged her dark eyes away from where she was glaring holes through the window pane to meet his own unreadable gray irises.

"That's what I have you for, right?"

He blinked, taken aback by the odd statement - wondering what she knew, to have prompted it.

"I might have a few ideas," he admitted, taking a tray of returned dishes with him as he turned away from the counter.

It was one of their oddities, that neither knew whether the other spoke in jest or in earnest and yet, they did not ask, knowing it would make no difference.

* * *

Shisui pushed away from the marble column and fell into step beside his cousin as Itachi passed through the resplendent corridor leading toward his private chambers. It was constructed from rich black marble, as was the rest of the palace, and a central strip of plush, crimson red carpet lined the centre, its edges trimmed with burnt gold. Above their heads glittered chandeliers with decorative droplets cut from dark gems. The illuminated candles glowed brightly, casting a warm light about the space.

"Cousin," he greeted amiably. "Your presence here has become scarce. A rarity it is to find you in these parts of the palace."

Itachi responded only with a brief nod to acknowledge his closest friend's presence, and they walked up a wide staircase together for a few seconds in silence.

"Itachi," Shisui cast him a glance. "You are even more quiet as of late. What ails you?"

Itachi did not respond, and Shisui recognised, from the unyielding line of his mouth, that his kin was not prepared to discuss what was on his mind. This filled Shisui with concern. Itachi had always kept to himself, but never like this. Never had he simply refused to share any of his thoughts. As his long-standing confidante, Shisui was used to allowing him time and space, confident that his cousin would disclose his contemplations eventually. He was not, however, used to being shut out, the way Itachi shut everyone else out.

Plagued with worry, Shisui frowned lightly behind his mask. "You know that I am always here to lend an ear, cousin," he reminded the death deity gently.

Itachi abruptly stopped, and turned to look at him, his expression betraying nothing of his inner thoughts. "You had an audience with King Zeus," he stated expectantly, knowing that was the reason why his kin had sought him out.

Shisui stared at him for a long moment. He was ignoring his own words in favour of asking his own questions. That familiar behaviour categorically told him that Itachi did not wish to discuss anything other than business at that moment.

"Yes..." Shisui relented, knowing better than to push the matter of his cousin's unrest. "Just this morn. He was most surprised to hear of harpies appearing on the surface, and informed me that all of his creatures were accounted for, which means that the monsters responsible for the attack were not taken from his lot."

Itachi processed this information. "I see," he answered quietly at length.

"He assured me he would keep a lookout for anything else amiss. I have not yet been able to procure an audience with our Lord Cronus. He seems uncommonly occupied, even more so as of late. I will keep trying."

Itachi gave him another nod and they continued to walk along the hallway. Servants passed them, bowing low, but were unseen by their deity superiors.

"When will you depart to the Fates?" Shisui asked.

"Tonight," Itachi informed him.

Shisui glanced at him. "Take heed, Itachi. That place is perilous, and known to play tricks on the mind. You must be cautious. The Fates do not barter their secrets freely."

The death deity appeared unperturbed. "There is no illusion," Itachi murmured assuringly, "that my eyes cannot discern."

Shisui slowed as they reached the gold-filigree embossed double doors of Death's private chambers, and watched, in silent concern, as his cousin entered into them alone without another word.

* * *

The mood had been considerably dampened as the two of them pulled away from the tea shop. Elissa frowned at the dashboard, trying to suppress the intense irritation the mere sight of Slayte's unassuming, unrepentant face had stirred within her. There was no attempt at a reconciliation, no effort made to come clean about the things Elissa knew she was keeping secret. Instead, her oddest acquaintance carried on as if nothing had changed.

Elissa supposed that was for the better. She had had enough of Slayte's theatrics to last her a lifetime. At any rate, she had determined to leave the entire maze of manipulation behind her and focus on the future she would carve out for herself, entirely with her own hands.

She glanced up at Cain, wanting to continue the pleasant conversation they had been having before stopping at the tea shop, when she realized that he, too, had fallen strangely silent, his lips pressed together, thoughtful eyes fixed on the traffic ahead of them.

"Cain?"

He dragged sea-blue eyes away from the road to meet her concerned gaze and offered her an apologetic smile in return.

"Something on your mind?" Elissa asked, wanting to clear the air.

"Nothing in particular," he dismissed easily, settling back into his usual casual manner, "Just…"

"Just?" Elissa prompted.

"I was just thinking to myself about your friends, they're a little…" he trailed off, glancing over his shoulder before smoothly switching lanes for an upcoming left turn.

"Well, never mind, it isn't my place to say."

Elissa watched him thoughtfully. A few weeks ago, this conversation might have transpired very differently. There was a time she would have jumped to Slayte and Levi's defense without a moment's hesitation, but she knew better now. After all, she surmised, it might help to hear a third person's opinion on the whole matter.

"No, that's all right," she reassured him, "Go ahead."

He glanced at her, as if seeking confirmation, before clearing his throat. "Well, it's that… Slayte, was it?"

Elissa nodded in response, eyes fixed intently on him, eager to hear his thoughts.

"She just doesn't seem to have any regard for your opinions, your feelings… your thoughts. She just won't stop overriding your decisions, will she?"

Elissa sighed and crossed her arms in irritation as she leaned back in her seat. "Yeah," she agreed.

"She comes off as quite manipulative, if you ask me. Of course, I'm only an outsider, so I don't really know…"

"No, you're right." Elissa frowned, "Did she say something to you?"

"Oh… it doesn't matter." Cain replied offhandedly, coming to a stop at a red light.

"It matters," Elissa said shortly. She placed a hand on Cain's that rested on the armrest between them, bringing his eyes back towards her. Her smooth palm on his hand sent warmth coursing through him and as he turned towards her, his gaze darkened as he lost himself in those upturned hazel irises, completely forgetting what they had been talking about. His skin seemed to burn where she touched him, and he instantly wanted more.

"Tell me what she said."

For the life of him, Cain could not connect Elissa's words to what she was asking of him, and he searched her eyes as if the meaning were written there somewhere. When a loud honk sounded behind them - the traffic light had long since turned green - he was jolted back to the present, and set the car into gear.

"Well..." he cleared his throat again, pointedly avoiding her gaze until he had calmed down. Slayte had threatened to remove him from her side. She clearly did not know who she was dealing with. Cain was used to getting what he wanted. There wasn't a person alive who could tell him he wasn't allowed something. "She warned me off, a little."

"A little?" Elissa returned dubiously.

"Well, it might have been called a threat, if I had felt threatened at all."

"She threatened you?!"

Cain suppressed a smirk at Elissa's open indignance. "Like I said, it doesn't bother me, just the usual. I shouldn't be hanging around you, I'm not your type, and so on and so forth…" He counted off Slayte's accusations, relishing the way Elissa's shoulders tensed with anger and her hands balled into fists.  _ Play with fire and you'll get burned, Slayte. _

"She won't bother you again," Elissa bit out angrily, clearly already thinking on just how she was going to make that message painfully clear to the tea shop assistant.

"I just thought…" he soothed, "Perhaps, the current situation with Slayte's dishonesty might be an opportunity for you to reflect on your relationship with her in general? She doesn't seem to respect you or your decisions. I hope you are aware friendships can be just as abusive and toxic as relationships… although, I'm not saying that's the case, but… maybe it's something to think on. Whether or not there have been signs you've been ignoring."

Elissa fell silent. "Of course there have. There were a thousand signs." She thought of how Slayte had tried to kill Vetty behind her back, how she had continued meeting with Itachi, despite warning Elissa off, although she knew full well that Elissa had been interested in him. How clingy and obsessive and jealous she had always been. Objectively, there had been many signs but Elissa had always chalked them up to her unusual personality. "But she… was always going on about how much she loves me…"

"Emotional blackmail. Classic abuser technique."

Elissa's head shot up at the words.

"Sorry. Was that too harsh? You've heard of it before, certainly? 'I'm doing this for your own good,' and 'This is because I love you so much.' Those are classic abuser lines."

Something didn't sit right with Elissa about this line of conversation. Slayte was dishonest and manipulative, impulsive and stupidly shortsighted, but she would never intentionally hurt Elissa, would she?

"Calling her abusive is a stretch." Elissa said evenly, "I'm not defending her, but she's not like that. She's problematic for a hundred other reasons. Let's just forget about it. It's all in the past now."

"Sure thing. As you wish, darling." In a moment of impulse, he reached out and took hold of her hand again, enjoying the feel of her slight hand caught in his larger one. A pretty blush crossed her cheeks as she looked up at him in surprise, wavering between allowing the touch and pulling away. He shot her a disarming smile, before commenting smoothly, "You did it first."

"I…" Elissa returned her gaze to the road in front of her, where the large concrete building labeled "Edison Publishing" loomed in the distance. She relaxed her shoulders and let his cool touch comfort her with a reluctant, nervous smile.

"I guess I did."

* * *

Elissa all but dove out of her work building at the end of the day, relieved that it was over at last. She'd arrived late, handed Adam the treats, her boss had been even crankier than usual, and she'd had to stay three extra hours after everyone had left to make up the time she'd missed in the morning. She had sat through meeting after gruelling meeting and couldn't even remember what any of them had even been about. Her thoughts had been far too occupied by every strange thing that had happened to her over the duration of the previous week. For some reason, she couldn't stop thinking about the miracle-healed deer and the ravenous hounds she'd somehow managed to survive an encounter with.

She sighed, running her fingers tiredly through her hair, pushing back the locks that had fallen into her face. It was almost sunset. Once she got home, she'd take a long, warm bath, and then she supposed she could catch up on some reading. A quiet night snuggling with Vetty sounded ideal after the hectic stress of the day.

She found Cain in the car-park, waiting as he had promised he would be to collect her. A small smile touched her face at the sight of him, leaning against the driver's side of a new convertible sport's car she hadn't seen before. It was a gorgeous silver model, Elissa noted, with sleek white leather seats and custom hubcap wheel plates. She blinked at it appreciatively. Just how many cars did he own?

"Hey," she called in greeting. "Thanks for picking me up."

His eyes lit up as she approached, and he held up a set of keys.

"Elissa," he greeted. "Fancy giving me a ride home?"

"Huh?" She regarded him in confusion. He was the one taking her home, wasn't he? "I can't drive your car," she replied.

"Whyever not?" His eyebrows rose.

"It's too fancy, and I'm not insured on it for one thing," Elissa began to move automatically to the passenger seat, but Cain deposited the keys in her hand regardless. "Cain? What on earth?" she looked at him questioningly.

He grinned. "I've set up private insurance for you, darling. This is your replacement car."

"What?!" Elissa squawked at him, looking at it again in bewilderment. The vehicle was nothing she could afford to pay insurance on. There was no way her break-down cover would ever send her such an expensive car.

Cain chuckled. "I own three, and this one's the one I use least. I figured we could put it to good use while you wait for yours to be fixed."

"Are you serious?" Elissa gawked at him, flabbergasted. "Cain," she stumbled. "I couldn't possibly- the insurance on this would be insane!"

"As I said, I've taken care of it," Cain waved away her concerns, and moved to the passenger side of the vehicle. "You're fully insured, and I can cancel the cover at any time. Don't worry about it, darling."

"But my breakdown cover…" Elissa began to protest weakly.

"Just tell them you've already arranged a private replacement," Cain answered, grinning at her over the top of the vehicle. "It's not a big deal. You'll be driving this for a few days, at most."

Elissa shook her head at him, rendered speechless. It was incredibly thoughtful of him, but it didn't sit right with her, to have him paying off her insurance, even if it was temporarily for a few days. She pulled open the driver's door and got inside, once again amazed at how spacious it was, the pleasant scent of lemon filling her nose. As she closed the door and deposited her bag in the back seat, she ran her hands over the steering wheel, staring at it in awe.

Cain laughed at the expression on her face. "I suppose you've never driven one of these bad boys before?"

"Not even close to it," Elissa replied nervously.

"I'll show you what all the buttons do," Cain leaned over. "Switch it on."

Elissa turned the ignition, and listened as he patiently pointed out what each button did. The list of features were impressive and extensive, including front and rear sensors, indoor seat and door lighting, seat coolers and massagers, hydrophobic windows, automated parking and a whole other cool options that Elissa had never even heard of before.

"This is unreal," she laughed in disbelief, gripping the wheel testingly with her hands. "Wait." She glanced anxiously at Cain. "What if I accidentally scratch it, or something happens to it?"

Cain snorted, unconcerned. "I'll just get another, darling. As I said, I use this the least, and honestly have been looking to get rid of it for a while. It was my first car. That's the only reason I still have it at all."

His first car? Elissa stared at him, open-mouthed. Most young people got tiny, humble vehicles as their first models. He'd really gone all out. How had he even been able to afford it? She supposed her questions were written all over her face, for Cain chuckled again and explained, "This was a gift from my parents for getting into medical school. The look on your face, darling. Come on, let's take it for a spin."

"I can't believe you're lending me this car," Elissa exclaimed. "I just keep racking up debts with you. How am I supposed to repay you, now?"

"Friends don't repay each other," Cain dismissed. "Your company is more than enough." His words filled her with an unexpected warmth, and Elissa felt her face redden. She was suddenly glad that he was so focused on teaching her how to drive the car, so that he wouldn't notice the pink tinge to her cheeks.

"See this line here? Forming a box?" He pointed to the screen on the dashboard. "That tells you the area you need to avoid when reversing. Go on, give it a try."

"Right," Elissa nodded, and slowly began to reverse, keeping a careful eye on the red line in the rear camera monitor screen. "And what's this button for, again?"

"Demister for the rear windows," Cain supplied.

Elissa edged back, relieved that all the other cars belonging to her colleagues had departed already. That made it much easier to get out of the car-park. She pulled out and drove slowly and carefully, following Cain's directions back toward his house. The vehicle was a delight to steer, smooth and silent and so much more enjoyable and spacious than her own car.

He chatted away as Elissa steered, keeping an eye on her driving at all times, guiding her to select the right buttons she needed for different functions. By the time they had reached his apartment block, Elissa felt a lot more comfortable being in the driver's seat.

"Well," Cain looked out the window, and gestured dramatically. "Here we are."

Elissa gazed up at the building as they drove through the spacious, automated front gates. It was enclosed and much more stylish in build and construction material than her own block, boasting plenty of large windows, and also had less floors, signalling that it was a much more private, exclusively-rented property. Surrounding it was a well-tended lawn and trees.

"Wow," she breathed. "You live here? I didn't even know this place existed so close to my own block."

"It's definitely a hidden gem," Cain grinned.

They drove around and entered the underground car park. Elissa pulled up in the assigned bay for his apartment-number which was illuminated with spots of light on the ground. Switching the engine off, she released a sigh of relief.

"Made it without a scratch," she declared.

"You drive well," Cain complimented.

"You're a good teacher," she smiled back.

He chuckled. "Would you like to come up?" He invited her. "I've got some groceries I picked up along the way in the back. I could use a hand."

"Oh yeah, sure," Elissa nodded readily, retrieving her handbag and exiting the car. Taking two of the lighter shopping bags out of the spacious boot of the vehicle, she then stood back and heard the car automatically lock after a few seconds and followed Cain inside his apartment building.

She gaped as soon as they stepped inside. It was all white marble and plush. gold-trimmed, beige carpeting. They passed the concierge who was seated at a very fancy looking front reception desk. Tidy, large potted green plants and attractive beige leather seating areas with low glass coffee tables decorated the classy-looking space.

"Good evening, Dr. Lockwood." The smartly dressed, bespectacled young-man behind the desk greeted. He smiled politely at Elissa. "Good evening, Miss." He nodded to her. "Dr. Lockwood, some letters have arrived for you and are ready for your collection."

"Thank you, Derek," Cain retrieved the pile from the desk, slotted it into one of the shopping bags and gestured for Elissa to follow him. Elissa looked around in awe. The pleasant scent of citrus filled the air and as they entered the lift, Elissa gawked at it. It was large and clean and full of gold detailing, gleaming against panels of silver.

"You live here?" she looked at Cain, who gave her a charming smile. "This place must cost you a fortune!"

"It does," he confided. "But my father funds half of it, so it works out fine."

"Wow," Elissa breathed. The pleasant chiming sound of the lift informed them that they'd reached the third floor. She followed him out and walked through another plush, spotless hallway, before coming to a stop before an oak-wood door bearing a gold-plated apartment number on it. Seventeen, she read. Cain unlocked the door and stepped inside, holding the door open for Elissa to enter in after him.

The lights automatically switched on in response to motion detection and

Elissa's jaw dropped as she found herself in a spacious, open-plan apartment. It was clean and modern, with black, beige, gold and brown being the predominant colour scheme, and exquisitely accessorised with what appeared to be very expensive pieces of artwork and home-decor.

The skyline windows were huge and lended an airy feel to the property, affording a great view of the stretching lawn outside. Elissa gazed at the rich, dark brown leather arm-chairs and couches, scattered with black and gold cushions, and the large TV-screen mounted on a wall custom decorated with dark brown, wooden panels. The washed-oak flooring was covered with rich, beige and black rugs, and contemporary gold floor lamps were dotted about. She followed Cain into the open kitchen, which was generously sized with wooden units and worktops constructed from attractive, dark brown granite. Squares of black marble effect tiles lined the kitchen floor.

Setting the grocery bags onto the central aisle, she exclaimed, "Wow. This is awesome!"

Her eyes appreciatively took in the modern lighting on the ceilings, the beautiful plants in their pots, the stylish, six seater, gold-trimmed glass dining table with its plush black seats. Cain even had a pool table. Elissa felt like she had stepped into a celebrity's bachelor pad, and couldn't keep the astonishment off her face. The property screamed wealth and never in a million years could she ever hope to afford anything like it.

"I'm glad you approve," Cain beamed.

"You live here all alone?" she questioned in disbelief, as she started to help him with unpacking his groceries. "It's incredible."

"Thank you. Yes, just me. I considered bringing my two dogs, but I decided last minute to leave them at my parents'," Cain explained. "My work hours are unsettled right now, and it didn't seem fair to leave them alone for long hours if I take night-shifts. I do miss my boys, but they're boisterous." He shook his head, smiling fondly. "They would have completely ruined this place."

Elissa was touched. He had two pet dogs? That cemented the idea in her mind that Cain was surely a sensitive and caring person.

"What're their names?"

"Rocky and Ollie," he said, moving to the black fridge to pack away some products. Elissa's eyes widened. She had never seen a fridge so big. It was remarkably large - for just one person.

"Did this apartment come fully furnished?" she asked curiously.

"Everything is included, darling. I liked the decor and the location. That's the main reason I went for it. It has lots of fancy features, too, like ambient lighting. And underfloor heating."

"Nice. They must have hired one hell of an interior designer to deck this place out," Elissa marvelled, prompting another chuckle from him.

"You get what you pay for in life, darling," he informed her.

When they finished putting away the shopping, Cain showed her the rest of the rooms, including the luxurious walk-in shower and bathroom, all tiled beige marble and gold interior, the two large bedrooms with walk-in closets and the spacious storage and utility rooms. There was a fully-equipped gym and swimming pool on site that tenants had free access to as part of the rent, he added, and let Elissa take photos on her phone, grinning in amusement when she declared she was sharing the pictures on social media.

She accepted his invitation for dinner, and was pleasantly surprised to find that he not only cooked, but was good at it, too, devouring the prawn linguine he prepared from scratch using mouth-watering, healthy ingredients. They talked and laughed the hours away and when she stepped onto the large, spotlight illuminated balcony outside his living room and gazed up at the starry sky, Elissa was filled with a sense of wistfulness. For a few precious hours in his company, she had almost forgotten about all her woes.

It was late by the time she left his apartment. Cain enveloped her in a friendly hug and insisted that she was welcome to call on him anytime now that she knew where he lived.

Elissa returned to the carpark and carefully drove the car he had lended to her out, relieved when she finally arrived home safely, and as she stepped back into her cozy, small apartment and bent down to greet Vetty, she found herself wondering just how much more there was to life than what she was living and getting.

* * *

Shisui unlaced his boots, setting them carefully by the base of the bed before lowering himself to perch on the edge of the mattress. Bowing his head, he ran his fingers through his unruly, wavy locks of hair, releasing a heavy sigh. He had once again attempted to obtain an audience with Cronus, but the Uchiha Patriarch was even busier than usual as of late. Locked up in meeting after meeting with his strategy council. Over what? Shisui wondered why he and Itachi were never invited to such gatherings. It seemed that they were only ever called upon to carry out instructions, never to provide their insight or opinions.

The God of Sleep often found himself mulling over that fact. The Titan Cronus was all-powerful, possessed great perception and was undoubtedly wise. Shisui and Itachi, though significantly younger in age, were still more gifted in battle and far more intelligent than many deities twice their age. Why did Cronus not utilise their abilities and counsel to his advantage? Why did he instead keep them occupied with menial tasks that meant they were often away from the Underworld for days at a time?

His thoughts turned to his taciturn cousin, and a light frown of concern settled upon his brow. The hour was late. Itachi had no doubt already set off to see The Fates. That was no easy journey to make. It was known that time flowed differently within the mystery-shrouded planes of their realm and that many deities and mortals who had ever been brave or foolish enough to seek them out had ended up becoming lost in their lands, driven mad, or simply never returned. The valleys of the Fates could be accessed through both the Underworld and Olympus, but the three sisters Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos existed in neither domain. They were each mistresses of their own lands, yet worked seamlessly together to weave the threads of life and death.

Shisui had no worry that Itachi would return unscathed. His Sharingan would doubtless allow him to see through any illusions and he was a servant of the Fates themselves in his role and function, for it was at their call and decree that he tirelessly worked to reap souls on the surface, never uttering a word of complaint despite the taxing nature of his responsibilities. They would surely allow him entry, and not hinder his passage into their realms. Shisui was, however, concerned for his cousin's growing reservedness. Even by Itachi's standards, he was becoming increasingly subdued. Shisui saw him only occasionally. Rarely did they sit together, as they had often done in the past, and their outings together to the surface were quieter than Shisui had ever remembered them to be.

The God of Sleep wondered what had caused the change in behaviour, and found himself contemplating taking matters into his own hands to find out - even if that meant making visits of which Itachi wouldn't necessarily approve. Shisui closed his eyes, and released a light sigh. There was nothing else for it, and no other way for him to gain explanations. He simply had to go to the surface and seek Elissa out.

He needed to find out exactly what had happened between the two, and since Itachi would be absent in the Valleys of the Fates for a while, and Shisui knew he would not likely speak of the girl anymore regardless upon his return, he had no choice but to pay her a direct visit himself to discern precisely what had transpired over the course of the acquaintance, which had led to Itachi cutting off their meetings so abruptly and assigning a nymph to be her protector in their stead.

Granting a lowly Lampad the gift to wield his abilities was no small favour coming from the God of Death himself. It distinctly meant that Itachi had selected the nymph specifically for the task of protecting Elissa from harm and trusted her not to fail in it. Shisui needed to know why he had chosen to do so, when Elissa was clearly still very much in danger and they were none the wiser as to what was causing the attacks on the mortal girl and the appearance of monsters on the surface.

Soft hands cupped his cheeks, tilting his head upward. Shisui's eyes opened to find his wife's lovely face peering down at him, the familiar, playful twinkle he so loved dancing in her dark, bewitching eyes.

"Husband, you are moping," she chided. "I know that look of discontent all too well, because it is not often you wear it."

Shisui blinked at her, then smiled sheepishly. Immediately he reached out and gripped her shapely, feminine hips, drawing her down effortlessly onto his lap.

"You are quite right," he answered, as she wrapped her arms around his neck and placed a loving kiss upon his brow. "As always, you read me perfectly."

"What disturbs you, love?" she asked, her sweet, musical voice like a soothing serenade falling upon his ears.

He caressed her side and she ran her fingers through his messy hair, fighting a losing battle to replace order to the curling locks.

"Itachi," he confided. "I worry for him. He has become even more reserved. He does not share what troubles him, and I fear I may have had a hand in his unrest - though that was not my intention."

"What makes you think you had a hand in it?" She nuzzled his cheek with her own affectionately.

Shisui sighed. He could tell Pasithea. She was his wife, the one closest to his heart, whom he could unconditionally trust to faithfully guard all his secrets. He knew she would not discuss his news with anyone else, and yet he had not thought to tell her about Vetty and Elissa. That had been in part because he had genuinely believed that he and Itachi could quickly contain it, and admittedly he had not realised how grave the situation was at first. He had perhaps underestimated the threat that stalked the young woman. "Itachi and I happened upon a mortal girl named Elissa in the company of an Underworld cat on the surface, not four months past."

"An Underworld cat?" Pasithea repeated in surprise. "How came it to be there?"

"That, we do not yet know," Shisui replied grimly, winding his arm around her waist, holding her close against him. "The feline formed a blood contract with Elissa, and so the girl could see us, even when we remained cloaked to other mortals. We had gone to the river's edge believing there was a soul to be collected, but discovered instead a living mortal girl with a demonic cat."

"A blood contract? Is that not forbidden between humans and Underworld dwellers?" Pasithea asked.

"You are right. We met with her after, to try to determine what we could about her situation and why the bond had been forged, without revealing our identities. I noticed Elissa's gaze fell upon Itachi often, so I suggested that he take the responsibility of questioning her alone. I thought it would be easier to secure her trust if only one of us met with her, so that we could exhaust every piece of information we could, but I fear instead that my actions have instead caused more damage than good…" his voice trailed off.

"You suspect this girl has feelings for your cousin?" As always, his wife was quick to connect the dots and form an immediate analysis of the situation. Shisui had always loved her for her wit and ability to surmise things with remarkable swiftness and accuracy.

"Well," he offered her a small, amused smirk. "The girl  _ did _ wish to know whether or not he was unattached..."

"Surely a sign of her interest." Pasithea grinned deviously back. "How sly of you, husband!" She pinched his cheek fondly, laughing at his scheming designs. "You know he will take no goddess, and so you sought a human?"

Shisui appeared somewhat abashed. "I was of the mind that there surely had to be something special about this mortal, to warrant Vetty forming a contract with her. Besides, Itachi does not converse so easily with just anyone, and the girl seemed to be able to get him to actually talk. Certainly more words than I have seen him speak with anyone else unfamiliar to him. It was a foolish plan, perhaps, but not one intended to bring about misery to either party. I fear that I am to be held to account for it if that is indeed what has transpired."

"And Itachi?" Pasithea's eyebrows lifted. "What is his opinion of this Elissa?"

"I do not know his opinion. I know not what came to pass between them." Shisui shrugged. "You know he has always been private in nature, and I hardly hope to be able to get anything else out of him relating to her. I left the meetings to him, hoping that at the very least, he would secure an innocent companionship in the girl, even if only to find another friend with someone else wholly unrelated to our world. I feel…" His eyebrows furrowed. "That Itachi is in need of that, more so than any of us, because of the burdens he carries. It pains me to see him bear such solitude, Pasithea. He feels his role defines him, but that is not so."

"You had honourable intentions, dearest." His wife hummed soothingly in understanding and comfortingly stroked his hair.

"I did. But now..." Shisui frowned. "He has withdrawn even more into himself. He does not even seek out my company. He spends his days hidden away in quiet contemplation alone. I am growing increasingly concerned for him." He sighed heavily again. "He will not tell me why he has broken off his meetings with Elissa, other than that they served no purpose. I wonder, though, that there may be more to it than that… after all, this human has been attacked by harpies and was almost drowned in the ocean. It is not like him to just abandon watch over anything in such cases."

Pasithea looked alarmed. "Harpies? Attacking a mortal?"

"It begets disbelief, does it not? I had an audience with Zeus himself this morn. He was not aware of it, and says all his creatures are accounted for. Something else hunts Elissa on the surface, something that interferes with Itachi's domain - and yet he has removed direct sentry from her and left it instead in the care of an Underworld nymph who has befriended her."

Pasithea was silent for a moment. "I am certain there must be more to this situation than meets the eye, and you are wise to question it, love. Perhaps you can instead pay this Elissa a visit and ask her yourself what transpired, if your cousin is so averse to discussing the matter?"

"Yes," Shisui nodded resolutely, his mind made up. " Perhaps I shall. Itachi would not agree to it, but he is occupied in his own line of investigation at present, and so now is the opportune time for me to do so." He met her gaze appraisingly. "You are ever sound in judgement, my cunning wife."

"I suppose the soundness of  _ your _ own judgement has been rubbing off on me." She smiled impishly at him, cupping his face with her hands, before leaning in to capture his lips passionately with her own.

"That isn't all…" he whispered against her lips teasingly, and then forgot all about talking then. He fell back onto the bed, pulling his wife down on top of him, and lost himself to the heat of her touch, to the unquenchable fire of longing that she stirred into being within him.

* * *

It was hard to say who was living the right way.

Was it Cain, who seemed to have the world and all its joys and luxuries at the tips of his fingers? Who didn't mind bending the rules or using his charm to get what he wanted? There was no doubt as to the success of his approach and if his confident, unconflicted personality was any indication, he was clearly content with his life. Making the most out of every moment with no care as to what the world had to say. It certainly had its own allure.

Was it Slayte, desperately clinging to everything she held dear, not caring who or what she hurt in the process - or what she stood to lose? It was a disturbing paradox that Slayte claimed to care so much for Elissa that she could live with losing her. No, Slayte had it all wrong. Lying and manipulating those around you for the sake of your own twisted values could never bring anyone happiness. It was no wonder the girl was always on the verge of a breakdown.

Maybe it was Levi, barely allowing emotion a place on his spectrum. Logical, cool, calculated and reasonable. Never overcome with either joy or despair. But it felt a shallow, hollow way to live. Elissa could never live that way, even if it seemed appealing at times.

Then was it Itachi? Enchanting those around him with his kind, wise ways. Offering patient wisdom only to tear the rug out under the feet of those who had outlived their use in his eyes?

Elissa sucked in a shaky breath as the wayward thoughts prompted an onslaught of emotion she had been doing her best to suppress the last few days. Shaking her head and banishing all thoughts of the ebony-haired enigma to a corner of her heart she refused to acknowledge, she stepped through the glass doors of her living room out onto the balcony.

Wrapping a knit throw around her shoulders, she stepped into a pair of slippers to protect her feet from the cold tiled floor and approached the railing, Vetty close at her heels. Breathing a sigh, she looked up at the stars scattered throughout the darkened sky in adoration of the crescent moon that shone solemnly through the passing clouds. The sight of the night sky always brought peace to her tormented heart and she filled her lungs with the cold night air, hoping to call on that familiar comfort.

Whatever the right way to live was, it certainly wasn't the way that Elissa had been living up to this point. Trying to do all the right things, say all the right words, offering her heart, her honesty, and her trust to those she drew close to. She needed to put herself first. To protect herself and her own interests, right? How long would she stay in this sad apartment and at her depressing job, while people like Cain did not seem to have the same worries, living every day to the fullest? Maybe he was on to something.

A shadow flickered at the edge of her vision and she turned slightly, thinking it might be a crow again only to gasp in surprise when, before her very eyes, none other than Shisui himself stood comfortably on the balcony railing. His arms were crossed over his chest and his head was cocked slightly to the side, an amused smile playing on his lips at her surprised reaction. He was a tall man, and towered over her from his perch - he clearly was not afraid of falling.

She stumbled backwards bringing a hand to her mouth as if to call back the stunned gasp that had escaped her. She lifted a hand to the railing behind her for her support.

"What- what are you doing here?" She breathed, unable to wrap her mind around what she was seeing. She immediately turned, scanning her surroundings for his ever-present companion.

Shisui descended nimbly from the balcony railing, leaning against it to respond mirthfully, "Be at ease, Elissa. My cousin is not present."

"How - I wasn't looking for him," she denied vehemently. "How did you get up here? What are you doing here?"

"It's good to see you, too, Elissa," was the candid reply. Shisui glanced nonchalantly at the steep drop beyond the railing and added, "Well. Let us just say... I have a talent of getting to the places I need to with little trouble."

Elissa swallowed, her heart seemed to be beating at a frantic pace, as it always did when she came in contact with things related to Itachi. Unlike wayward thoughts, however, Shisui could not be so easily dismissed. Just as Itachi had suddenly simply  _ appeared  _ behind her, so, too, had Shisui appeared in a place it should have been impossible for someone to climb to, here on the seventh floor balcony. The evidence that the two of them could simply not be human was undeniable.

"You didn't answer my question," she countered evenly.

"Now, Elissa…" Shisui began, gesturing casually, "I thought we were done keeping up appearances. Don't tell me you'll want to hear about the theater play next?"

Elissa bristled in anger, "You lied to me."

"We weren't forthcoming, to be certain, but to call it lying is a bit of a stretch, wouldn't you agree? We simply failed to correct your assumptions."

Elissa winced at the word "assumptions". It was a word she no longer cared to hear. "I've heard enough. Both you and your cousin are no longer welcome here. I'm sure he's told you as much. I'm done being a pawn in your investigations."

"You see, this is where I seem to be having trouble. The last I recall, we were friends, were we not? While I acknowledge I have been out of the picture for a bit longer than I had intended, what could have occurred in that time to deserve this open hostility?" Shisui's tones were even, measured and cheerful. His good-natured manner was disarming and made it impossible to bear a grudge against him. Did he truly not know all the terrible things Itachi had said?

Elissa hesitated, considering. "You can ask Itachi all that you need to know. Why come to me?"

Shisui chuckled, "Bold of you to assume that would work any better for me than it has for you."

Elissa sighed and tucked loose strands of chestnut hair behind her ear as she considered her next words. She wrapped the knit blanket more closely around herself, almost as if it were a shield, and met Shisui's eyes, uncertain. He truly seemed to be curious, and just as kind and humorous as he had been the last time they had spoken. Did he truly not know what had happened?

Her eyebrows furrowed together. Hadn't she made a promise to herself that she would no longer be so naive and trusting? It was precisely those two damned characteristics that had gotten her so hurt to begin with. Elissa found it difficult to accept that Shisui knew absolutely nothing of what had passed between her and Itachi. They were cousins. Surely he had to know  _ something. _

"You really expect me to believe that you have no idea about anything that's happened since the last time we met?" she demanded accusingly.

Shisui was silent for a moment. Then he answered, in a quiet tone of voice that caught Elissa quite off-guard, "Upon my word, I speak in earnest. I have come here in the hopes that you would shed some light on this for me."

Elissa hesitated once more. He sounded sincere. But then again, so had Itachi, back when they'd spoken often by the river. She reminded herself that she knew next to nothing about these two men. And yet, despite this fact, she decided to tell him. Anger spurned her to do so. His cousin was the one at fault in the disgraceful nature of his cruel behaviour. She had nothing to hide.

"We aren't speaking anymore. We said goodbye. He has admitted to being a killer, has interfered in my life in more ways than I can count while refusing to explain the meanings of his actions, and no, before you try to defend him," she added, seeing Shisui open his mouth to speak, "He's been lying to me from the very first day. He admitted to having only approached me for the sake of your investigation so you can stop lying to me about that as well."

Her voice rose in pitch and grew louder as her pained anger at Itachi's actions resurfaced. "I tried to speak with him. I tried to understand. I did my best, hoping for clarity, but he's just- just the most  _ impossible _ …" she sucked in a deep breath, straining to quell the storm of emotions, realising, to her horror, that she had said far too much. Shisui was much easier to talk to - but he was a stranger nonetheless, and he'd been in on the investigation, too.

"Yes," Shisui tilted his head, a small, knowing smile dancing upon his lips. "He can indeed be, as you say… impossible."

Elissa shook her head, irked that he happened to find it all so entertaining. "Why am I even telling you all this? Forget it, it's over. Just leave me alone. Both of you. I'm done being used by him, being made to feel like a foolish naive child. All along I thought we'd become friends, but he made it clear I was nothing but a means of gaining whatever information it is you're both after!"

A moment's silence passed that was interrupted only by the owls hooting in the distance. Elissa dropped her gaze to the tiled floor, battling back the tears that were threatening to surface as if summoned by the very mention of Itachi. The coldness of his manner, the harsh edge to his voice… when would she finally be able to forget them?

"It seems you are right, Elissa. My cousin has indeed been lying to you." Shisui's voice sounded distant and cryptic, as if they contained some deeper meaning that escaped Elissa's comprehension. "I apologize. Whatever he has said, seems to have hurt you deeply."

His dark eyes seemed to glitter behind the mask, observing her intently, as if waiting for some confirmation to a question he had yet to ask.

"Like I said, forget it. Why do you need to apologize for him? I just want to be left alone. I'm moving on with my life. I'm doing well now," she lied, "Good luck with your stupid investigation."

"I only wish to help, Elissa," the calm, soothing reply full of tender understanding should have placated her, but it only stung.

"Really?" she retorted dubiously. "Are you here to tell me what you are? What he is? I don't need empty words, Shisui. I need answers." She lifted desperate, angry hazel eyes at him, although she did not truly hope for him to answer her, when Itachi had so thoroughly frozen her out.

"What has happened?" Shisui asked, listening intently.

"There was an incident. At a bridge. A massive pile up of cars. One moment I was there, watching them. The next - he appeared. How did he suddenly appear? What did he do to my mind? Why did I see those images? A garden, out of nowhere. Why can't I remember what happened? And at the beach? I was injured. I almost drowned. What did he do to me? Why was I left with strange markings?"

Shisui listened in disturbed silence. When he did not offer any reply, Elissa barrelled on, "How is he involved with Slayte? Why won't she tell me anything? Why did he steal my best friend from me? She says he's her 'Master'. What does that even mean? What's the deal with your family, keeping servants like that? It's wrong!" The anguish in her voice, the hurt in her eyes left Shisui speechless. He could not truly follow along and was stunned to hear just how much had happened in his absence.

What markings had Itachi left on Elissa? Had he somehow trapped her in the illusion of his Sharingan? When had all this happened? And despite everything… he clearly refused to reveal his identity to Elissa. Why? Her frustration was understandable.

Shisui hesitated. He felt that Elissa had seen too much to be denied the truth, but at the same time, he knew that meeting with her in Itachi's absence was one matter, but revealing information Itachi had chosen to keep hidden, would border on betrayal. And Shisui was nothing if not fiercely loyal to his cousin and friend.

"He… did not tell you?" he asked, instead, hoping to prompt more information from her.

"No. He didn't. He let his silence do all the talking." The bitterness in her voice rang sharp. Her hands clenched into fists. "You said you want to help. Then help me. Tell me the truth."

Shisui frowned, "I scarcely understood half of what you mentioned, Elissa. I must confess, most of this is news to me." His honest answer only disappointed her further.

"You can't pretend that you're both human. What do you take me for? How stupid do you think I am? No one can climb up seven stories that way!" She gestured wildly beyond the balcony railing angrily. "On top of everything else that's happened, there's no way either of you can be!"

"I did not claim to be human. Nor did he, as I recall," Shisui responded gently.

Hearing Shisui openly confirm it, Elissa felt ice crawl down her spine. Her heart pounded against her rib-cage, realising that she had been right in her suspicions all along.

"Then  **what** are you?!" Elissa shouted, frustration peaking.

Shisui sighed and pressed a hand to his temples, shaking his head. "My, this is distressing. You are in need of answers that my dearest friend refused to give you, for reasons unknown to me. To ease your concerns would be to betray him, hmm…" he mused aloud, "What should a good friend do?"

Elissa, realizing where this line of thought was headed, scowled at him. They were all the same.

"How about this?" Shisui offered, "I will speak with my cousin. Perhaps we can arrange a reconciliation. Perhaps he can be convinced to provide you the answers you seek."

Elissa was not holding out hope. Itachi was the last person she wanted to see or speak to. "Why does it have to be him? Why can't you tell me?" she complained.

"My cousin's cold demeanor often veils his good intentions. I've heard your piece. I need to understand the rationale behind his actions. Rest assured, I'll do my best to bring him around," he promised with a wink.

Elissa had heard enough. All the two of them had to offer her were lies and empty promises. Not one of them took her seriously and gave her even the most basic respect, despite all the danger she had found herself in since meeting them.

"Forget it," Elissa spat, fed up with the excuses and evasive answers, "Tell him this, and don't forget it yourself, either. I don't need him - or you, for that matter. So stay the hell away from me."

She turned towards the balcony doors, her body trembling with anger, and Shisui's perceptive mind was quick to interpret the true meaning of her words. What was the point of announcing that she did not need his cousin? It only implied that the opposite was true. His thoughts were interrupted however, when the knitted shawl slipped from her shoulder as she reached out to reopen the balcony doors. The inky tendrils that ghosted along her skin spoke volumes to him. He stared at the markings, stunned.

Elissa stepped through the doors and turned back halfway to meet his eyes. "You got up here somehow on your own, right? Then you can get down on your own, too," she tossed coldly over her shoulder before shutting the door behind her and locking it.

Shisui could not help but smile wryly at the way she vehemently closed the curtains behind her, effectively blocking him out. There was clearly more than met the eye to the situation. It was unlike Elissa to treat him so coldly if she had merely had an ordinary dispute with Itachi. She was rational enough to know that he was simply an innocent bystander. Unless… whatever had transpired between them had struck so deeply, that it had prompted Itachi to uncharacteristically shut him out and had caused Elissa to shun everything that had anything to do with his cousin.

The amusement quickly waned from his lips, and his eyes narrowed in the dark. Most interesting developments, indeed.

It took Elissa all of one minute to take a deep breath and reconsider. Shisui could not be blamed for Itachi's actions, could he? If anything, he had always been the more lighthearted of the two. Perhaps, if she only pushed a little more, he would be willing to give her answers to the questions Itachi had always coldly ignored. She was starting to come to terms with everything that had happened now, consigning it to the past. But, if there was still a chance…

She retraced her steps from her bedroom to her living room and threw open the curtains once more. She burst out onto the balcony, ready to resume where they had left off - but Shisui was nowhere to be seen.

She rushed towards the railing and peered down, but no matter which side of the balcony she looked down from, Shisui had disappeared, and any hope of finding answers disappeared with him.

* * *

Angelissa was safe. As safe as she could be in his absence. His very own powers were in the hands of one who regarded her with an obsessive desperation, a crazed protectiveness. A love like that, it was known, could surmount undefeatable odds. Slayte would tend to matters on the surface. Elissa's own intentions to push forward with her life now had been set in stone, just as he had intended. All was as it should be.

What remained for him was to see to the investigation. To uncover the trails of those who dared to interfere in his domain, and who were targeting Elissa for whatever reason. Lady Hecate knew the answers he sought and yet, she was bound, by virtue of her role and by the will of the Fates, to silence. No matter, where one door was sealed, another stood open, even if the path leading towards it was steep.

The Fates commanded life, its duration, its boons, its end. They commanded even the roles of the gods themselves. They held within their hands the answers to every question that plagued Itachi's being. There was no time to waste. They answered only at their discretion, it was known, and only after one undertook the perilous journey required to reach them. Of the three sisters, Clotho, the "spinner" who spun the thread of life, Lachesis, the "alotter" who measured it, and Atropos, the "inevitable" who ordained its end, Atropos was the one he was bound to by the very nature of his role, she commanded every one of his actions on the surface.

Every death, every soul he had been sent to collect, had come about at her command. In his role, he was beholden to her. To defy her would mean his own death and so, it was with grim acknowledgment of the inevitable that he had determined to meet with her. He did not know if their unique relationship would make her more inclined to answer his questions, but surely, even Atropos would acknowledge that the current affairs were an affront to her designs.

The three sisters resided in three valleys in a realm transcendent, with entrances in both Olympus and the Underworld. The three valleys were shrouded in illusions and peril, the likes of which could foil even the most powerful gods. Only those who managed to surpass the trials surrounding the Fates were granted an audience. What they chose to reveal then, if at all, was at their discretion. Clotho resided in the Valley of Fear, Lachesis in the Valley of Despair, and the one who commanded his bidding… in the Valley of Desire.

Itachi remembered the last time he had seen the three sisters. Shortly after the death of the previous Thanatos. He had seen them convene with Cronus, had watched the Uchiha patriarch whisper urgently to them. Atropos' all-seeing silver eyes had nodded in his direction and the decision had been made. Itachi cast off those memories. It was an incident long past and of little relevance at present.

He saw Chiyo's hut loom just at the crest of a hill and approached it with characteristic, unhurried grace. Just as he reached the wooden door, it swung open of its own accord. Within, stood an elderly goddess who stood staring into the hearth. The little house was orderly for the most part, with the exception of a few herbs and tools scattered across the table. Ancient, leather-bound books lay spread open nearby. A wooden bowl of milk lay at the foot of the table, as if expecting some animal to partake of it, but it seemed untouched.

"Young lord Thanatos…" she greeted, still staring into the flames with her back towards him.

"Lady Hecate," he nodded politely, "You are aware of the purpose of my visit."

She sighed, and the sound seemed to come from the depths of the earth itself. "Indeed," she murmured in agreement, turning to him now with weary, sorrowful eyes. "Your intentions here are but one of the many things I know about you, my young lord."

Itachi said nothing to this, although the implications were not lost on him. What Hecate intended to reveal, she would reveal without being prompted, and what she intended to conceal, would remain concealed, even if the combined powers of the Underworld were averse.

"I can not convince you to alter your course, young Thanatos. I can only attempt to provide you aid in acquiring the answers you seek." The elderly goddess seemed all at once to reflect her aged appearance in that moment. It was a curiosity, that a goddess who could choose any form she desired for herself, chose to spend her days in the appearance of a decrepit woman. Vanity apparently had no place in a heart so filled with the knowledge of ages past, present, and future.

"Passage to the Valley of Desire is all the aid I request of you."

Hecate held the stoic deity's weighty onyx gaze a long moment before answering. "Are you prepared, then, to face your innermost desires?"

Itachi was not greatly concerned. He was not plagued with desire as many other gods or mortals were known to be. He was largely at peace with the realm as it was. He knew how to accept what others would consider ill-fate or a disaster with grace and forbearance. There was little he could be said to desire. Perhaps his brother's successful future. Ruling over the underworld with his sincerity of heart and his purity of intention. His inherent kindness and his noble, proud manner. Perhaps the rose-haired goddess would be at his side.

"There is no cause for concern," he responded mildly.

"Oh," the elderly deity's eyebrows rose in surprise, "now I  _ am  _ concerned. Did you not peer into your heart before beginning your journey?" Seeing the impatience on his otherwise passive expression, she turned towards a dark curtain blocking a small hallway. "Fear not, I shall guide you to the entrance."

She lifted the heavy, frayed curtain and beyond lay naught but darkness, thick and palpable like a solid mass. "This way, young lord," Hecate encouraged, gesturing for him to pass through.

Itachi did so without hesitation, prepared for whatever awaited on the other side. As the surrounding darkness brushed against his clothing and whatever of his skin was exposed, he turned back partly to see that Hecate and the opening to her hut had both disappeared. Itachi returned his attention to the matter at hand and ventured forward until the darkness split, revealing a fog-shrouded path leading towards a silvery lake.

Itachi tested his weight on the glistening steely waters, before moving decidedly onwards. No sooner had he reached the middle of the lake however, than he fell through the water's surface, through the earth at the bottom of the lake and again through water. There was a dizzying sensation and all at once he stood atop the glistening silver lake again, dry and not a strand of hair out of place.

The quality of the fog was thicker, now, and the air was heavy with humidity. Absolute stillness reigned in the surrounding area. Not so much as an insect's buzz interrupted the silence. Itachi moved forward and stepped onto the soft banks at the opposite end. Even his sharingan could not pierce through the thick fog and yet, he knew with certainty, he had arrived at the Valley of Desire.

  
  


* * *

AN: Hope you guys liked it! Please don't forget to review! :D

Cain Lockwood by Em (https://emilyisnursebaymax.tumblr.com/)


	24. Part XXIII: Smoke and Mirrors

Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter. Hope you enjoy this one!

* * *

**Part XXIII: Smoke and Mirrors**

* * *

Slayte watched idly as people outside the tea shop bustled past without looking in, almost as if her own pervasive negative energy repelled them. It was an unusually quiet Saturday morning and Slayte assumed that most people were sleeping in on the weekend, making the most of their day off. With a sigh, she crossed her arms over the counter, resting her forehead against them. If a customer came in, she assumed, she would notice them by the bell. It would surely be alright to rest her head a little?

Ever since the split from Elissa, the days seemed to blur together, blending into one another. No matter how many times she slept and awakened, it was always just more of the same.

"Oi," a smooth voice chided to her right. Slayte did not even lift her head, knowing Levi was looking at her over the rim of his newspaper through disapproving cool grey eyes from where he sat reclining in a black kitchen chair. "This is why I keep telling you, you need more friends." The rustling sound of him straightening the newspaper announced that he had returned to his reading.

"You mean like you?" she mumbled without lifting her head.

"Hey, I have friends," he returned easily, not lifting his eyes from the fine print of the newspaper. "They're just busy and I don't want to see them."

Slayte's head shot up in irritation, "Those aren't friends!"

Levi raised a brow at her indignant response, but merely returned to the newspaper, "And you would know that, because?"

"Friends stick together! Friends want to see each other." She stormed to her feet and crossed over to him, tearing the newspaper out of his hands in frustration, "Friends can't live without each other!"

Her dark eyes flashed with the force of her passionate outburst, and were met with Levi's unimpressed steel-grey irises. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's just you."

Slayte sighed, her eyes wavering miserably. Maybe it _was_ just her, who saw friendship that way. "Sorry," she mumbled, handing him back his newspaper. He ignored the apology and the newspaper, reaching for her wrist instead.

"Hey, you have me. Is that really so bad?" It was an odd sort of assurance, and she stepped towards him dejectedly, her head lowered in defeat.

"No," she agreed, standing between his knees now, allowing him to reach for her other wrist as well. "I'm really grateful for you, Levi. I don't know what I would do without you," she confessed quietly.

"Then let's make the most of what we've got, yeah?" His harsh tone veiled the concern that was apparent in his hooded grey eyes and Slayte nodded mutely. "She'll come around," he promised, and Slayte desperately wanted to believe him.

The ringing of the bell sounded at the front door prompting the two of them to turn in unison, confused when the door opened but no one entered.

"The hell?" Levi got to his feet, passing around the counter and raised an eyebrow in surprise at what he saw.

"Vetty!" Slayte exclaimed, having followed behind him. "What are you doing here?"

Indeed, the furry black feline sat on their pristine floor innocently waving her bushy black tail back and forth as she set expectant eyes on them. Levi moved to retrieve a bowl of milk for the cat and Slayte walked closer, kneeling in front of her.

"Hey, you," she smiled, "It's good to see you." She reached out to stroke her fur gently. "What brings you here? Were you feeling lonely at home?"

Vetty mewled softly before passing by Slayte to trail after Levi into the kitchen. She purred, rubbing against his leg before accepting the bowl of milk he had set down for her.

"What's she doing here?" Levi asked Slayte, who only shrugged, nonplussed, in response.

"Maybe she was bored? I'd better let Elissa know she's here," Slayte commented, pulling her phone from her jeans' pocket to snap a photo of Vetty and forward it to Elissa. She worried her lower lip, rephrasing the message multiple times until it seemed okay and sending it off.

The two of them watched Vetty drink, before exchanging an uncertain glance.

"Would she be considered a health hazard?" Slayte turned questioning eyes on him.

"Let's keep her out of sight during opening hours," Levi decided. The jingling of the front door's bell signaled the entrance of new customers and an end to the peaceful lull.

* * *

"Your knight has arrived on his valiant steed," Cain declared, pushing the visor of his helmet up as he pulled up outside Elissa's apartment just before the sun had fully set.

"Cain? What's this?" Elissa grinned in surprise, her eyes taking in the sleek black motorbike he'd arrived on. It was the day of the music festival, and he'd informed her that he would be picking her up. She hadn't quite expected the mode of transportation, however, and stared at it in astonishment.

"Your mechanical steed, of course." Cain chuckled. He wore a grey leather jacket over a black T-shirt and dark blue jeans. Holding up another helmet, he added, "One of my bikes, darling. Have you ever been on one before?"

"Never," Elissa admitted. She'd dressed for the occasion in ripped detail, black skinny jeans, a sleeveless black top with lace detailing at the neckline, a leather jacket and chunky-heeled, black ankle-length boots. She'd braided her hair and accessorised with earrings and statement jewelry, completing the look with black eyeliner and lipgloss, as was befitting for a rock concert.

"Elissa," Cain's eyes trailed appreciatively over her slender figure as she accepted the helmet. "You look like a dream."

"Thanks," she flashed him a dimpling smile. "Channeling my inner rock-chick."

"It suits you," he complimented sincerely. Elissa smiled and slung her studded black satchel bag over her head. Then she put on the helmet and slipped excitedly onto the passenger seat behind him. Gripping onto his sides, she held her breath in anticipation.

Cain revved the engine loudly, and told her, "Hold on tight. I like to drive in the fast lane."

Elissa beamed as he pulled off into the road, enjoying the weightlessness of riding on a motorcycle. Cain maneuvered through side-streets and onto main roads, until they reached a dual carriageway, where he picked up speed, causing her to squeal in delight.

"Cain!" she cried, as they raced past cars, passing them in a blur. "You're going way too fast!"

"That's the fun of it!" he shouted back. She screamed with laughter as he responded by revving the bike and accelerating even further. Elissa clung onto him for dear life, her arms wrapped around his midriff snugly, half-terrified and half-delighted.

Cain switched lanes without a care in the world, clearly a proficient rider, and Elissa had never felt such a liberating sense of freedom on the road. No car she had been inside compared to it. The city lights streamed by as Cain overtook vehicle after vehicle, fitting through tiny spaces, driving riskily.

Elissa, ever sensible on the road, felt her heart jump into her throat as he cut in front of a car that honked loudly at them, the driver clearly angry at the dangerousness of the move. Elissa bit her lower lip, then recalled that the helmet meant nobody knew who she was. It was exhilarating, exciting, speeding through the night with a handsome companion in such a way. She felt like she was breaking rules for the first time in her life, and that both alarmed and thrilled her.

The sound of sirens and the flashing of lights caused her enthusiasm to plummet considerably as she glanced in the rear-view mirrors to find that a police vehicle had pulled out from behind one of the cars and was tailing them. Elissa's stomach twisted to form tight knots of dread. She knew Cain had been going way too fast!

"Cain!" she yelled, tugging at his clothing to draw his attention to her. "The police are right behind us! You have to pull over!"

She wasn't sure he could hear her over the sound of passing traffic, but surely he had noticed the law-enforcing vehicle chasing them? To her dismayed horror, he sped up instead, swerving to overtake another van at close range, and Elissa felt a sliver of fear whisper through her. The more he continued to ignore the cops, the more deliberate his actions would come across to be. The police siren continued to bare, flashing blinking red and blue lights at them to indicate that they needed to stop and pull over.

"Cain!" Elissa called out, alarmed. "We need to stop!"

"Damn," he muttered, and finally indicated, pulling obediently over to the left of the carriageway, unhurried and unconcerned. The police car rolled to a stop right behind, lights flashing, and a tall officer in black and white uniform exited the car, joined by his slighter female colleague. They lifted radio devices to their mouths and immediately began to file a report.

"Speeding motorcycle on A2 dual carriageway, over." Elissa heard the female radio in. "Pending identification details."

"We're in trouble," Elissa gulped nervously. She couldn't believe it was her first bike ride - and that she'd been pulled over for being on a speeding vehicle. It was the kind of behaviour that reckless, thrill-seeking teenagers engaged in, and the responsible part of her was ashamed and mortified at the prospect of breaking the law.

Cain switched off his engine. "Don't worry, darling," he reassured her smoothly, removing his helmet. "I'll handle this. You stay on the bike."

"What?" Elissa protested, feeling a surge of panic as she watched the officers approach them in the rear-view mirror.

"Relax, Elissa," Cain touched her shoulder and turned to face the officers.

"Officers!" he greeted enthusiastically. "How are you both doing on this fine evening?"

The silver-haired male officer eyed him warily, clearly unimpressed. "What's your name?"

"Doctor Cain Lockwood, at your service, officers," Cain gave a polite bow. The younger female officer stared at him, as if he had grown a pair of horns on his head, clearly taken aback by his eccentric mannerisms.

"Have you been drinking?" she questioned suspiciously.

"Not yet," Cain grinned easily. "My companion and I were just on our way to a music festival. But I would be happy to take a test for you."

The female officer dug into the pouch attached to her belt and pulled out a breathalyser device to check the levels of alcohol in the bloodstream.

"Are you aware that you were doing twenty over the speed-limit on this dual carriageway?" The male officer asked.

Cain's eyes widened. "I had no idea, officer. I'm new to town, and used to country roads without much traffic in them."

"Is that right?" The officer answered gruffly,

"I swear it," Cain insisted.

"Right. Your driving license please, then breathe into this. Your companion, too. Remove your helmet and off the bike, please."

Elissa nervously did as she was requested as Cain produced his legal documentation, then breathed into the device.

The female officer examined it. "No alcohol levels," she informed her male colleague.

"Surprising, given the way he was driving," the officer remarked.

"Vehicle registration plate CA1N D0C, over."

There was static from the device, and then the reply, "Roger, confirm license number, over."

"Doctor Cain Lockwood, license ID number LOCKW20456840B6G4 83, requesting records, over." The blond-haired, pretty female officer spoke into her radio device, her green eyes lingering on Cain, who smiled flirtatiously at her.

"I don't have a bike license," Elissa answered, anxious to convince the officers that she had done nothing wrong. "I'm just the passenger."

"Photo ID, Miss," the male officer held out his hand expectantly, his voice stern.

"Of course, officer," Elissa shot a worried frown at Cain, then fished for her purse in her bag, handing over her car driving license before taking the breathalyser test, too.

"Clear." The officer noted as she handed back the device. "Miss Angelissa Caelum, ID number CAELU20157849M2IJ 37, over." He lifted his communication device to his mouth. "Requesting license records and history, over."

"License valid and clear on Mr. Lockwood. Vehicle registered to name. One accident in the last five years, over," came the static response in the woman's radio device. "Five counts of speeding over the last three years. Attended courses, no points issued on license."

"Thanks," the female officer's eyebrows lifted. "Been caught speeding before, have you?"

"Only when I've been in a rush to get to the hospital," Cain defended. "I am otherwise a fully law abiding citizen, I assure you, officer."

"And I suppose you were speeding for the same reason now?" she looked unconvinced.

"Oh, no. I was merely trying to impress lovely Elissa, here. I take absolutely full responsibility for my recklessness," Cain held up his hands as Elissa gawked at him in disbelief. "Can you blame me?" he glanced at Elissa. "She's never been on a motorbike before, and I admit I wanted to give her an experience to remember."

"You've sure done that," the female officer remarked dryly. "By getting pulled over for speeding."

"Report, over," the response came through on the male officer's radio device. "No record of previous offences found for Miss Caelum. No points on license. License valid and clear."

"Roger, thanks, over," the male officer took notes in his notepad.

"I apologise. Sincerely. It was rash and stupid of me. However can I convince you of my genuine remorse?" Cain offered.

Elissa bit her lower lip. He was a good actor, but would the officers buy it?

"You can start with some points on your license," the male officer scowled. "You've been cautioned before about speeding, and you're still doing it."

"I am genuinely sorry. As I said, the other incidents involved me having to get to hospital urgently to treat patients. This was really just a foolish error of judgement on my part, today."

"Where's your registration card?" The female officer demanded.

"Here," he provided her with documents to verify his registered doctor status. "I assure you, I will not be so reckless again. Besides, my father would be most displeased if I were to get any points on my license."

"Should've thought about that before you sped, son," the male officer grumbled.

"You're a little grown to be worrying about your father's approval," the female police lady remarked. "You should be worrying about how this affects you."

"Ah, but my father is Lucas Lockwood," Cain informed her. "He works in the oil and gas industry and reputation is everything to him. I'd be an embarrassment if he were to find out!"

The officers exchanged glances.

"Lucas Lockwood?" The male officer repeated, his eyebrows lifting in surprise. "The oil tycoon? You can definitely afford a few points on your license, then." But his lips curved slightly, as if in amusement.

"This is an example of privilege being a burden, I fear," Cain lamented charmingly.

The female officer chuckled. "Talkative, aren't you?"

"Especially to police officers. I have the utmost respect for the job that you do. You know my father donated funds to the force just this past year that's gone? One of his closest friends is a well-known constable."

"We know," the policeman answered wryly. "Everyone knows."

Elissa listened to their exchange, staring at Cain in shock. His dad was a _tycoon_ ? He hadn't mentioned that his parents were _that_ well-off! Though she supposed she ought to have expected it, from his apartment and selection of cars - and even the bike he was riding.

"Just think officer." Cain was continuing conversationally. "It would contribute to an increased risk of me being banned from driving altogether, and then I wouldn't be able to save lives at all."

Elissa remained silent, not daring to speak a word. She suddenly felt like a guilty child who had been called into the principal's office at school - even when she had done nothing wrong herself.

The female officer laughed despite herself. "That's as ridiculously dramatic an excuse as I've ever heard, Doctor Lockwood."

"But it's true," Cain insisted. "Saving lives is what I'm passionate about, and this really was just a moment of foolishness on my part. Can't you just give me a slap on the wrist and a caution?" He turned imploring eyes onto the female officer.

She exchanged another look with her colleague, who frowned.

"Officers," Elissa finally decided to speak up, hoping that she could somehow help to diffuse the situation so that Cain wouldn't end up with any sort of fine or blight on his driving record - though he _did_ deserve it. "We're really sorry. He was just trying to show off, but I know he knows better. He's always so responsible. I'm sure he won't do it again."

"I assure you, that this will be the final time this ever happens," Cain added. "In future, I'll only speed in the back of an ambulance."

"Alright, alright," the policeman shook his head. "You can talk for the world, you can. Suppose you get that from your father?"

"I'm told," Cain smiled.

"I'm making a note here that this is your final warning, and if you get pulled over again, it'll be three straight points on your record." The policeman added sternly.

"Officer. You are most kind. Both of you. Please give me your names. I'll ensure you are recognised for your fairness."

Elissa bit her lip to keep her mouth from dropping open. Was he offering to _bribe_ the officers?! She couldn't believe it.

"None of that," the policeman scoffed.

"I'd like to know your names regardless?" Cain's eyes shifted between the two.

"Officer Ella Harker, and Officer Steven Willis," the female replied. "We're local and if you speed down this carriageway again, we'll catch you!" She ripped a page off her notebook and handed it to Cain. An official warning letter, Elissa spied, relief flooding through her that they'd gotten off lightly for speeding with nothing more than that.

"My good officers, you have my word it will never happen again. You are most kind," Cain thanked them profusely.

Steven released a sigh. "Consider yourself lucky this time, Lockwood," he said. "Drive safely, and if you're going to drink at this concert, make sure you're getting a lift back."

"Of course," Cain nodded.

"On your way then," Ella instructed.

"Thank you, officers!" Elissa called.

The officers gave them a perfunctory nod and then returned to their vehicle. They soon drove off, and Cain turned to Elissa, bursting out into laughter.

"I can't believe you!" Elissa cried, half-angry, half-impressed at how he had managed to suavely talk his way out of getting a fine and points on his license. "How'd you do that?!"

"Are you impressed?" he grinned.

"No! Maybe? I don't know!" Elissa threw up her hands. "I can't believe they let you off the hook!"

"My father always donates to the police force." Cain sniggered. "I just had to drop his name, and voila."

"Cain!" she smacked him on his arm, prompting him to laugh harder. "I was so scared we were going to get in serious trouble! You never told me your dad was a tycoon!"

"What difference does it make who he is? You're adorable, Elissa," he smirked back at her. "Such a goody-two-shoes. We really need to do something about that."

"I'm a law abiding citizen," Elissa argued back, as they mounted back on the bike again.

"With the potential to deviate," he teased. "You called me responsible there, and backed my story up."

"Aren't you responsible?" she threw back. "I mean, when you're _not_ speeding like a bat out of hell?"

"Sometimes," he shrugged, unconcerned. "In my job, very much so. But I also like to live life on the edge, darling. It's so much more exciting. You feel so much more alive. Wasn't this fun?"

"I hated it," Elissa replied, but found herself grinning widely at his antics. "You're completely crazy, you know that?"

"A compliment, coming from you," he laughed, putting his helmet back on. "Wait. I need to snap this before we go, so we remember the day we escaped the law." He lifted his phone, as Elissa slipped her helmet on her head. "Look this way, darling," he instructed her, and Elissa pulled a thumbs up, striking a pose with him.

Cain chuckled as he captioned the picture and made sure to tag Elissa on social media. Then, slipping his phone back into his pocket, he switched the ignition on the bike, and pulled back out onto the dual carriageway.

* * *

Slayte sat curled up against the cushions, waiting patiently for Levi to return with the rest of the snacks before they selected a movie together, Vetty snuggled on her lap. They'd decided on a quiet, cosy Saturday night in, which suited her just fine - but she felt Elissa's absence all too acutely, recalling the last movie night they'd had, and how much fun it had been spending time together. A deep twinge of sadness filled her chest and she stared sullenly down at her phone as she idly scrolled through her social media page. It was filled mostly with quotes, some sarcastically humorous, most witty, and others that edged on downright depressing. Elissa would like some of them, but lately she'd stopped doing so. Ever since the day of the swimming accident, her best friend had become increasingly distant, responding shortly to Slayte's messages and attempts at asking after her. She had only stopped by the tea-shop once, to pick up cakes after her car had broken down, and though she answered Levi's calls to check up on her on most occasions, the conversations were always brief, and her text messages were even briefer.

Slayte pressed on her friend's name on the social media app, opening up her profile picture as she absently petted Vetty's head with her free hand. It was Elissa, standing with her arms around her two, handsome brothers on her previous birthday. They all wore silly looks on their faces, and Elissa had a paper crown on. Her elder brother, Gabriel, was the more serious of the two, it was apparent from the awkwardness of his expression. The youngest, Castiel, had pulled the most ridiculous face, his green eyes alight with mischief.

Slayte smiled slightly at the photo. That was what a true family looked like. She'd never had blood relations - but she'd found her own family in Levi and Elissa. Now one of her family members was angry at her. Slayte tried to reassure herself that things would work out fine. Elissa just needed some space. She could give her that, couldn't she? Though it made her stomach churn with unease and anxiety at being forced to keep her distance by a friend who refused to see and talk to her. At least Thanatos had answered her call and granted her the crow to help her keep an eye on Elissa from a distance. So far, the crow had reported back nothing amiss. That was something of a reassurance, but Slayte still wished that somehow, she could turn back the clock, and that things could go back to how they had been. Before Vetty had ever showed up. Back when it was just the three of them, and they'd all been happy and content together.

The Fates, however, had obviously had other plans, and now Elissa, an innocent, unsuspecting human, was caught in the middle of someone's harmful plans, someone dangerous and Slayte had no way of knowing who it was. She hoped that Thanatos would be able to discover more soon and take care of things as he had assured her he would, so that all her fears for Elissa's well being would be laid to rest.

She scrolled down her friend's page, missing her terribly - only to notice that a new photo had just popped up onto her feed. Elissa had been tagged - no more than fifteen minutes earlier - by… Slayte's eyes immediately narrowed at the name. Cain Lockwood. She tensed and sat up, tapping the photo to open it up, inspecting it suspiciously. An image of Cain and Elissa sitting together on a motorbike, with their visors up stared back at her, along with the caption: _How to get out of a speeding ticket after the police pull you over._

Elissa had liked the photo, and commented, _'You could talk your way out any disaster'_ , to which Cain had responded, _'Don't you know it, darling?'_ Followed by a winking face.

"What?!" Slayte gasped in dismay, staring at the photo in disbelief, prompting Vetty to mewl in protest as she shifted in position. She glanced up as Levi entered the room, a bowl of popcorn in one hand, and a bottle of coke in the other.

"Oi," he immediately caught the horrified expression on her face, and frowned. "What's with that look?"

"Levi!" she cried, holding up the incriminating photo on her phone. "Look at this!"

Levi kicked the door shut and set the bowl of popcorn and the bottle neatly down in front of them. Settling beside her, he leaned over as Slayte held the photo up for him to see.

"Speeding!" Slayte exclaimed. "I'm telling you, he's a bad influence on her!"

Levi sighed tiredly. "You don't need to tell _me_ that."

"How does she not see how terrible he is?" His girlfriend was visibly livid.

Levi had no answer to that. "They got pulled over," he shook his head disapprovingly. "But it's not the end of the world, Slayte."

"How can you be so unfazed? If they got pulled over, then he was driving way too fast," Slayte responded indignantly. "What if he'd lost control of the motorbike, Levi?"

"But he didn't. People speed all the time. You're overreacting," Levi answered calmly.

"I'm not. Elissa would never speed. I just hate him being around her." Slayte then scowled when a new notification popped up on Elissa's page. "She's just checked into the concert," she informed Levi, clicking on the location information. "She's going to be with that creep all night!"

"I don't like him either, but you need to calm down."

"Can you call her? Just to check that she's alright?"

"Slayte," Levi gave her a patient look. Once again, Elissa was overshadowing time they'd set aside to spend together. He understood his girlfriend's concerns - but he also believed that it was for the best to give Elissa some space, until she processed her anger and calmed down. "She's fine, she just checked in-"

" _Please_ , Levi," Slayte pleaded.

He searched her doe-brown eyes, finding them to be full of desperation and misery - and relented with a sigh.

"Fine. I'll call her," he turned his eyes up to the ceiling in mild exasperation. He wondered if minding a child would be easier than minding Elissa at this point. She wasn't making the best decisions, but he wondered how much of that was actively of her choosing - and how much of it was from Cain's influence rubbing off on her.

Elissa answered on the fourth ring. Slayte leaned in close, hearing loud music playing in the background, along with a chorus of singing voices.

" _Levi? What?"_ Came her friend's voice. Levi hit the loudspeaker button, allowing Slayte to listen in more clearly.

"What're you up to?" he questioned, straight to the point and no-nonsense.

 _"I'm at a concert with Cain."_ Elissa replied. _"It's just started, so-"_

"How'd you get there?" Levi questioned.

" _What?"_

"How'd you get to the concert?"

" _Cain took me. Why?"_

"Your car fixed yet?"

" _What?"_ She called over the noise.

" _Your car,"_ Levi repeated slowly. "Is it fixed?"

" _Not yet! But Cain gave me a replacement, so it's fine."_

Slayte's jaw dropped. Cain had given her a _replacement?_ And Elissa had accepted?

"Did you go by car?"

" _What? No. What's with the questions?"_ Not giving him a chance to answer, she went on in irritation, _"Look, I'm fine, okay? I already messaged you to tell you that, you didn't need to call. I know Slayte told you to check on me. Tell her I'm an adult, not some baby that needs minding!"_

Slayte bit her lower lip, and opened her mouth to address her friend, but Levi shot her a warning, silencing look.

" _I need to get back to the concert."_ Elissa said.

"Text me when you get home," Levi instructed. "If I don't hear from you, I'm dropping by."

" _What the hell? I have a curfew, now?"_

"Remember what I said at your office?" he raised a brow. "You let me know you're safe."

" _Fine, fine."_ Elissa huffed reluctantly. _"Goodnight!"_ With those words, she hung up.

"Tch," Levi uttered in disapproval.

"See? She's pulling away from us completely, and just letting that creep into her life like- like we don't even exist anymore." Slayte drew her knees up to her chest miserably, hugging Vetty close. "I hate this, Levi. We can't just sit back and let this happen. He's already gotten her involved in a speeding incident. That means he wasn't even driving safely with her!"

"We'll keep an eye on her," Levi answered. "Don't overreact. You do that, she'll pull away even more." At his girlfriend's dejected look, he sighed. "Oi. Just give it time. We're not leaving her alone. Got it?"

Slayte met his gaze sullenly, and nodded.

* * *

Elissa laughed as she slipped off the motorbike. She'd had a wonderful evening at the concert, had sang the night away and couldn't remember the last time she'd really let her hair down. The rock band had been surprisingly good, even though they weren't her usual style of music. Cain had brought them food and small bottles of alcohol. She'd drank a little, nowhere near enough to get intoxicated, but could feel the alcohol in her blood from how warm and relaxed her body was. It was a pleasant feeling, Elissa thought to herself, and had helped take the edge off her troubled thoughts, allowing her to thoroughly enjoy her evening without a care. It was the best and most alive she'd felt, since the day of the beach accident, when her world had fallen apart over a week earlier.

Cain had been sensible too, knowing that they had a ride home to catch and had not wanted a repeat incident of being pulled over by the police so soon.

"Thanks so much for tonight," she smiled, taking off her helmet and handing it back to him. "I really had a great time."

"So did I," he grinned, pushing the visor of his helmet up. "We really need to do this again, darling."

"Definitely," Elissa agreed. She glanced at her watch, surprised to find that it was already ten minutes past midnight. "Did you want to come in?"

"Tempting, but no. I'd better head back," Cain answered. "I have some case notes I need to study tomorrow morning and have to pop into the hospital in the afternoon."

"Alright," Elissa nodded. "Goodnight, and drive safely."

"Sleep well, Elissa." Cain winked and pushed the visor down, revving his engine.

"No speeding!" She called teasingly after him as he turned the bike around. He raised a hand in parting and rode off into the night.

Shaking her head and smiling to herself, Elissa made her way inside her apartment block and up to her apartment door.

She scrolled through her phone and caught up on her messages as she let herself into her flat, informing Levi that she was fine - only to frown slightly when she saw a new message notification from Slayte. She opened it, to find a picture attachment of Vetty.

_Hey Elissa. I hope you're alright. Vetty's just shown up at the tea-shop, in case you're looking for her. Come by and collect her whenever you like?_

Elissa scowled, looking at the time-stamp of the message. Half an hour after she had left with Cain. What business did Vetty have heading over to Slayte and Levi's without her permission? It seemed her cat still retained a wilful streak. Flipping on the apartment lights, she shrugged out of her black leather jacket, and called out to her pet, wondering whether she had returned from her trip to the tea-shop.

"Vetty, I'm home. Sorry I'm late!"

Silence met her. Rubbing tiredly at her eyes and stifling a yawn, Elissa searched the kitchen for any signs of her cat. She found the milk bowl empty, but nothing else seemed to be out of order. Kicking off her boots, she walked into the living room. Everything was tidy and there was no sign of Vetty.

Frowning to herself, Elissa checked the utility and bathrooms and then headed into her bedroom. It was late. Surely she ought to have returned by now?

"Vetty?" she called. "Where are you?"

She opened the balcony doors and stepped outside, looking over the handrail. The street far below was silent and empty.

"That's weird," she muttered to herself. "How did she even get out?"

Besides the kitchen window which she always left open, Elissa couldn't think where Vetty might have exited the apartment from. Her block was also too high up for the cat to jump down. She gazed at the street far below in confused concern, trying to figure out how Vetty might have landed there safely. A pipe ran down the length of the building. Perhaps her cat had scrambled down that? Or jumped down from balcony to balcony on the lower floors? It wasn't impossible for a cat, perhaps.

Standing on the balcony, her thoughts were directed back to her unexpected meeting with Shisui not two nights prior, when he had appeared before her suddenly, alighting upon the hand-rails out of thin air. She recalled that he had openly admitted that he and Itachi weren't human. A shudder shot down Elissa's spine, followed by a crawling feeling of discomfort. She had resolved to put all of that unpleasantness behind her. She was never going to see either of them again, had made it clear they were no longer welcome to intrude on her life. There was no use or sense in entertaining thoughts of them any longer.

A sudden ruffling sound caused her to jump involuntarily, startled by the unexpected noise. Her eyes darted to her left, locating the source of the sound, and she blinked in surprise at what she found.

A black crow was perched on the end of the railing. It regarded her calmly with its beady dark eyes, flapping its wings. Elissa stared at it in astonishment. It was beautiful - but what in the world was it doing on her balcony at such a late hour? Odd. Crows slept during the night, as far as she knew.

What was it with unexpected visitors showing up outside her balcony, all of a sudden?

"Hey there, little guy," she walked carefully up to it, peering at it closely. "What're you doing out here so late?"

The crow cawed in response, and tilted its head at her - before spreading its wings and soaring up into the air, disappearing into the night. Elissa watched it fly into the sky for a moment, puzzled, and then shrugged and turned away, stepping back inside, leaving the balcony doors open for Vetty to return to her whenever she was ready.

* * *

The evening was still young by the time Levi and Slayte had finished their movie. Levi sat in an armchair as he waited for Slayte to finish with the dishes, preoccupied with the book in his hands, a tale of star-crossed lovers in an apocalyptic alternate universe tormented by flesh-eating giants. Death stalked the poor couple at every turn and Levi was morbidly curious about who would next fall victim to a gruesome fate.

Vetty was curled up in his lap, purring contentedly and he absentmindedly stroked her fur as he turned a page. He felt a pair of eyes on him and stopped reading mid-sentence to look up from his book and find Slayte watching him intently with a small, disgruntled smile on her face.

"What are you looking at?" he muttered, "You're making a pretty stupid face."

"I just can't believe I'm jealous of a cat," Slayte replied with an awkward laugh, drying her hands on a dishcloth.

Levi's hand stilled and his gaze dropped to Vetty, nestled close to him on his lap. "What?" he asked, lifting his gaze to hers once more with a bemused, flattered smirk, "You want to switch places with her?"

Slayte feigned nonchalance even as a blush bloomed to life on her face, "That's alright, I'll just take comfort in knowing that you'll be covered in cat hair after this."

Levi seemed to consider this, but shrugged, "I can always change."

He glanced at her again as she folded the cloth and added, "To listen to you, you'd think I don't pet you enough." He noted with satisfaction that her blush spread to the tips of her ears.

"Gods, Levi!" she exclaimed, her head whipping around to face him, embarrassed, "For a clean freak, you have a surprisingly filthy mouth."

"Filthy?" Levi seemed to take it as a compliment. "This is nothing," he promised with a smirk, but before he could say another word, she had turned on her heel and stalked out of the room. "Oi, where are you going?"

"Somewhere I can have a few minutes of peace!" she called over her shoulder, mortified, before disappearing through the doorway.

"Tch, she's too sensitive," he complained to Vetty, returning to his reading, "I was just getting started."

Vetty blinked in what might have been a feline equivalent to a human eye-roll at their antics before springing lithely from his lap, stalking out of the room after the underworld nymph. Padding through the hallway, she found Slayte hanging up the dish cloth she had been carrying.

Slayte turned to leave the kitchen and her hand hovered over the light switch, but she hesitated as her eye caught on a glass bowl of fruit where a bright, juicy red pomegranate glistened under the fluorescent lighting invitingly. The popcorn had been salty, and suddenly Slayte craved nothing more than a few bites of the delicious, sweet, red fruit.

Surface pomegranates were not as rich and intoxicating as the pomegranates of the underworld, but these were her own, she could have as many as she wanted, whenever she wanted. Slayte abandoned the light switch and lifted the red fruit in her hands.

It was then that she noted Vetty padding across the tiled floor towards her. "Hey, Vetty," Slayte greeted. It occurred to her that Vetty might indeed have understood what Slayte had said about being jealous and reassured her, "I wasn't serious, you know. I don't mind sharing him with you. He has a nice aura, right?"

Slayte pulled a knife from the drawer to drag a few clean cuts along the crown of the pomegranate. "You know what I don't get, Vetty?" she added conversationally as Vetty jumped up onto the counter beside her. Picking the crown off of the pomegranate, she glanced at the cat that looked up at her expectantly.

"You tried to kill Elissa so many times and she still loves you. I've been trying to save her again and again, but I get hated, why?" Vetty meowed, and Slayte snorted in response, "Is this you telling me to stop wasting my time on dumb thoughts?" She frowned in contemplation as she dumped the waste, "Well, maybe... you can't talk, right? So, she can't hate you for keeping secrets, I guess."

Slayte turned and leaned against the counter as she pried the two halves of the pomegranate apart. "Is this even your true form? Or do you have another?" She regarded Vetty curiously as she spoke. This spontaneous visit marked the first time that Slayte had actually spent an extended amount of time with the underworld cat and she was genuinely curious. "I wonder how you came to be immortal… how old are you?"

Vetty blinked at her, and Slayte smiled wryly. "Stupid of me to think you would answer, right?" Slayte bit into the pomegranate, sighing in satisfaction as the sweet juices filled her mouth. What was it about pomegranates? Why were they so satisfying, like no other fruit she'd ever eaten? So what if these were surface pomegranates? They were even sweeter for the knowledge that no one could take these from her, no one could punish her for eating them.

She fell silent as she recalled that painful childhood memory. She had been too young to be assigned a task and too old for anyone to tend to her. She had spent most of those awkward years exploring the Underworld, hoping someone would notice her, hoping someone would guide her. Hoping someone would tell her where she belonged. But of course, no one appeared to do so, and instead, she followed whichever whim took her fancy, picking moonflowers, exploring the gardens, counting the lengths of the five rivers in paces.

She remembered the sense of wonder that had gripped her as she had found the pomegranate orchard. The sweet, pervasive smell of the fruit was prevalent throughout the orchard and had seemed to beckon to her. She was helpless against the intoxicating scent and had wandered into the orchard, hoping to find the source of the exquisite scent. It had felt like a miracle when a pomegranate fell from a tree and rolled straight to her feet.

Her small hands had taken hold of the fruit with a sense of appreciative wonder and lifted it to her nose. She still recalled exactly what it had smelled like, how the rough, leathery skin of the pomegranate had felt against the tip of her nose, and she swallowed thickly as the memory overwhelmed her. She had pried the pomegranate open, just as she had done a moment ago, and had filled her mouth with the sweet, juicy seeds. She remembered the sensation of the sticky juices spilling out of her mouth and dribbling down her chin. Recalled wiping it away with her sleeve, not wanting anyone to call her a useless, dirty nymph again.

And then it had happened. The servants that tended the orchard had found her. Slayte's pulse raced as she recalled the events. The way they had shouted. Hard, pitiless, calloused hands grabbed her wrists and dragged her out of the orchard. Twenty lashes she had been given. One for each seed she had dared to consume, and then they had taken her to Lady Nyx, goddess of Night, to decide over her fate.

Slayte was desperate to escape her own train of thought, and her eyes flitted from the kitchen floor to the windows to Vetty, but her breath caught in her throat as her eyes fixed on the black cat. She remembered with sudden clarity, precisely what had next taken place. They had thrown her onto the cold, wet grass at Nyx's feet and while Nyx questioned the servants as to Slayte's crime, Slayte had lifted her head, trembling from head to toe, and was face to face with Nyx's familiar standing tall and proud just beside her - a black, underworld cat with bushy black fur and wise, knowing eyes.

Slayte gasped in shock and horror as she looked into Vetty's eyes. The pomegranate fell from her hand and rolled over the kitchen floor. She stumbled backwards and pressed a hand to her mouth.

"Vetty… no…" she breathed. It was too horrible to consider.

Vetty cast Slayte a dismissive look before marching elegantly down the length of the counter. She glanced once over her shoulder at the underworld nymph before disappearing out the kitchen window.

Nyx was Vetty's master? Slayte fell back against the counter and gripped onto it with trembling hands. The goddess of night was doubtless the most powerful goddess in the underworld, it wasn't impossible for her to have sent the harpies after Elissa. Could she have some sort of alliance with Poseidon, as well?

Slayte's mind raced, there was no time to waste, she had to tell Thanatos what she had learned. The weight of her newfound knowledge was crushing. Doubtless, if Nyx came to learn what Slayte had pieced together, her very life would be in danger.

Slayte concentrated, opening a channel of telepathic communication but instead of the hum Itachi had shown her, an odd buzzing met her ears and she felt, without quite knowing how, that she was alone in her own mind. She pressed her hands to her temples and concentrated with all of her might, to try and force the channel open, but to no avail. For whatever reason, she could not reach Itachi. But that was impossible. The only possible explanation would be that her master was no longer in the realm, but... he wasn't just any random deity, there was no way that someone could have eliminated him, was there?

Slayte's eyes fell on the pomegranate lying on the kitchen floor and the trail of blood-red juices it had left in its wake.

"Lord Thanatos…" she whispered, her eyes fixed on the innocent fruit in horror, "Where are you?"

* * *

The very ground beneath his feet seemed to give way under his weight, his footprints sinking deep into the moist forest floor. He assumed there were trees on either side of him, judging by the leaves that littered the ground, but the fog was so thick and impermeable, so close and smothering, that he could scarcely see more than a few feet in front of him and nothing of his surroundings, sharingan or not.

Despite being a god, something of this realm seemed to subdue his innate powers as he noted that he experienced actual difficulty lifting one foot after another. He knew not how long he had been walking already, his unchanging surroundings offered no indication of the passage of time. Itachi was, however, a deity of great fortitude by virtue of his character, rather than of his powers, and he pushed forward unhindered by the tiredness settling into his bones. Rather, he was intrigued by this unexpected ability to experience a sensation that was reserved for mortal beings. He felt a tinge of pity for the creatures.

He ventured on, his outward appearance betraying nothing of his fatigue or disorientation. The three valleys were known for the intensity of their illusions and Itachi wondered, briefly, if he was making any headway at all or if the seeming eternity he had spent walking was no more than an illusion itself, a deception in his own mind. It irked him, as a master of illusions himself, to know that it was possible he was being subjected to one, that neither sharingan nor divinity would offer him any aid in facing this trial.

There was nothing to be done but to trudge mindlessly forward, believing that eventually, the road would clear and the fog would break. And yet, nothing of the sort occurred. If anything, the hazy mist only thickened even further, to the point he could not even see his own outstretched hand.

Itachi frowned. What tricks was the valley playing on him now? He stepped forward but at the same moment the fog closed in as well, encircling his black boot, creeping up his leg. Itachi stilled in his movements. The trials of the valley were not without purpose, they were intended to test his mettle. To ascertain that he was worthy of an audience with the Fates. It was wise to wait and see what the valley intended for him.

"My king…" a breathless whisper, both foreign and familiar, echoed around him. The hair at the nape of his neck stood at end, and although Itachi could not place the voice, his body's reaction made it clear it was not a voice to dismiss casually.

"My king…" the two syllables were spoken in an undeniably feminine, melodic tone. The voice was both low and sultry at the same time it was airy and breathless. The sound of it was strangely familiar, even if the words and the intonation were not.

"My king…" this time, the words were spoken directly into his ear - he could feel a warm breath brush against the sensitive skin there - and he turned immediately to the source of the sound, his cloak whirling around him, even as a shiver coursed up his spine. The kaleidoscope pattern of the sharingan in his eyes spun wildly and yet, nothing but fog revealed itself to his ocular gifts.

"How long I have waited for you…"

His mind blanked as he recognized the voice, only an instant before a figure stepped forward, a vision of beauty and delight appearing from the mist. His breath caught in his throat at the sight of her. Sheer, white robes were draped snugly against her curves, a glimpse of her full breasts teased him through the thin fabric, the sun-kissed peachy skin beneath clearly visibly to his eyes. The robes were held together at her shoulders with golden fasteners, and a golden belt fashioned into the shape of a vine of ivy accentuated her trim waist. The curve of her slight shoulders seemed to beckon to him and her bare arms, creamy, smooth, and inviting were decorated with golden bangles at her wrists, while a golden arm cuff curled around her right upper arm. A flower crown of poppies and baby's breath curled around her head through warm, brown locks. It was a vision strange and surreal, but hauntingly familiar.

"My king." The recognition of that breathless whisper stole the breath from his lungs as she approached him.

How could he not recognize those hazelnut tresses, tumbling in loose waves over her shoulders? Or those hazel irises - a tapestry of all the colors of life, of the surface realm, interwoven in those mesmerizing eyes - framed by thick, long lashes? How could he not recognize those rosy, full lips, glistening in the faint light of the valley, upturned towards him, parted slightly in apparent invitation? The soft, ivory skin like a pool of milk, that he knew, from the few times he had touched her, would feel like silk beneath his fingers?

Her small, upturned nose, dusted with a blush that spread over the apples of her cheeks and the smooth frame of her face tapering to a neat oval at her chin were all familiar. It was a face, he assumed, that would likely feel warm, soft, and perfect between his hands. Fitting, destined, preordained.

Before he had time to think, to acknowledge what was happening, to respond, she stepped even closer to him, her bare feet trailing over the grassy floor that was now littered with flower petals, her sheer robes were hiked up and tucked into her belt, revealing creamy, pale calves. When he felt her arms encircle his neck, her hands meeting behind his head, his eyes were drawn back up to hers helplessly. She stood on tiptoe to compensate for the difference in height, and her front was pressed snugly against his, even as her eyes drank him in, dark with desire.

Something seemed to be holding his throat closed, for he could not speak. The feel of her against him was all consuming. The fog cleared and the sun shone warm on the pair, alone in a valley that seemed to exist solely to accentuate her loveliness. In abandoned solitude, with not a soul, nor a worry, nor a thought besides this - Angelissa was in his arms, and she did not belong anywhere else.

Stunned, he reached up to take a hold of her forearm, his gaze flickering from her spellbinding eyes to the soft skin brushing against his face. He drew back in wonder and when her hands came away from behind him, her golden bangles slipped down her wrists, down her arms and over his fingers. He blinked at the movement. The bangles were cold, metallic, heavy - _real._

He held her wrist a moment longer, his eyes lifting from the adornment to meet her own eyes, upturned and pleading.

He pulled back further, his hand sliding up the smooth skin of her underarms and she mewled in protest that he was increasing the distance between them, until his hand fluttered over her wrist, his palm sliding across hers, stilling there a moment, as if considering the feel of the smooth skin of her palm against his own before suddenly, his fingers spread, intertwining between her own and holding onto her hand firmly.

His onyx eyes lifted to her own green-golden ones and regret and longing lingered there, unveiled and vulnerable to her eyes.

"My king," she attempted again, a desperation in her stormy eyes, a note of complaint in her voice, "How much longer must I wait?"

His gaze softened, and his eyelids lowered as he beheld her. "What is it you desire, Angelissa?" he murmured gently, all feelings of shielding her, of denying himself her touch, suddenly forgotten - unreasonable and irrelevant.

"Your touch, my lord… I have awaited you for so long." She squeezed his hand affectionately, even as her other hand lifted to his chest, trailing upwards, feeling his firm muscles beneath his tunic, before coming to rest there. Her gentle touch seemed to burn through him. He lifted a hand to her waist, the journey of his palm around the small of her back was slow and torturous for the both of them, until he pulled her snugly against him once more. He released her hand and she lifted it to wrap slim fingers around the nape of his neck. With a sense of wonder in his eyes, his right hand travelled up her back, before losing itself in her wavy, brown tresses. They were just as soft and lovely as he always assumed they might be, and a faint sigh escaped his lips.

"Who am I…" he murmured into her ear, "... to deny you anything?"

"Then, please…" she whispered back, desperation evident in her breathless tone as she stood on tiptoe to draw closer to him. Pressing herself up against him in yearning, she brought her lips close to his, hesitating just before closing the distance, her warm breath fanning on his lips as she pleaded, "Please stay here with me." His eyes were helplessly drawn to her parted lips, and the fractional distance between them was unbearable. Unbidden, his fingers, tangled in the silky cascade of her chestnut locks, tightened in their hold.

His heart raced and heat seemed to course through his body, even as he felt more calm, more at peace, than he could ever remember feeling. Was it so terrible a suggestion? To stay here, with her, in a world of their own making? Just the two of them, safe and at peace and abandoned to their mutual desire?

"Please…"

Acquiescence was on the tip of his tongue. A murmured agreement that would signal the beginning of something forbidden, something desperate and burning, scathing and furious, something satisfying and overwhelming, sating and perfect - when she spoke the words that caused the blood to freeze in his veins.

"Please, Lord Thanatos."

He drew back, a pained expression in his eyes. His hands disentangled themselves slowly from her hair. His lips, that had only been a breath away from hers, withdrew painstakingly. The hand at her waist lingered over every inch of her skin as he pulled away with great effort, the ache within his chest heavy.

"My king!" her eyes filled with helpless tears as she realized what he was doing, "Please! Don't abandon me!"

He could not bring words to his lips, and his ebony eyes shone with the tormented affliction that lingered deep within them. He lifted a hand to her cheek in a gentle caress, as if engraving the feel of her into his very mind, into his very skin.

She clung to his hand with both of her own as tears streamed freely down her cheeks. "Don't leave me, my love! What will I do here without you? I need you. Help me, please."

Words failed him. He lingered, summoning the strength to pull his hand away, and failing. Her mistake, the epithet she had chosen to address him with, had reawoken his senses. He knew now, with clarity, that she was nothing more than an illusion of the Valley of Desire, and the real Angelissa, the one whose very life hung in the balance, who stumbled through one life-threatening encounter after another, depended on him. Needed desperately for him to break away from this illusion, to get to the root of the terrible mystery that shrouded these attacks on her life, to finally provide her with the peace and security she deserved.

Knowing this, he cast one last, longing look at the illusion's lovely upturned countenance, hesitating despite himself. Where was the harm? No one knew of this encounter but himself. She was not even real, no matter how soft and warm her skin felt. Would it hurt anyone if he leaned in, kissed her tears away, and took her lips with his own?

He wavered, his eyes searching hers, and at length, pulled his hand away. It was pointless. It was a tempting illusion, a seductive vision - but it was not Angelissa. There was no point in tarrying.

He turned from her, and she released an anguished scream that pierced through him, but he ignored it as he marched onwards. He assumed the direction did not matter, so long as he pulled away from the illusion that called to his very being. Her sobs seemed to echo within him, her pained cry haunting his ears, but it faded with every step he took, and at length, he was surrounded once more by darkened, heavy fog.

If he glanced over his shoulder, would he find her there? Or would this realm consider that a failure in battling his temptations? Unwilling to take that risk, he trudged onwards, only taking a few steps before the fog suddenly cleared, revealing a marble temple supported by Corinthian columns, nestled in the center of the expansive valley, clouded by the gloom of the mist that surrounded it. The fog had thinned, now, and no longer blocked his vision but still lingered in the air.

He approached the somber building with quiet confidence. It was time to face her. The deity who forced his hand, time and time again.

The mist seemed to part for him as he drew near and he paused at the entrance, his eyes scanning the ornate marble slabs that lined the perimeter of the building, engraved with images he could not place. A deity kneeling, a flower in his palm, a black feline. Outstretched hands, and what he recognized as the cave leading to the underworld beyond. Two raven-haired individuals, engaged in battle. One victor, apparent from the way he had taken the spoils of the other, wrapped in his cloak, wielding his scepter. But what had happened to the individual who had lost? The carved images did not reveal that information.

They were clearly allusions to a legend of sorts, one that Itachi had never heard of. Had it been that far before his time?

The shadows within seemed to beckon to him, long tendrils of blackness reaching out and tugging at his cloak. Itachi dragged his gaze away from the elaborate engravings and stepped forward into the darkness. His boots clicked against the marbled floor, and he observed how the white marble blended surreally into black marble as he proceeded further in. The darkness intensified all around him and the torches set into sconces along the walls were lit with flames that burned red at the entrance, changing into blue deeper within the building. At last, as he reached an expansive room - as large as perhaps an entire wing of the underworld palace - torches burning with purple flames lined the perimeter of the chamber.

Thick, violet, velvet carpets lined the way from the entrance to the center of the chamber up three black marble steps, where an ornate, onyx throne in a comfortable width but three times his height stood resplendently on a dais. Seated on this throne was none other than the goddess Atropos herself.

She sat proudly, one leg crossed over the other, her right arm rested on the armrest of her throne, one that had been hers since its conception and would remain hers until the end of time. Her left elbow was propped up on the other armrest and a long, elegant fingertip pressed to her temple supported her head, cocked to one side. Her eyes were pressed closed, and her long lashes cast spider-like shadows over her cheeks.

The goddess' long, black hair reflected no light and spilled down over her shoulders and past the steps, bleeding out into the room like ink. Her lips were matte black, as dark as death itself, and her skin was so pale, it was hard to tell if that translucent shade bordering on deathly pale lavender was her true skin tone or a reflection of the violet flames flickering along the walls.

Her appearance was one not a soul would dare consider beautiful, although it was undoubtedly such, if it did not radiate such a dark, haunting, deathly power.

Itachi approached without waiting for an invitation and knelt before her.

"Lady Atropos," he addressed politely, humbly, as was his nature.

At length, her lashes slowly lifted, revealing ethereal silver eyes that glowed in the darkness and peered straight through him.

"Itachi," she acknowledged with a voice disembodied, it seemed to speak from inside his head at the same time as it sounded from all around him.

She regarded him with a disinterest bordering on boredom. "Do not take offense at my use of your true name. I do not care to count every Thanatos I have known."

She straightened and lowered her left hand to the armrest solemnly as well. "And I do not intend to waste my time with other than the truth."

Her eyes fell on his lowered head, and her stony expression revealed nothing of the mysteries beyond her luminous gaze.

"Rise, child," she commanded.

He did so, straightening and meeting her eyes evenly, unintimidated. He was polite, not submissive. A fine quality.

"I've yet to see a deity so consumed with thoughts of defying their role live as long as you have, little one." Subdued mirth, unmistakable, rang true in her words. "You are to collect the souls, not to think on them."

"My actions are bound to your will," Itachi responded in guarded tones, "My thoughts are not."

"Ah," she agreed solemnly, "And I, too, am bound to the will of one unseen."

Curiosity sparked in Itachi's eyes, the possibility that the Fates were also bound in a way to a higher power was something that had not crossed his mind. Just as the mortals cursed "cruel Fate" so, too, did he, somewhere in his subconsciousness, blame the Fates for every soul he was forced to take despite its anguished pleas.

"Never you mind that," she added, reading his thoughts, "It need not concern you. Whether he lives or not, his will binds us all."

"Tell me, young Itachi, what knowledge do you seek? You have withstood a most enchanting illusion," she acknowledged with a belittling smile, "and stand now before me. Pose your questions before I bore of you."

Itachi stood tall and regal amongst the flickering, violet torchlight, weighing his words. "Lady Atropos is aware of my intentions," he announced evenly, unaffected by her threats.

"Indeed. Omniscience is wearisome." The monotonous drone of her voice was a clear indication of the truth of that statement. "Your mortal slip of a thing pines for you and throws herself to ruin in the process, knowing you will only appear when she is in danger. Foolishness, is it not? It is doubtful she, herself, is aware of what she is doing. All the while, you stand before me, in denial of your own desires…" the mysterious deity regarded him like a particularly slow child, "'tis a wonder you made it this far at all."

She indicated vaguely at their surroundings as she continued, "Of the three Valleys, the Valley of Desire has claimed the most victims. Coincidentally, I am the least inclined to entertain guests. You are a unique exception after eons of undisturbed solitude."

She leaned back in her throne, and lifted a hand in a permissive gesture. "Pray, pose your questions. Surely, what and how you choose to ask, interests me far more than what you truly seek."

Itachi required no further invitation. "There is interference in my domain. You tolerate this affront on your designs?"

"The designs are as much mine as the domain is yours," she responded, uninterested.

"Who seeks to harm the mortal?" Itachi asked, instead, questioning as directly as possible, hoping for direct answers in return.

The boredom vanished from her face, only to be replaced with a bemused smirk as she answered, "No one."

Itachi regarded her evenly, her answers seemed to defy logic. They were almost nonsensical. If anyone else had answered him thus, he would have dismissed their words without another thought. But this was Atropos, the most somber of the Fates and she had begun with a claim of truthfulness, saying she found all else tedious. Perhaps, not her answers, but his questions were to blame?

Itachi attempted again, "What is the cause for all the calamities that have befallen her?"

Atropos lifted a hand to her head once more, cocking her head to the side, as she regarded him with undeniable amusement now, "You are."

Itachi, in his infinite patience, felt irritation spark within him. The goddess had promised to speak nothing but the truth, why then were her statements in direct conflict of what he knew with certainty?

"How…?" He asked, returning her gaze with eyes narrowed behind his gilded mask, "... have I caused all this?"

Her smirk faded, then, and she added, "Through no fault of your own."

Interrogating the evasive goddess was proving as futile as arguing with a sphinx, but he pushed on, trying to piece together a query that would prompt useful information from her. The knowledge that she _knew_ precisely what he wanted to hear, regardless of how he worded his inquiries only served to spike his irritation. He paused, collecting his thoughts, choosing his words carefully.

"Who has orchestrated the attacks on her?"

Silence filled the room as she considered his questions. "Why is it you have come all this way to seek answers that have ever been just before you?" she asked with genuine curiosity. "You, at the center of this. The perpetrators, right in front of your eyes. And yet, you embark on a needless journey, demanding answers clearly manifest. Can it be, you simply do not _wish_ to see?"

Itachi narrowed his eyes at the infuriating goddess. Everything he knew about the given situation raced through his mind. What had he missed? What were the obvious answers she claimed were right in front of him?

"Will that be all?" she questioned, already bored with the exchange.

"Who murdered Kokytos?" he asked finally, almost impulsively, feeling somehow, that the deity's murder was inexorably linked to the riddle.

"Madara spoke the truth on that matter." Her answer was delivered without intonation, but her eyes bore into him as if prompting him to reflect on her words. What could that mean? The patriarch had claimed Olympus was responsible for Kokytos' death, but Itachi knew that to be an impossibility.

Itachi, for once, did not know what to say. Every question he asked the enigmatic deity only provided answers that seemed to contradict whatever progress he thought he had made, confusing him even further. He felt instinctively, that she spoke nothing but the truth and yet, he could not make sense of a single word. Her cryptic statements implied deeper meanings he failed to decipher and, knowing Angelissa's very life could be the price for his incompetence, he analyzed and weighed her answers repeatedly but felt as lost as a child, stranded.

"Your heart was set on solitude. Has this mortal so stirred that resolve, that you repeatedly tempt your own end for her?"

Itachi lifted onyx eyes to silver orbs wordlessly. Excuses were pointless. Atropos knew precisely how he had healed Angelissa, how he had shielded her from the sight of the calamity at the bridge. Even worse, she knew how much more he was willing to do to protect the hazel-eyed mortal. Actions that would defy his role and threaten his existence.

"It is time for your return, little Itachi." Her words marked the end of their exchange and Itachi's lips turned ever so slightly into a displeased frown. He had accomplished nothing. Atropos' gaze softened as she regarded him, and at length, she took mercy on his plight. "Your Cronus did not choose you for this role."

Itachi's eyes lifted to hers once more. The unprompted admission surprised him. He had not intended to ask about his induction into the role of Death. It was a matter of the past and he had accepted it.

"I chose you. I chose you from the moment of your birth." She observed him patiently, "Of my own will. You do so greatly resemble the one whose will I am bound to, although he is lost to us forever."

Itachi reflected on this. It reminded him of Vetty's statement, of an Uchiha patriarch from before his time. Before Cronus. "What became of him?"

Atropos' mouth twisted into a frown. She did not answer his question, but said instead, "Fate is a forked road. Avenge him, if you can."

Itachi acknowledged that this was an end to their meeting. He doubted Atropos would humor further questions. The entire endeavor had proved fruitless.

"Itachi," she spoke unexpectedly, and her luminous silver eyes bore into his, "You were ever obedient - willing or unwilling." There was pity in those silver eyes as she continued, "I will teach you to question the Fates. Consider this your reward."

"Your query must reflect what you truly wish to know." She paused, allowing him time to contemplate her words, "If nothing else, your trial in the valley must have taught you what it is you truly desire."

Clarity dawned like a coming tide.

If Itachi could only receive one single answer, then what he needed to ask was crystal clear. "How can I protect her?" Sable eyes burned into hers and the words were spoken with finality, as if this was the question to end all questions.

Atropos nodded in approval. "You must keep her close. And when she is close," she paused, regarding him intently, "keep her even closer."

The cryptic words escaped him in their meaning. His proximity could do nothing but harm to Angelissa… What was Atropos suggesting?

He nodded, her resolute expression announcing, irrevocably this time, the end to their meeting. She lifted a hand and shadows rose to surround him, dragging him through the marble floor. Just as she all but vanished from his sight, shimmering, silver eyes looked down on him as she spoke parting words through blackened lips.

"Lend ear to your nymph."

* * *

 **A/N:** Reviews would be lovely! See you next update.


	25. Part XXIV: Anasthesia

* * *

**Part XXIV: Anasthesia**

* * *

"Joshua, you can  _ not  _ accept that money!" A stern brunette whispered harshly to her husband, standing beside her, briefcase in hand as he stared numbly at an envelope he held in the other. The woman rocked her clamorous infant to silence as she entreated her husband insistently, "You have no idea where that came from, you have to turn it over to the police!"

"But, Heather…" the fair-haired man lifted his watery blue eyes to his wife in astonishment, "They're 576 pounds exactly."

"That doesn't matter! I have a bad feeling about this," she narrowed her eyes at the envelope.

"But I told you… about the day I was robbed. There were exactly 576 pounds in my wallet. I think… honey, I think this is just the universe bringing everything full circle." His eyes lit up in wonder, but his wife was skeptical.

"Be realistic, Joshua," she huffed with a roll of her eyes, "Do you think that thief had a change of heart and came back after ten years to return your money?" Scathing sarcasm laced her voice, as if to shake some sense into him.

"Would that be so strange?" he countered, pocketing the envelope in the inner pocket of his suit jacket. "People change all the time. Maybe he's an outstanding member of society now, trying to correct himself. Who knows?"

"Joshua!" she exclaimed, "are you seriously keeping it?!"

"I am," he grinned, pressing a kiss to his wife's enraged face, "Something tells me I should." He winked at his wife, who sputtered behind him and made his way down the driveway where his white mercedes stood waiting.

* * *

An ebony-haired nymph stood hidden just a building away, her back pressed to the wall as she listened in on the intimate exchange with a small, wistful smile. The groceries she carried in two large parchment bags seemed to grow heavier with time and, as she heard the stranger's car start and pull out of the driveway, she, too, pushed away from the wall to begin her trek back home.

Her black chelsea boots clicked on the pavement as she trudged along, lost in her thoughts as the clouds gathered overhead on the cool fall day. Elissa had all but cut Slayte out of her life, and although Slayte waited patiently for the day she hoped the disagreements would blow over, she couldn't just sit back and do nothing. Thanatos' crow lingered near her friend and Slayte could trust that she would be summoned if danger should rear its ugly head. In the meantime, however, there was another person she had to do her best to save.

She heaved a weary sigh as the shadows falling over her path thickened. A glance skywards revealed that the overcast sky had darkened considerably. The clouds hung heavy above her, dark and stormy in color. Although she knew it would soon rain, and she would likely be caught in the middle of it, she couldn't find that stormy grey to be anything other than comforting. It was a color she knew well.

Her actions were always straightforward, simply a matter of identifying and eliminating the problem. Whether it was trying to get rid of Vetty who was out to hurt Elissa or trying to keep Ita out of Elissa's life. She acknowledged now, however, that that approach was flawed. She had failed to consider the will and wishes of those she wished to protect. She bit her lip as she adjusted the weight of the parcels.

Forgiveness was what Levi needed to be saved from eternal damnation in Tartarus. None other than the God of Death himself had given her that valuable information and she had done her best to unearth what she could about the crimes he had committed. Whether it was poring through archives of news articles or scouring through the public records, she had pieced together quite a few incriminating incidents, and had done her best to amend the wrongs, hoping against hope it would be enough to save him.

Realistically, she knew that the information she had gathered was paltry at best - just the tip of the iceberg. Whether it was paying people back as she had just done, or directly asking forgiveness as she had done with Mrs. Maygold, it left an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She knew with certainty that Levi would not approve of her actions. Staying out of one another's pasts was an unwritten rule between them, one they usually adhered to strictly.

Although he sometimes pressed her for answers, she knew he was still being considerate of her, and still allowed a great deal to slide, feigning ignorance. On the other hand, she was actively digging into his past, had inadvertently discovered things she had no right to know. She swallowed heavily as her stomach turned. She felt nauseous with guilt. Did she have a right to betray him in order to save him? She had no idea. But the longer this went on, the more she began doubting her actions. The more unconvinced she was of the course she had chosen to take.

But what else could she do? The alternative was Tartarus. She swallowed and focused on breathing deeply, as Levi had taught her to do, feeling crushed between two equally impossible options. She adjusted her grip on the groceries, just as she felt something cold on the tip of her nose. Glancing up, she saw that the sky was clearly about to split. The first drops of rain were already falling.

She held the parcels closer to her glencheck wool coat and buried her face into her dark blue knit shawl as she picked up the pace, even as the rain intensified. She sighed into her shawl, her breath warming her face, and accepted the fact that her hair would be drenched. She was far more concerned with the fact that the parchment bags would soon fall apart under the rainwater and her groceries would be ruined. She geared up to break into a run, when she was brought to a stop by a broad chest and the sudden interruption of the rain over her head.

She glanced up in surprise to find none other than Levi standing in front of her, a hand tucked into the pocket of his grey wool coat, he held a navy blue umbrella over their heads as he looked down on her through lidded grey eyes from over his green knit shawl.

"Levi…" she breathed in surprise, as the rain drummed out a rhythm on the umbrella overhead, echoing the rapid beat of her own heart.

"You left," was the gruff reply. "On your own." His eyes narrowed. "Without a word."

"I… yeah, I went to get the groceries." Seeing his displeasure, she defended, "I'll be fine, it's just Elissa I'm worried about."

"And I'm worried about you," he countered without missing a beat, "But I can see you don't give a damn about my worries."

She blinked in surprise. He was clearly upset. "Give me that," he ordered, taking the larger of the two bags out of her hands. Slayte relinquished the parcel, and the two of them turned down the road. She fell easily into step beside him, and transferred the remaining bag of groceries to her right arm so she could tuck her left hand in the crook of his elbow. He glanced briefly down at her at the touch, and she rested her head against his arm for a moment before straightening, but did not release her grip.

"Oi, don't try to butter me up," he scolded, "that's not going to work."

She lifted dark brown eyes to his momentarily before dismissing, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I told you to stop going out on your own."

"Who is going to do the shopping, then?" she retorted.

"Is that the direction you should be coming from, if you were shopping?" He cast her an unconvinced look.

"I took a detour," she attempted evasively, "I didn't know it was going to rain."

He shook his head with a sigh, "Forget it."

They walked arm in arm, the rain pattering insistently overhead, held dry by the large umbrella Levi carried. Slayte smiled to herself, recalling that this was not the first time he had saved her from the rain. When she lifted her head eagerly to mention just the same to him, she saw that his eyes were focused on some point in the distance, his eyebrows furrowed and a frown tugging at his lips.

"Levi, what's wrong?" she pressed, concerned.

His gaze slid to her upturned face before averting his eyes again. "You. What else?"

"Me?" Surprise was evident in her voice, "Are you that upset that I went for groceries without telling you?"

"It's not just about the shitty groceries," They walked on in silence for a moment as she waited for him to expand.

"A lot has been going on. You never listen to me. You never tell the whole truth, either."

Slayte's gaze dropped to the pavement where puddles were quickly forming.

"How do I know you aren't going to disappear one day as suddenly as you appeared?" When she lifted her eyes to his, those eyes that mirrored the sky overhead seemed to bore right through her. Quiet befell them as he waited for her to answer. It was a legitimate question, and Slayte saw that it was clearly one that had been on his mind for a long time.

"Levi…" she began, both touched and saddened. "I don't ever want to leave you."

"You don't," he agreed, drawing his eyes away from her to focus on the approaching tea shop, "But when do you ever do what you want? All it takes is for someone to plant the idea in your empty head that it would be the right thing to do, and you would leave without a word."

He handed her the umbrella and withdrew his keys to unlock the front door. Standing there beside him in the rain, the two of them laden with the day's shopping, she glanced at the spot in front of the shop windows where she had stood some five years ago, when he had returned alone from a similar trip. That had been the beginning of this beautiful chapter in her life, but where would it end? Even she could not say for certain.

She stepped inside after him and the two of them set their groceries on the counter. Slayte set to salvaging the perishables that had gotten soaked by the rain as Levi hung his shawl and coat on the wardrobe.

When she reemerged from the kitchen, he was already seated in his characteristic swivel chair at the service counter, unfolding the day's paper.

"Levi," she attempted again, unbuttoning her coat, but he interrupted her.

"I don't need your reassurances, and I didn't tell you this so that you make me some shitty promises you aren't going to keep," he didn't so much as look up at her as she removed her coat and set it temporarily over the counter. "I was just saying," he dismissed.

With a sigh, she stepped forward and placed an affectionate hand on his shoulder. "Levi, listen to me," the pleading tone in her voice drew his attention and he finally lifted his steel-grey eyes to her conflicted coffee-brown irises. "There's nowhere I would rather be than here. When it comes to being with you, I don't care about what's right and wrong. I also don't want to make you promises that I can't keep, but Levi…." her grip on his shoulder tightened as her heart clenched in preparation to speak words that had been a long time in coming. Gathering courage for her confession, she missed the way that his lidded eyes seemed to fall closed and his shoulders sagged. "... I love you."

Levi slouched forward in his seat, his head coming less-than-gently to a rest on the service counter.

"Levi?!"

Alarmed, she rushed forward. What could possibly have happened to him? Shaking his shoulder gently, panic constricted her throat when she saw that he was unresponsive.

"Poor fellow seemed in dire need of a bit more rest, wouldn't you agree?"

The voice that spoke was smooth, confident, and humorous. Slayte's head shot up to see a tall, masked man leaning casually against the railing of the staircase, arms crossed over his chest.

Slayte sucked in a breath of surprise, seeing none other than Hypnos, Thanatos' ever-faithful counterpart casually conversing with her, here in their very tea shop, a place she had always considered sacred. She dragged her eyes away from him, back to the raven-haired mortal.

"What have you done to him?" Her voice held a warning tone, and her posture was stiff with anger.

Hypnos narrowed his eyes at the nymph from behind his mask. He had come here for information, and to find out why his cousin had entrusted such an important task to a mere servant. He was already discovering the first clues, it would seem. When it came to defending those dear to her, she had no care for her own safety, clearly, or who her opponent was.

"With those shadows under his eyes, it is a kindness to allow him a bit more rest. I believe thanks are in order," he mused, mirth in his voice.

The tension went out of Slayte's shoulders as she turned hesitant eyes on the deity, "He's only sleeping?"

Shisui nodded, "See for yourself."

Slayte's eyes fell on Levi once more, and she noticed, now, that he breathed deeply as one fast asleep. His expression was undisturbed and peaceful. She sighed with relief and unwound her shawl from her neck, laying it gently across his shoulders, to keep him warm as he rested. With all his confidence, in the face of the powers of the underworld deities, this was how helpless he was. She could not afford to forget that. She had to protect him.

Her hand lingered on his back in a possessive, protective gesture as she spoke, "Yes, he truly does not rest enough," she lifted dark eyes to the deity observing her carefully, "Lord Hypnos."

Shisui nodded, it would have been a disappointment to find that the stray lampad was ignorant of the Underworld hierarchy.

"Slayte, the runaway lampad. I must say I do not recall a lampad escaping the underworld before. At my age, novel occurrences are one of life's rare pleasures." There was a small smile on his face and Slayte could not tell whether it indicated begrudging respect or implied that he was laughing at her.

"You know me?" she asked instead.

"Does that surprise you?" amusement laced his voice, and Slayte felt she was being treated as a child.

She assumed Elissa must have mentioned her, because she doubted Thanatos could be bothered to use her name in any conversation. "You must have been to see Elissa. Are you here in Lord Thanatos' stead?"

"Yes, I  _ have  _ seen Elissa. She's in quite a state, no? Most curious. It would seem many things have changed since my last visit."

"Did something happen? Is she alright?" The concern and worry in her voice sounded with an intensity that did not escape his notice. It was apparent that a simple confirmation would be all she needed to immediately make all haste to rush to her friend's side.

In the small space of their conversation, Shisui had seen enough to suspect what it was that had prompted Itachi to leave Elissa in the lampad's care. She spurned hierarchies, did not show fear when she was clearly overpowered, and her reason and rationality apparently shut down where those she cared for were concerned…

Not a very reasonable creature, to be sure, but that mindless passion towards her friends could indeed prove to be very useful.

"I would assume you know more on that than I do." He pushed away from the railing to approach the young lampad and she immediately stepped forward to position herself between the deity and Levi.

This seemed to amuse him, because he chuckled, "Rest assured, I have no interest in your mortal lover."

She glanced over her shoulder at the sleeping man and turned back towards Hypnos. He was Thanatos' most trusted confidante, and she had information that desperately needed to be conveyed to him.

"Where is Lord Thanatos? Has something happened to him?" her brows furrowed as she looked up at Hypnos, not moving from the protective stance she had taken.

Shisui considered this. It was clear to see that his very appearance had unnerved her greatly. The way she jumped from one defensive position to another, first questioning his actions, then ready to rush to Elissa's defense, now shielding this man. Every inch of her was lined with tension. This was unsurprising given the strain of the duties his cousin had entrusted her with. Single-handedly protecting Elissa from whatever unknown foe lurked in the dark was an enormous responsibility and although she had met the challenge with more or less success up to this point, it was apparent that she was not confident in her abilities. He assumed her desperation was mainly to credit for her continued success.

"Lord Hypnos," she called his attention, the wariness she had adopted with him faded, "I can not reach Lord Thanatos, but I can't imagine why that would be. Has something happened to him?"

"My cousin is quite safe," he reassured her, "He has gone to seek out the Fates themselves."

Slayte's eyes went wide. That was a dangerous journey, even for a deity, and there was no telling when he would return, if at all. Then again, this was Thanatos they were talking about, he was incomparable. He would return, surely?

"I remember you," Hypnos commented, drawing her out of her thoughts.

"Excuse me?" she breathed, hardly able to contain her surprise at the statement.

"You were that lampad, always staring at my cousin quietly." There was a teasing lilt to his voice that went entirely over her head as she gaped at him, even as her face reddened in surprise and embarrassed confusion.

"H- how is it that  _ you  _ remember me, but…" she shook her head, cutting herself off. She felt warm and validated to think that perhaps she had not been quite as invisible as she had always assumed. It did not matter that Thanatos did not remember her, or why, these were all things of the past, anyway.

"I always take notice of those who have an eye on my cousin. It is important to discern his friends from his foes." Hypnos' logic was sound and reminiscent of her own feelings towards Elissa and she felt a begrudging sense of respect and admiration awaken within her. When it came to Thanatos, however, Slayte wasn't certain which category she fell under.

"I need to speak with him, it is of the utmost importance." She met his gaze imploringly and Shisui sensed the urgency in her words.

"I can not say when he will return, but I can carry your message."

Slayte frowned. It was so like Thanatos to leave her with all the responsibility and be perpetually unreachable himself. She sighed and dropped her gaze to the hardwood floors. No. In fact, it was completely unlike him. So, why was he doing this to her? He couldn't possibly actually trust her enough to leave this whole mess in her hands?

With a frustrated sigh, she turned away from Hypnos, weighing her options. Thanatos needed to be informed, as soon as possible, about the identity of Vetty's master but the implications of that information were severe. If she divulged it to the wrong person, it could cost her her life.

"I need to talk to him," she repeated, conflicted.

"While I understand your apprehension, if time is of the essence, then it will not do to withhold your information." Shisui's voice was smooth, hypnotic by nature and sound in reason, but Slayte hesitated.

"You wish to protect your friend, do you not?" he prompted, seeing her unrelenting expression. "I, too, am here to protect my cousin. Although he knows nothing of this meeting, and I daresay he would not approve, for now, Slayte, our interests align."

There was something about him and his concern for Thanatos that was so familiar, so like her own feelings for Elissa that she could not help but want to trust him.

"What do you know?" she asked finally, "He never tells me anything. I haven't a clue as to who is targeting her. I've been told to protect her, and while I'm grateful for both the assignment and the abilities I have been granted, she has been attacked by harpies and ocean creatures. She has nearly died more times than I care to count. And yet, he refuses to tell me anything. Crimson eyes observe her from the shadows. Vetty has revealed this to me, but… that is all that I know."

She heaved a weary sigh, "I need to know  _ what  _ I am protecting her from. What we're up against. Please, Lord Hypnos, if you know something, tell me."

"Unfortunately, we know no more than you do. Otherwise, there would be no need for him to seek out the Fates. Her wellbeing matters as much to him as it does to you." Hypnos sought to reassure her, but Slayte only scoffed in return.

"I find that hard to believe. You saw for herself how she is suffering. He refuses her any answers, forbids me from providing her even the slightest bit of information, threatens me with death if I should dare…" she trailed off, fists clenching in dismay. "She isn't stupid and this has gone too far. She deserves to know."

Hypnos was silent. He shared much the same sentiment but did not wish to openly voice disagreement with his cousin. No, that could wait until the two of them were undisturbed amongst themselves. "He stands to lose more than you might think," he said instead.

Slayte lifted her eyes to the now-solemn deity and unbidden, her mind trailed back to the poem she had taken from Elissa for safekeeping. Even she knew that it could not end well if Elissa were to learn that he was Death himself and yet, did it matter when danger was looming at every corner and Elissa's life hung in the balance? "We cannot shield both her life and  _ his  _ feelings." She muttered bitterly.

"Are you not the same?" Hypnos countered, regarding her with curiosity, "or have you told your mortal the truth about the nature of your existence?"

Slayte's eyes widened at the mere suggestion and she turned to look at Levi over her shoulder, as if concerned he might have heard that statement. "How could I? I would not risk his life for something so meaningless." She turned back to Hypnos, incredulous.

"His life? An exaggeration, to be sure. Even if you fear being cast out, to say his life is in danger…?" Hypnos arched an elegant brow as a bemused smile graced his features at her concern.

"Knowledge of the underworld is forbidden to mortals, and brings about their deaths!" Slayte countered, stunned by his ignorance, "Everyone knows that. Elissa might be an exception, due to the blood contract with Vetty, but..." she trailed off, and fell silent.

"Ah, yes, that is indeed a widespread misconception," Hypnos hummed thoughtfully.

"What?"

"That belief was planted among the Underworld dwellers to prevent them from interacting with mortals on the surface. I had nearly forgotten about it." The thoughtful, nonchalant manner in which he revealed the earth-shattering information left Slayte speechless.

"You mean… if I tell him what I am…" she spoke as if in a trance, hardly able to believe her ears, "nothing will happen to him?"

"Well, apart from the obvious."

"What's the obvious?" She countered, perplexed.

"You seem to take for granted that your mortal would accept you - a servant of the underworld. Would he truly? When he is decrepit and grey and you, as young as the day you met him, what will become of you? When he learns you are the very servant of Death, will he remain by your side? Or will he look upon you as a monstrosity?" Hypnos' words seemed to echo in her mind, as thoughts she had never before considered filled her heart with trepidation. "You see, you and my cousin are more alike than you might think."

Levi? Come to hate her on account of what she was? Turning his back on her upon learning that she was a nameless lampad of the underworld? Unthinkable.

"Even if the whole world casts me out," Slayte began, her voice wavering, "He never will."

"Well," Hypnos concluded, "I suppose that remains to be seen."

"Lord Hypnos, you know of the demon cat, Vetty, that has bonded with Elissa?" Slayte turned the conversation away from Levi smoothly. His person, his troubles, their relationship, were of no concern to anyone but themselves.

Hypnos merely nodded.

"And you know, that Vetty's master plays a hand in all these events?"

"The underworld cat refused to reveal the identity of her master, even to my cousin," Hypnos confirmed.

"I know her master," Slayte announced, her hands trembling at the weight of what she was about to disclose. She hoped she could trust Hypnos. If the two deities chose to take Thanatos' mother's side over hers, if they chose not to believe her, she was doomed. Nyx would not tolerate the accusation. Nor would she allow her to remain living, knowing that Nyx was linked to Vetty's interference on the surface. She prayed that Thanatos was as fair as she had once believed him to be.

"Speak, Slayte. Why withhold such urgent information?"

She lifted her eyes to his and the apprehension within them was painfully apparent.

"It is the Lady Nyx."

The silence that filled the air was thick and oppressive. With sudden clarity, Hypnos understood why she had found it so difficult to voice what she had learned.

"How came you to know of this? Lady Nyx denied that any of her pets were missing," Hypnos mused aloud, his jovial demeanor diminished by the news.

Slayte bit her lip. It was starting already. He didn't believe her. She had been mistaken to trust in him. They were doomed. Why did she think he would be willing to take a stand against his own family?

She broke out of her thoughts with a start when a gentle hand came to rest on her shoulder.

"I do not contest the truth of your information. I simply wish to confirm this before carrying it on to my cousin. Rest easy, lampad."

Slayte nodded and swallowed thickly. "I only recently remembered it. When I was a child, I was taken to Lady Nyx for punishment. Vetty was by her side. They were… very close, it seemed."

"And you are certain?"

Slayte nodded once more, "The memory is as clear as day. Not one I will soon forget."

"What could the Lady Nyx want with a harmless, innocent mortal? What could she hope to gain from our unassuming acquaintance? And poor Elissa is indeed in the dark on the entire matter." Hypnos worked aloud through the revelation, contemplating the implications. Slayte watched the concern in his eyes and realized, for the first time, that he  _ cared.  _ Sincerely. For both Elissa and Thanatos. He was trustworthy.

"There's more," she announced suddenly and turned into the kitchen, only to reappear a moment later, a scrap of paper clutched in her hands. She held the page out towards him and he took it from her, his eyes widening and then softening in understanding as he read the ancient greek writing.

"This was in Elissa's notebook," Slayte confessed, "I'm terrified to think what it could mean. I don't know what his intentions towards Elissa are, but love makes fools out of the best of us. As sorry as I am for him, I don't want him to be a fool, when we need him to be strong and wise enough to protect us all." She hesitated, allowing Hypnos to read and reread the two short lines.

"I fear this sudden distance is not one of his wiser decisions. Is he protecting Elissa this way, or is he protecting himself? It is not my place to question him, and yet… his actions are not reminiscent of the wisdom I have come to expect from him."

"Does Elissa know what is written here?" he answered at last.

"No, I… did not think it wise to tell her at the moment," Slayte admitted.

"Indeed. See to it that it remains that way." He handed back the page with a grim expression, his mind still turning over the implications of the writing.

"You may not be very fond of your master," he imparted with a reassuring smile, "but you know him well."

Slayte frowned glumly, not sure if that was true.

"You have done well thus far, Slayte. I understand now why he left matters in your care. Should you have need of aid, feel free to call on me. You need not fret so," he promised.

"Will you inform him? About Vetty's master?" she entreated, to which he replied with a nod.

"We must observe the situation, but your information is invaluable. Rest assured, we will investigate further." He turned away from her, and shadows rose up from the corners of the otherwise well-lit tea shop to meet him.

"Thank you, Lord Hypnos," she nodded in parting, seeing that he was set to take his leave.

He paused and glanced at her over his shoulder. "Shisui will do," he offered amiably, causing Slayte's mouth to fall open in surprise.

"I - I would never dare… I have no right to -" her brow furrowed in confusion as she stammered helplessly.

"I insist," he replied with an easy smile as he stepped into the shadows and disappeared from her sight.

* * *

Elissa flipped over the page in the photo-album, gazing at the colourful pictures in amazement. It seemed that Cain had travelled to every continent in the world and had gained some incredible life experiences. She studied a photo of him posing with a graceful geisha in Japan, smiling as he partook in an ancient tea ritual. He'd been to both Australia and New Zealand, to South America, seeing Panama, Brazil, Ecuador. He'd flown to the United States, to New York, Los Elissaes, Texas, Las Vegas, Washington, California, Colorado and Florida. He'd gone to Canada and all over Europe to Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Poland, Germany, Austria, France, Greece, the Netherlands, Monaco and many other places. He'd also explored the heart of Asia, touring China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Bali; had adventures in the Middle East in Dubai, Cyprus and Lebanon, and participated in charity work and enjoyed safari trips in various countries in Africa. His list of travels was extensive, impressive and seemingly endless.

For the previous three weeks they'd spent increasing amounts of time in each other's company. She'd found out more about Cain's family and his past, about a terrible accident he'd had on a bicycle as a child that had almost left him permanently unable to walk, but he'd recovered and vowed to let nothing become an obstacle in his life. She admired his mentality, his resilience, how he approached everything with a sense of challenge and optimism.

He'd accompanied her to the laser clinic two weeks earlier, where he'd arranged a free private consultation to look into whether laser surgery could remove the shadowy wisps on her back that Itachi had afflicted upon her. They'd run a trial patch test, only for Elissa's skin to react negatively to the laser, resulting in angry red blotches that the surgeon had warned could lead to further permanent scarring, dashing her hopes of using the treatment to erase the strange markings and put the past completely behind her. She'd had to accept that the inky tendrils were there to stay and would never vanish - just as Itachi had informed her.

Seeing how dejected she had been about it, Cain had taken her shopping and did his best to cheer her up. Elissa enjoyed his company, and was grateful that he kept her mind occupied. Whenever she was alone, or would glimpse the marks on her back in the mirror when undressing or stepping in and out of the shower, her eyes would sting with angry tears and her throat would close up in misery. She tried not to think about Itachi and what he had done to her, how he had left her skin blemished for life. She found that drinking a glass or two of red wine before bed helped relax and unwind her thoughts on the worst of nights when she wanted to forget all about him and every supernatural thing she'd experienced relating to him. She'd hardly ever consumed alcohol before, always disliking its taste. Now, spending time around Cain who drank generously, she found herself enjoying its relaxing effects more, and had even started to rely on it to help dull her thoughts and pain.

"You've been everywhere," she shook her head in fascination, snuggled comfortably on the comfortable, rich-leather couch in his luxurious apartment. "These photos are unreal."

"I'd like to go to the West Indies, next," he said, setting down another plate of snacks on the gold-trim mirrored, circular coffee table before plopping down beside her. He caught sight of one of the pictures, and chuckled. "Ah. I recall that photo. The monkeys in Bali were very mischievous."

Elissa smiled as she examined the one he'd indicated. A monkey had climbed onto Cain's shoulder and appeared to be posing with him. Then she tilted her head and pointed at another. It was Cain, with another young man. His hair was a darker shade of blond, shorter and his expression more serious.

"Who's this?" she questioned curiously.

"Oh, that's my older brother," Cain waved, pulling a face that indicated distaste. "Takes himself far too seriously. Always acts like the responsible one out of us and is an absolute workaholic who rarely has any fun. So dreadfully dull, he is, and yet my father never stops singing his praises."

"And these are your parents?" she pointed to the older couple who were in another photograph with them.

"Yes," Cain nodded. "We used to go on family trips often, but nowadays I prefer to travel with friends. Far less judgemental," he smiled easily.

"What's the most spontaneous trip you've ever done?" Elissa turned another page, marvelling at the rich cultural experiences he'd enjoyed.

Cain sipped on his glass of white wine. "Well, there  _ was _ the time I travelled for a day to Europe and came back twenty-four hours later," he recalled. "Panama was certainly unplanned, a friend's idea. But it was a place of exceptional beauty and we had an absolute blast. I highly recommend it, darling."

"It'd probably take me another fifty years to visit as many countries as you've seen in a decade," Elissa sighed wistfully.

"Why don't you travel more often?" he asked her, popping a tortilla chip into his mouth.

She shrugged. "I've always tried to save money as much as possible so I can stay independent. I could go on more budget trips I guess… but I prefer to really plan my holidays out, you know? I'm not really a fan of last-minute things."

He regarded her steadily with interest. "Now, I'm curious. What is the most spontaneous thing  _ you've _ ever done in life?"

Elissa considered the question, racking her brain for anything she judged to be crazy or outrageous by her standards. She'd had a pretty grounded upbringing, and with her sister's illness in childhood, had always been studious, well-behaved and tried to avoid placing any additional stress onto her parents' plates. She didn't really have many wild stories to tell. She was a thoroughly ordinary girl, living a thoroughly unexceptional life. Though that had taken a somewhat different turn, since her encounters with Itachi and Shisui.

"Uh…" she began lamely. "Dyeing my hair a shocking blue when I was fifteen?"

Cain chuckled deeply. "That's adorable, darling."

"Yeah, my mum freaked out. I guess that's pretty tame an experience to the crazy things you've done, though," she shrugged.

"Still spontaneous," Cain grinned. "Although that was a while back. You should try doing more things on impulse, while you're still young and can afford to take risks. It can be a lot of fun."

"Yeah…" she reached the end of the photo-album and closed it, setting it back onto the coffee table. He was probably right. After all, he lived life in the fast-lane and seemed to be having a wonderful time. She envied him, in a way, wishing that she could be as carefree as he was, and not dwell on things so much. Not stop to consider the consequences of actions and peoples' feelings so much. Cain seemed to brush off anything that didn't go according to plan and just continue, full-speed ahead, without missing a beat.

His eyes then lit up, as if an idea had suddenly occurred to him. "I know. Why don't we do something spontaneous right now? The day is young, and we've no plans."

"Like what?" Elissa gave him a suspicious look, smiling at his unpredictability. What was he thinking? It was refreshing - exciting - not knowing what he would do next. He was anything but boring, that was for sure.

He smirked, set his wine glass down, grabbed her hand, and pulled her up. "Come on, let's go for a walk. You'll see."

* * *

Thirty minutes later, she had followed him around the block and down to a canal, finding herself standing under the shade of a tall concrete bridge beneath the flow of traffic high above them. Cain had slung a navy-blue gym bag across his chest, and set it onto the ground. Elissa watched curiously as he opened it, and took out a can of spray-paint, shaking it in his hand.

Her jaw dropped, and she glanced around them nervously. There was nobody around - but everyone knew spraying graffiti onto public property was an offence. "Cain!" she gasped. "What're you doing?"

"What does it look like? Expressing myself through art, darling," he grinned at her. Elissa noticed that the walls of the arches that supported the bridge were already littered with graffiti. Evidently it was a known spot for artists to make their mark.

"But that's illegal," she protested. "What if you get caught?"

"Relax, Elissa," he laughed. "I've been doing this for years and haven't been caught once. Here." He handed her a black bandanna. "Tie this around your nose and mouth."

Elissa looked helplessly at the material, before glancing around again anxiously. If any police officers happened to pass by and see them, they'd be in trouble.

Seeing her hesitation, Cain sighed. "Elissa, it's really not that big of a deal. Just a little harmless fun. Loosen up, darling." He tied a white bandana across his face, and then removed the cap of the can. "Come on. Don't be so timid and boring. Try it."

"I'm not timid," she bristled, offended.

"Prove it," he challenged, his twinkling blue eyes meeting hers.

"Fine," she rose to the bait. "Watch me!" Accepting the handkerchief, she tied it around her face to protect herself from inhaling the particles of spray, and took one of the cans he offered.

"That's more like it," Cain approved, and they proceeded to spray pictures onto the blank areas of concrete between designs left behind by other artists. Elissa attempted to draw a simple flower, only to pause, impressed, as she watched Cain create an elaborate dragon, shading it expertly to give it definition and life.

"Wow," she exhaled. "You're really good at this."

"Practice makes perfect," he answered, switching colours from green to yellow. "I used to do a lot of this behind the buildings in high school. The teachers never caught the culprits."

Elissa turned back to her picture, only to gasp when she accidentally sprayed over an area she had tried to trace out, effectively ruining it.

"Okay," she giggled, pleasantly surprised to find that she was enjoying the experience. "I suck at this."

Cain leaned over to peer at what she was drawing. "What's that?" he squinted. "An overgrown tomato?"

Elissa tried to swallow back an indignant gasp but ended up bursting into amused laughter. "Cain!" she smacked his arm playfully. "It's meant to be a rose!"

"It's horrendous," he chuckled back and they laughed harder when Elissa turned it into a real tomato, complete with a green stem.

"There!" she declared proudly. "I call it, The Grand Tomato. Picasso has nothing on me, see?"

"It is indeed worthy of a place in national Art Galleries across the country," Cain agreed, and they sniggered again together.

Elissa began another drawing, this time trying to depict a simple tree. Her eyes moved back to Cain's creation, admiring it as he placed the finishing touches to it.

"That's incredible," she complimented. "Really, you did that so fast, too."

"I'll have to show you some of my other works," he said. "I have them stored on an old phone, but I was drawing tomatoes to begin with too," he winked at her. "Point is, darling, if you're not afraid to take some risks, you might discover a talent or two along the way and gain a great experience out of it."

His words resonated within her, logical and inspiring. "You're right," she agreed. "It's not like I'm going to be doing this every day, and at least I can now say I know what it's like."

"Exactly," Cain encouraged. "It's harmless fun. Besides, what's the penalty? A small fine and being asked to clean a section of the bridge up? It really isn't that big a dea-"

"Hey!" A deep voice suddenly shouted loudly at them, and Elissa's heart immediately leapt into her throat. She lifted her head, to find that two police officers were glaring at them from the stairs leading down to the canal on the other side of the water bank. "You two, over there! Spraying graffiti! Stop!"

_ Oh no _ , Elissa thought in horror, her stomach knotting with dread as she stood frozen in place, staring at the officers like a startled deer caught in a car's blinding headlights.

"I thought you said you were never caught!" she hissed at Cain.

"That's right. I never am. " Cain immediately stuffed the spray can into the duffel bag and grabbed Elissa's hand. "Time to go!"

Elissa gaped at him from behind the barrier of the cloth concealing her face from view. Surely running away would only make their punishment worse? But before she could say anything else, he was yanking her behind him, and they dashed up the stairs, back onto the streets above, twisting and turning to escape the cops pursuing them.

They ran and ran as fast as they could, without stopping, tearing the material away from their faces to avoid suspicion from the public around them, until at length they ended up sprinting down a familiar road. Elissa threw a frantic glance back over her shoulder. She couldn't see the police, but that didn't mean they weren't tailing them. They needed a place to hide, and fast. Her eyes turned back onto the shop she could see just up ahead.

In her panic, she tugged on Cain's arm, instinct guiding her to seek refuge in a place that had always been a sanctuary for her in the past. She didn't want to go inside there, but they had no choice. It was the safest bet because they could hide in it without any questions asked. "This way!" she exclaimed, and led him toward the building. They burst through the door, breathless, causing the people queuing patiently inside to turn and stare at them in surprise. Ignoring them, Cain and Elissa burst into a fit of laughter.

"I can't believe we just did that!" she gasped, the adrenaline pumping through her blood making her feel oddly alive, and then pulled on his hand, taking refuge further into the shop, away from the windows.

"We've definitely lost them," Cain assured her, and lifted a palm into the air. "High five, darling."

Elissa struck his hand, grinning back at him. Then she felt eyes on her, and her gaze flicked onto the serving counter. Immediately, her smile waned.

Slayte and Levi stared back at her. Shock was visible on Slayte's features as she took in the sight of them, holding canisters of spray-paint in their hands. Levi's perceptive gaze moved to the window, understanding dawning upon him as he spied two police officers running past the shop. His eyes then shifted back onto Elissa, narrowing minutely. Speeding had been one thing. Evading police officers was another entirely. Elissa was always so straight-laced when it came to abiding by the law. Just what did she think she was doing? His stormy gaze flicked onto the blond man with her. There was no doubt in his mind, who was to blame for the sudden indiscrepancies in her attitude.

Cain sat down on a free table, catching his breath, as Elissa stuffed the can back into his bag.

"Sorry to drag us in here," she muttered as she took a seat beside him, and they waited a few more minutes for good measure for the police to disappear from the area.

"No, it was quick thinking," he smiled at her. "I'm sure your friends won't be turning us over anytime soon." His gaze lingered on Slayte, who glared at him as she returned change to a customer. "Hmm," he tapped a finger to his chin as he eyed the raven-haired, willowy young woman. "Maybe we should order some refreshment since we're here. A cold coffee for you, Elissa?"

"Sure," she nodded. He slunk off his seat and moved toward the counter, waiting patiently behind the customer in front of him to be served.

Slayte's eyes flitted onto Elissa in concern. Her heart constricted, aching within her chest. It had been almost two weeks since she'd last seen her best friend. Elissa's visits to the tea-shop were now few and far between, and she had all but cut Slayte out of her life, reading and yet ignoring any text messages Slayte sent enquiring after her. To see the chestnut haired young woman suddenly sitting in their tea-shop unannounced brought into sharp relief just how much had changed between them. Just how much damage Thanatos's strict orders had done to their friendship. Slayte despaired, swallowing thickly as she raised her eyes to meet Cain's, hatred for him burning away at her like corrosive acid.

It wasn't enough that he had taken advantage of the entire situation and wormed his way into Elissa's life, sticking to her like a leech. To see him pulling her into trouble, enticing her to take part in actions that clearly broke the law and being an all-round negative and bad influence on her was highly distressing for Slayte to witness. And yet she could do nothing  _ but  _ watch, from a helpless distance, as Elissa did questionable things that Slayte didn't understand, didn't recognise as being like the Elissa she knew at all. Elissa had never so much as even littered on the streets. How could she consent to vandalising public property?

Cain was the one pulling her into terrible habits, Slayte knew, and yet how could she warn her friend about him? Elissa didn't want to hear anything she had to say anymore, and would likely react with even more anger if Slayte tried to voice any further disapproval about the junior doctor. Even though all her concerns were completely valid. Cain was wild and irresponsible and she feared that his behaviour would rub off on Elissa and lead her into doing progressively more reckless things.

She cast a brief, desperate look at Levi, whose eyes slipped onto hers for a moment, before moving away, as if reading her unspoken plea. Quietly, he stepped around her and out from behind the counter. Making his way to Elissa, he nodded shortly at her.

"Oi," he greeted. She lifted hazel eyes from the social media page she'd been scrolling through, and nodded back at him.

"Hi," she said simply.

He gestured with his head toward the kitchen. "A word?"

Elissa rolled her eyes at him in exasperation. "Is it going to be another lecture?" she demanded. "Because I'm really not in the mood, and only came in here to-"

"Cut the sass," he clipped, interrupting her abruptly. "Kitchen. Now."

She released a heavy sigh but reluctantly got to her feet, knowing that the fastest way to get Levi off her back was to listen to whatever he had to say and get it all over with. She followed him into the kitchen, ignoring the way Slayte's eyes tracked her movements.

Folding her arms, she leant back against the counter once they were inside the small room and lifted her gaze expectantly to Levi.

"Wanna tell me what all that was about?" he questioned.

Elissa met his eyes levelly. "We were just out having some fun."

"Fun," Levi repeated blankly, folding his arms in turn. "That what you'd tell the courts if you got caught?"

"I didn't get caught," Elissa responded.

"Not this time. What about the next? What's the next shitty thing he's gonna rope you into? Are you even thinking about the consequences?"

Elissa sighed in exasperation. "Levi," she began. "Give me a break. Don't tell me you've never broken the law once in your life. Graffiti is hardly a prison-worthy crime."

Levi gave her a look that was unreadable. After a pause, he said, "It's not the graffiti that's the problem. It's your shitty new attitude."

Elissa frowned at him. "Excuse me?"

"You heard. Are you even aware of what you're doing?"

"It was just a bit of fun," Elissa defended. She didn't understand why Levi was on her case and how any of it was even his business. It was her life. What she chose to do with it was up to her. She didn't need him, or anyone else for that matter, questioning her.

"You sound like that Shit-for-Brains doctor. He takes nothing seriously."

She scowled. "He's  _ not  _ 'Shit-for-Brains'. He's highly intelligent and he's my friend."

"He's a real Shit-For-Brains, doing dumb crap like this. Speeding. Graffiti. Is that what people who have their shit together do?"

Her expression soured. "Oh, you've been stalking me on socials, huh?" she demanded. "I should've guessed. Are you and Slayte on my page daily, judging what I get up to? Butt the hell out, Levi," she glared at him. "I don't need you and Slayte acting all righteous and lecturing me about my life choices. It's my life. I do what  _ I  _ want!"

"That's fine. But you were never doing any of this shit before Barbie Boy came along. Just use your head. Is this you - or is it him?"

"You've both always hated him," Elissa uncrossed her arms, balling her hands into angry fists. "It doesn't matter what other friends I make, you'll never approve."

"Oi. This has nothing to do with us not liking him. That jackass likes trouble, Elissa," Levi said shortly. "Have you rinsed all sense out of your head and gone stupid, that you don't even see what you're being pulled into? It's a slippery slope, and maybe you won't like what's at the bottom."

"Gee, Levi," Elissa retorted sarcastically, the words flowing from her lips before she could second-guess them. "If I  _ wanted  _ the big-brotherly advice, I'd call my  _ real  _ brother, Gabe."

Surprise flickered across Levi's eyes, and they widened fractionally upon hearing the slicing savagery of her words - before his lips sealed tightly shut in a thin line. Elissa blinked, feeling a flash of inexplicable guilt. Had that been too harsh of her? But he deserved it for interfering, didn't he?

She stared at him for a moment, wavering with uncertainty. Levi hadn't done anything wrong to her. Her words hadn't been fair. Where had that outburst even come from? She opened her mouth, wondering whether she ought to soften what she'd said, but Levi had already turned away.

"Fine," he said flatly. "Do what you want."

Elissa followed him out of the kitchen, trying to shake off the lingering feeling of guilt. A cool hand closed around hers, and she blinked, looking up into Cain's concerned face.

"Are you alright, Elissa?" he asked. "What was that about?"

"Nothing," she shook her head dismissively, refusing to look back at Slayte and Levi. No, she decided, she'd done nothing wrong. Levi was intruding where he wasn't welcome and she'd had every right to shoot him down for giving her advice she hadn't even asked to hear.

"Are you quite sure?" Cain pressed. "You seem upset."

"No," Elissa reassured him. "Don't worry about it. Are you done?"

"Ready to go, darling." He smiled, as he handed her the iced-coffee drink he'd ordered for her.

Elissa took the drink from his hand, and without sparing Levi or Slayte another glance, exited the tea-shop with him.

Levi watched the pair leave in concerned silence.

"Well?" Slayte turned expectant eyes onto him. "Did you talk to her? Is she alright? What did she say?"

He hesitated. There was no way he could tell Slayte what Elissa's words had been - because they were nothing like the Elissa both of them knew. She would never speak so rudely, so cuttingly, to her friends. What she had said was the last thing he would have ever expected to come out of Elissa's mouth. So bitter that even  _ he  _ had been taken aback by them.

She was not only drawing away from them, but changing, Levi realised, with a sinking sense of disappointment - and not for the better.

"Levi?" Slayte's worried voice drew him out of his grim musings. He met her warm brown eyes, which were full of such apprehension for Elissa's well-being. No, he decided. It would crush Slayte to know what she had said. Better that he kept Elissa's uncharacteristic and unpleasant outburst to himself.

He shrugged. "She thinks it's harmless fun."

"What?" Slayte whispered in dismay, overcome with confusion. That wasn't the Elissa they knew. Her anxiety escalated, troubled to realise just how much Cain seemed to be influencing their friend. He had his claws in her and Slayte couldn't stand it, and was at a loss to explain how things had gotten this bad.

"She knows it's stupid." Grabbing a plate to serve another customer, Levi added in a mutter, "Doesn't look like she cares."

Slayte bit her lower lip, her mind racing. She could protect Elissa from outside threats that endangered her safety. But how could she possibly protect Elissa from herself, when she was making all the wrong decisions?

* * *

They spent a few more hours together, going around town and running mutual errands when a sudden terrible headache struck Cain, strong enough to prevent him from continuing with his day, forcing him to return home. Worried about his well-being, Elissa refused to let him walk back alone and drove him to his apartment. Once they were inside, she gently helped him lay down on the sofa, flicking off the lounge lights to avoid aggravating his migraine further. Covering him with a blanket she took from one of the bedrooms, she then rose from his side to fetch him a glass of water to wash down the pain medication she carried in her bag. He caught her wrist in a warm hand as she stood, and Elissa paused, glancing down at where he lay with one arm thrown across his eyes, shielding them from the spotlights she had dimmed in the kitchen.

"Cain?" she looked at him in concern. "Are you alright?"

He uttered something incoherent, and she leaned in closer, straining to hear him. "Did you say something?"

"You..." he muttered beneath his breath. "Stay away…"

"What?" she frowned in confusion.

"I'm… no good," he mumbled.

"Huh?" She blinked at him, nonplussed, not certain she had heard him correctly. Had he just told  _ her _ to stay away? From what?  _ Him? _ She stared at him, somewhat alarmed by the random and odd nature of the statement. Was he delirious? She reached out, pressing the back of her hand gingerly against his forehead, checking to see whether he had a temperature. He didn't seem to be unusually hot.

Shaking her head and dismissing it as the effects of his migraine, she patted his hand and made her way to the open-plan kitchen. Debating whether she should make him something to eat, she filled a glass with water and then made her way back to him - blinking in astonishment when she found him sitting up, rubbing at his forehead.

"Cain," she said, surprised. "Hey. Why are you sitting up?"

He looked disorientated for a second, but the expression quickly settled into recognition. "Elissa. I'm feeling much better now."

"What? Are you sure?" Elissa's eyebrows knitted together. Hadn't he just been terribly pained minutes earlier? "I brought you some water. Do you want some meds? I've got some in my bag."

"No, that isn't necessary," he pushed the blanket aside and set his feet back onto the ground, fingertips rubbing at his temples. "Blasted headache," he muttered beneath his breath. "Comes and goes."

Elissa recalled that it had happened once before. "Don't you think you'd better get that checked out?"

He waved away her worry. "It's probably nothing. It only happens occasionally. A form of migraine. There isn't a cure for that." Glancing at her, he offered a small smile. "Truly, Elissa. I am well. I didn't mean to alarm you."

Elissa hesitated, settling on the couch beside him. He accepted the water, taking a sip. She continued to stare hard at him, as if wary that he'd have another flare up of symptoms.

He met her gaze, and raised his eyebrows. "The look on your face."

"Are you  _ sure  _ you're fine?" she pressed.

"I am. Was it that bad?" He frowned lightly.

"Yes. You scared me," she admitted. "You got unwell so suddenly while we were out, and then when I got you here, you were saying some pretty weird things."

"I… did?" he looked at her, puzzled, as if he had no recollection of doing such a thing. "What did I say?"

Elissa lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. "Something about telling me to stay away and being no good." Releasing an awkward laugh, she said, "Maybe you didn't want me hovering around. I probably should've given you some space, but I didn't want you to be alone with that headache just in case you-" she broke off, when he suddenly reached out, placing a palm over the hand Elissa had rested on her left thigh. His touch was cool again.

"Elissa…" he turned to her, looking at her sincerely. There was none of his usual mischievousness in his expression - only open gratitude. "I would never tell you to stay away. I must have been uttering nonsense in pain. I am grateful, truly, that you remained with me." His hand slid under hers, gripping her own. Squeezing it gently, he added, "I thank you for your considerate care, and the pleasure of your company."

Elissa was touched by the unexpected sweetness of his words. Their eyes met and unbidden, she felt heat bloom into her cheeks. She opened her mouth to tell him that it was fine, the least she could do for all the help he had offered to her over the previous few weeks, that it was what friends did for each other, but for some reason, her tongue wouldn't form the words. His eyes were as clear as a beautiful blue sky at the height of noon, and suddenly she couldn't tear her gaze away from him.

He lifted a hand, hesitating only momentarily, before pushing a lock of her hair slowly back behind her ear. Elissa felt her blush intensify. Cain was handsome, charming, fascinating and clearly, he was interested. She didn't know whether the agitated fluttering in her stomach was due to the dancing butterflies that accompanied an undeniable chemistry and physical attraction - or something else entirely. When he leaned forward slightly, his gaze darting briefly to her lips, she felt her entire body freeze in place. She wasn't sure what was happening, or what strange spell had overcome them both. The hush around them seemed to be broken only by the pounding of her heart within her chest. It seemed that they were flowing toward each other, almost as if in slow motion, as if time itself had suspended. All she could see were his eyes, drawing ever closer, and then she felt the tickling of his warm breath against her lips-

The ringing of his cell phone jolted them both back to awareness. Elissa jerked back with a start, embarrassed beyond measure, wondering what on earth had just passed between them and what in the world had come over her. Cain blinked, as if he'd forgotten where he was entirely - then hastily excused himself to take the call. Elissa breathed a quiet sigh of relief as he walked toward the kitchen.

After he hung up, he offered her a drink. Elissa eagerly gulped it down, feeling tightly-strung and suddenly aware of him physically in a way she hadn't been before, leaving her feeling confused. Cain had returned to his easy mannerisms and laughed and joked the evening away. By the time she said goodnight to him and left, Elissa felt much more at ease - though whether that was due to his company or the alcohol flowing through her veins, she couldn't quite tell.

She drove home with the music on full blast, trying not to dwell on the realisation of how close she had come to kissing him, her eyes stinging, her throat burning. She told herself it was from the alcohol, and desperately willed herself to believe it.

* * *

The gentle mist that clung to the damp, subdued green hill marked by Chiyo's hut met Itachi's eyes. The meeting with Atropos had come to an end, and Itachi was none the wiser for it. Her vague, cryptic statements flooded his mind, but the meanings behind them escaped him.

_ "Lend ear to your nymph," _ was the one statement she had offered him unprompted, without any question preceding the statement. What could that mean? More importantly, the way to protect Elissa was to keep her close. But how? It was foolishness to expect a mortal to keep close company with Death.

Itachi turned away from the small, wooden cabin not wanting to see the look of pity that would likely linger in Hecate's eyes. As his mind pondered over what he had seen and heard, he found his footsteps carrying him towards the river Kokytos. He stood at the banks of the river, where an auburn-haired young goddess sat nearby on a boulder, staring intently, miserably, into its depths while the wails and cries of human suffering seemed to resonate from the water's surface. Catching sight of him, the goddess jumped to her feet and stammered a greeting.

Itachi nodded in acknowledgement before continuing his trek along the river's banks. Kokytos' death was a significant piece of the puzzle, his instinct assured him. Whoever the foe was, he could not help but feel, that the murder of the aged deity, had been a mistake on their part. If he could uncover the mystery behind it, he would be that much closer to finding out who threatened Angelissa's life. When he did, the consequences would be dire for the fool who had dared interfere in his domain.

" _ Madara spoke the truth," _ Atropos had said. No olympian would dare slaughter a deity of the underworld so long as Zeus ruled above the surface. What, then, could Atropos have meant? He paused as he reached the stretch of river where Kokytos' body had been found. Just beyond the reeds was the boulder from which Cronus had made his speech. What had he said? Itachi reflected on the patriarch's speech but nothing out of the ordinary came to mind.

He turned away and continued among the reeds further up the riverbank. A breeze whistled past his ears - an imitation of a tender caress and Itachi paused to watch the reeds dance under the wind's breath. The simple breeze had reminded him of a very different caress, warm and haunting. The illusion in the Valley of Desire had been potent and preyed upon a weakness he had not been ready to acknowledge within himself. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, summoning the image of a smiling Angelissa with arms outstretched one last time, before banishing it completely. Dwelling on illusions would only serve to blind him to the truth.

With a grim, determined set in his shoulders he pushed forward. At length, the reeds grew even taller and Itachi lifted his eyes as a large building loomed in the distance. The God of Death drew to a stop mid-step as he realized what he was seeing. Here, from the banks of the river of grief, Cronus' imposing quarters were clearly visible. Suddenly, the patriarch's voice seemed to ring in Itachi's ears.

" _ Through no fault of his own, he happened to chance upon a goddess who belonged to another…" _

Kokytos had always been a solemn deity who spent most of his days by the riverside, lending ear to mortal grief. He rarely left his watch, if at all. Where had Kokytos supposedly seen this goddess? Was this the "truth" Atropos had been referring to? Had Cronus begun keeping female company?

"Cousin…" a perturbed voice met his ears, and Itachi recognized, without so much as turning, that Shisui had appeared behind him.

"Have you spoken with Cronus, Shisui?" Itachi asked, his eyes still fixed quietly on Cronus' elaborate rooms.

"Not as yet, cousin. Our leader is often otherwise preoccupied as of late."

"Let us wait. There is no need to inform him, for now." Itachi's eyes flicked from the double doors to the many windows lining the second floor. What had Kokytos seen?

"Do you suspect our clan head, Itachi?" Shisui's voice held a note of mild surprise, but he trusted Itachi's judgment inherently. A confirmation on Itachi's part was all Shisui required to make up his own mind.

"It is unclear, but this much is certain. Kokytos was murdered in the underworld… by one who commands the power of lightning." The words hung heavy in the air, further clarification was not needed. The two knew that there were few in the underworld who commanded that element. At length, Itachi ventured further, "He caught sight of a goddess…" he trailed off, "... that belonged to another."

Shisui understood the implications and stepped forward until he stood beside his younger cousin. The two Uchiha deities observed the building - its exits, windows, servants - considering, trying to piece together what might have happened.

"I have news, cousin," Shisui interrupted their contemplations, turning to Itachi now, "I have spoken with your lampad."

Itachi's gaze slid to his cousin and only friend expectantly. The words ' _ lend ear to your nymph'  _ echoed through his mind. "What news?" he queried.

"Vetty's master… is your mother," Shisui announced quietly.

Itachi said nothing, attempting to ascertain the veracity of that statement based on what little he knew of the underworld feline and his mother. Unable to reach a definite conclusion, he turned to Shisui instead, "How reliable is this information?"

"Slayte is certain of it, and understandably concerned."

Atropos had said that he, himself, was the cause of the chaos surrounding Elissa and although it had made no sense to him, unbidden, his mother's words echoed in his ears. Spoken in the dark of night, the light of the moon reflecting off of nearby moonflowers, the voice slurred by the effects of ambrosia but lilting and familiar.

" _ Everything I do, I do for you, my sweet." _

* * *

Her eyes were adjusting to the darkness and she could almost make shapes out in the textured paint on her ceiling. There was a man kneeling towards his beloved and that odd lump could be her, the object of affection, turning her face away from him, either that, or… a hunter and a deer? Or was it herself, offering her cup to Itachi and him refusing to fill it?

She blinked at the ceiling, too exhausted to even bring herself to frown at the wayward thoughts. How many times had she sworn not to think of him again - and how many times had she broken that promise? It was almost routine now to lie awake here, staring at the ceiling, the darkness that filled her bedroom seeming to seep inside of herself as well until she was filled with an absolute, deafening nothingness.

His eyes burned into her mind, dark and haunting behind that infuriating mask of his. Enticing, just like the rest of him. The call of the void is what it was called, right? When one was drawn to their own destruction? What made the recollection so much more vivid today? She could scarcely summon the strength to banish the image, the defined lines of his jaw, the tip of what appeared to be an aristocratic nose. The hair smooth and flowing, dark as night. Then there was the comforting scent of him; he smelled of pine and campfires and something else she could not name - something unique to him.

She felt her eyes pooling with tears as she lay there motionless, feeling as good as dead to the world. She had nearly kissed Cain. Time had seemed to stop. She remembered his cool hand on hers. His warm breath on her lips. She remembered being surprised at how long those blonde lashes were. She had never noticed it until that moment where they were so close to one another.

Did she like him enough to want to kiss him? He had been a welcome distraction, showing her an entirely new side of life. Helping her walk another road - an easier one - where she didn't have to sift through the meaning of Itachi's cryptic barbs, or Slayte's unrepentant betrayal. He was an adventure - exciting and unlike anything she had known before. But did she want to kiss him? Did she like him enough for that?  _ That jackass likes trouble,  _ Levi had said. But what did he know? Cain was certainly attractive. Not to mention well-off, and his charm was a given. So, what was holding her back?

Despite herself, she recalled the incident on the bridge. What Itachi's hands had felt like, warm and firm. His ebony eyes that had seemed to pierce right through her, but promised to be gentle in doing so. She remembered what that want had felt like. What it had felt like when she watched those lips speak, wondering secretly what it would feel like to have those lips on her own. Would they be soft and seductive or firm and demanding? Such wayward thoughts had set her cheeks aflame, once. If it were Itachi, she would not be second guessing herself.

Her mind seemed to want to punish her for today's near-kiss because the memory of him - of his image, his voice, his scent - was clearer than ever. Just like the memory of his rejection. The tears pooling in her eyes overflowed and spilled onto her pillow. She blinked silently, and sought out a new image in the ceiling - anything, to distract herself. With a sigh, she folded her hands over her stomach as new tears formed to replace the ones she had shed.

Why had he rejected her that way? Why had he sought to hurt her badly enough to ensure she would not approach him again? What had she done to merit such a complete change in demeanor on his part? Had her existence truly been so meaningless to him that he was able to cast her off without a second thought? Without a moment's regret? Had she truly been nothing more than a means to an end? Had he marked her, permanently, only to abandon her without so much as an explanation?

Each question prompted a new wave of tears and she sucked in a shaky breath as she blinked at the ceiling anew, weeping noiselessly, wordlessly. There were no more images to be found on the ceiling.

The pleasant buzz of the alcohol was fading. That was the only explanation for why Itachi's memory tore through her so mercilessly. Was she sobering up already? She pulled herself up to a sitting position and sniffed. She reached blindly for a tissue as she wiped her wayward tears away. With an annoyed sigh, she blew her nose. New tears formed to replace the ones she had wiped away and she pressed her eyes shut, hoping they would disappear.

She rose and stumbled to her refrigerator in the dark. She had taken to keeping some alcohol on hand for stupid, unnecessary nights like this one. She could use a drink or two to take the edge off her thoughts. When she pulled open the refrigerator door she groaned to see that she had forgotten to restock the fridge. She slunk to the kitchen floor, pushing aside a milk carton to see if there wasn't at least a can or two hidden somewhere in the back.

Frustration cresting, she rose to her feet. The clock on the wall tick-tocked the night away, a reminder of the sleep she wasn't getting. She pressed the refrigerator door shut and reached for her phone. Was it only 11:00 PM? Biting her lower lip, she thought of the bar only two blocks away from here. What was it called again, "Hidden Leaf"? Some pleasant music, a few drinks… she would go on foot and could walk back, surely?

Her mind nearly made up almost as soon as she had the idea, she switched on the lights and entered her bedroom to change into appropriate streetwear. She opted for black skinny jeans and a white, waterfall tee paired with a denim jacket, snapping her keys up off the sideboard she was stopped in her tracks by an inquisitive mewl behind her. Turning, she saw Vetty with her head cocked to one side, as if asking her where she was going.

"I'll be right back, Vetty. See you in a bit." Elissa could not explain why she felt guilty, to her cat of all things, and turned through the front door closing it softly behind herself.

The ten minute walk to the bar passed quickly, the crisp night air stinging her cheeks only served to sober her up further and she was emboldened in her endeavour. When she passed through the heavy oak door of the establishment, the barkeep greeted her with a nod as she approached the counter. Heavy cigarette smoke lingered in the air and the dim lighting and soft jazz music only added to the subdued atmosphere.

"What will it be, young lady?" the bartender, advanced in years, asked her politely.

Elissa surveyed the drinks on their menu, before turning to the bartender, "Um… something strong?" She glanced at their menu, "Do you have vodka, maybe?"

The bartender gave her a long look, "We… do." He answered finally. "Something strong, huh? I've got just the thing."

When he slid a glass in her direction, the large ice cubes clinked against one another invitingly. She lifted the glass hesitantly but downed the contents in one go. It burned all the way down, bitter and promising.

"Another, please."

* * *

Slayte idled at the kitchen table, skimming through a magazine of clothing that was entirely too bright for her taste. Why hadn't she thrown the advert away as soon as it arrived? There was no way in Tartarus that she would ever show her face wearing a flowy pink skirt like the one that was gleaming up off the page. Fifty-seven pages of pastels and bright patterns glared up at her when she flipped through the magazine and she sighed, hoping Levi would be done with whatever he was doing in the storage room soon so that they could go to bed.

_ Tap, tap, tap… _

She recognized the insistent, rhythmic tapping even before she lifted her eyes to the windowpane and was on her feet almost instantly. Tearing open the window, she saw the elegant crow she had bonded with all those nights ago, staring at her through solemn, inky eyes.

She swallowed nervously, the crow's sudden appearance here could only mean one thing.

Elissa was in danger.

She reached out for the dark bird but hesitated, her hand hovering in midair. What had Levi said that morning? He was worried and feared she would disappear on him. She couldn't just run off carelessly as she had always done.

"Levi!" she called over her shoulder, never letting the crow out of her eyes for a moment, fearful it would disappear if she did so. "I have to go somewhere, I'll be back in a minute!"

That would have to do.

She closed the remaining distance between herself and the shadow bird and the minute her outstretched fingers brushed against its jet-black feathers, the bird seemed to collapse on itself, sinking into a vortex that tugged at her very being. Her essence contorted, compressed, spiraled beyond recognition as she heard Levi's voice at the edge of her consciousness, calling "Oi, wait…" but there was no turning back. When she came to and reopened her eyes on the other side, she was met with darkness.

Whereas Levi stood frowning in an empty kitchen wondering where she had disappeared to when she had just addressed him only a moment ago.

* * *

"Hey there, beautiful. What are you doing here all alone?"

Elissa blinked up at the speaker. Why the hell were men so freaking annoying? Why did they want to talk to her? The cool wooden surface of the bar counter on her forehead was so comfortable, why did they want to disturb her?

"You look a little out of it," someone chuckled. It didn't sound like the first voice that had spoken before.

How many drinks had she had? Four at least… maybe a few more?

"Wanna come with us? We can show you a good time," a third voice promised. Elissa blinked at the strangers that were hovering in front of her. Were there three of them or was she seeing double?

"Needa… get home," she mumbled, pushing at the chest of the one closest to her to get him out of her way.

A reedy laugh met her ears and a hand closed around her wrist. A muted sense of alarm rang somewhere in her subconsciousness and she glanced around for the bartender but he was nowhere to be seen.

She groaned, "Back off…"

Amused laughter echoed around her as they tugged her to her feet. The whole world seemed to spin around her as she came to a stand. She felt foreign hands wrap around her waist, steadying her.

"I said leggo," she whined, but stopped as she felt a wave of nausea consume her. She pressed a hand to her mouth and held it back with difficulty.

They were walking her to the exit now, laughing to one another and joking in low voices. Elissa could not make out the words, nor did she understand what was so funny about their comments, she just wanted to sleep.

"Wanna sleep," she mumbled, closing her eyes as she leaned into the body nearest to her. Her comment was met by another roar of raucous laughter as they exited the building and she found herself being led into a darkened alleyway.

She pulled away from them, moving with difficulty, as if she were submerged a hundred meters underwater. She knew, even through her intoxicated haze, that she did not want to go into that darkened lane. Her half-hearted, uncoordinated resistance was met with dry chuckles and smooth reassurances that everything would be all right.

"Let go of her."

The voice was familiar, somehow, but so dark and threatening that Elissa could not place it. The group stopped then, suddenly, and Elissa took the moment to take a breath and try to calm the world spinning around her.

Slayte had expected underworld creatures, or even some monsters of the surface, what she had not expected was to find three lecherous men trying to take advantage of a seriously inebriated Elissa. The monsters of the underworld were far less disgusting.

"Who the hell are you?" one of the men demanded. "Get out of our way if you don't want to get hurt."

Slayte's eyes narrowed, seeing that this man had one arm snaked around Elissa's waist and another held onto her hand from where her arm was draped around his shoulders. Elissa herself hung loosely in his grip, her head bent forward as if she lacked the strength to so much as lift it. Cold fury flooded Slayte's veins. How dare these vermin lay a hand on Elissa?

"I've never killed a human before," she announced, stepping forward out of the shadows, "I suppose there is a first time for everything."

"Don't make me laugh, bitch. Get lost if you know what's good for you." The man who spoke was heavyset and had an unruly mop of red hair that hung limply over a ruddy, intoxicated face. Slayte angled her head to meet his eyes, glad somewhere in her subconsciousness that these assholes weren't backing down. She had to let her frustration out somewhere.

She stepped forward towards the man in the center and placed a hand on the hand that held Elissa's. She collected shadows under the palm of her hand and an inhuman scream tore from his lungs and broke through the night sky as he fell backwards, releasing Elissa as he did so.

Slayte caught her friend easily, and regarded the man on the cobblestone floor cradling his hand from down the bridge of her nose. Her dark eyes flashed with warning even as her expression reflected arrogant disdain. This filth wasn't even human in her eyes.

"She broke my fucking hand!" he cried, cringing in pain as he cradled the injured hand.

"Get a grip, Gavin! She barely touched you!" The other two men exchanged uneasy glances as the third whimpered in agony.

Holding firmly onto Elissa, keeping her upright, she cast a glance at the two remaining men.

"Anyone else want to try their luck?" Slayte asked, unimpressed. "Go right ahead."

They backed off slowly, helping the man with the injured hand to his feet.

"Oi," Slayte stopped them in their retreat. Her words echoed off the stone walls eerily; the darkness in her voice sounded inhuman to their ears. Women didn't speak that way, did they? "Do you know the sound your flesh will make when I tear it from your bones?"

The men froze in place, not even so much as breathing. "If you ever touch this one again," Slayte spoke in slow, even tones, almost demonic in quality, her dark eyes full of promise, "you will find out."

They retreated slowly, helping the third member of their party to his feet before turning tail and making a hasty escape and disappearing into the night.

Slayte watched them go with mild disappointment. She would have preferred to teach them a lesson, to make good on her threat, but she knew murdering humans would lead to complications Itachi would likely disapprove of. At least Elissa was safe, and the bones in the hand of the man who had touched her were shattered like glass, broken in more places than she supposed even a talented doctor could count.

Slayte sighed and blew a stray strand of hair out of her face before turning her gaze towards her friend leaning heavily on her.

"You okay, Elissa?" she asked gently. When Elissa only groaned in response, Slayte frowned in concern. The dangerous situation Elissa had somehow found herself in had been a terribly close call. Thanatos' crow had been a true godsend. "Let's get you home."

She began her trek up the road, supporting Elissa as they walked. The night air was comfortably cool, and being in Elissa's company after this long while filled her being with love, despite the circumstances.

"Leave me alone," Elissa muttered bitterly, causing Slayte to stop in her tracks. She turned her head towards Elissa but could not meet her hazel eyes as her head still hung lowered.

"I'm sorry, Elissa," she whispered back, her heart constricting at Elissa's words, "let me just get you home and I'll go away."

Elissa mumbled something indecipherable and Slayte continued on her way towards Elissa's apartment building. She heaved a heavy sigh as she made her way up the steep road that led towards Elissa's home.

"I hate you," Elissa mumbled, and her voice was filled with such genuine anguish that it broke Slayte's heart to have caused her friend such pain.

"I'm sorry."

They walked on and Slayte bit her lip, trying to keep the tears at bay, but Elissa was not done. "I hate your black hair. I hate your dark eyes." Elissa's words were slurred but seemingly endless, as if she had a torrent of emotion she had been holding back. "I hate your kindness. I hate your secrets."

Each sentence was like a knife through Slayte's heart but she clamped down on any emotion and trudged onwards. It was good for Elissa to let everything out, maybe it would help her heal.

"I hate your secrets. I hate your lies."

Tears stung at Slayte's eyes and she cursed herself for being so foolishly susceptible to Elissa's words.

"I hate you saving me. I hate everything about you."

Elissa sounded so genuinely miserable that Slayte could only sigh and held her more tightly, the only comfort she could offer her.

"Okay, Elissa, it's okay," Slayte cooed reassuringly, as if her friend were a child in the midst of a nightmare. "I'll be here anyway, so hate me all you want, okay?"

They approached the large front doors of Elissa's apartment building when Elissa broke the silence once more.

"I hate the way you look at me," Elissa whined, and Slayte heard the tears in her voice, "Like you know all the world's secrets… but you won't share them with me."

Slayte froze and turned to regard her friend. Those words had not been meant for her. The eyes that looked like they knew all the world's secrets… there was no doubt about whose eyes Elissa meant. Had Elissa actually been referring to Thanatos this entire time? Was Elissa's anger towards Thanatos consuming her still? Had she, as Slayte had sometimes feared, taken Slayte in Thanatos' stead because she believed her to be aligned with him? Did Elissa need to pour her anger at the deity out on Slayte because she had no other outlet? Much as she was doing right now?

"It's okay, Elissa," she whispered, sympathetic and understanding, "You can just hate me as long as you need. Until you feel better."

Elissa did not answer, and Slayte reached into Elissa's jacket pockets, hoping to find her key. Slayte's search came up empty and when Elissa lazily swatted Slayte's hand away, Slayte blinked at her in surprise. "Oh,  _ me _ you can fight off, huh?" Amusement laced Slayte's voice despite herself, "Elissa, I need your key." When the hazel-eyed girl did not answer, Slayte searched instead for the spare key she knew her friend kept hidden nearby. As her fingers sought out the hiding place near the potted plant, however, she saw that Elissa's spare key was no longer hidden there.

"Did you think I was going to break in, Elissa?" she muttered, giving her friend a disappointed look, "I didn't even come in without your permission when I  _ had  _ the key."

She glanced up and down the road and, after assuring herself that no one saw her, pressed the palm of her hand against the keyhole, summoning shadows to fill the crevice. With some concentration she shifted the shadows within the lock until she finally heard the click of the door unlocking. She pushed the door open and brought Elissa inside and into the elevator.

The same trick opened Elissa's apartment door and Slayte helped Elissa into bed before pulling off her shoes and helping her out of her jacket. She covered her friend with her comforter and stood there a long moment, observing her tormented expression. It hurt Slayte to know that there was nothing she could do to ease her Elissa's anguish. Whatever had transpired between Elissa and Thanatos, she had no doubt in her mind that it was the reason Elissa was behaving so strangely, seeking comfort in a man that had nothing at all in common with herself, and even seeking to drown her sorrows in alcohol. She hoped Hypnos would prove true to his word and bring Thanatos around. Perhaps, if the two of them reconciled, it would all turn out for the better.

Slayte sighed and brushed stray locks of chestnut hair away from Elissa's face. It was best to leave before Elissa awoke and demanded to know what Slayte was doing in her apartment. She turned away from her friend and made to leave the bedroom when she felt a resistance, a tugging at her clothes. Slowly, not daring to believe her eyes, she turned back to find Elissa clinging with an outstretched hand to the hem of her cardigan.

"Slayte," she murmured miserably, her eyes half-lidded and tearful, "Don't go."

Slayte swallowed thickly at her friend's words and froze in place, wide eyes not daring to believe what she had heard.

"Please."

The torment in Elissa's voice cut her to the quick and she rushed back to Elissa's side, taking her hand in both of her own.

"I'm here, Elissa. I'm with you," she promised, before adding in a voice thick with emotion, "I always will be."

She patted her friend's hand comfortingly, "Go to sleep, Elissa. Everything will be okay."

Almost immediately, Elissa's eyes slid shut and she fell to a restless sleep but Slayte remained on for hours, clinging to her hand, watching her sleep. She knew, somewhere in the bottom of her heart, that Elissa had spoken in a drunken stupor. That she was unlikely to remember any of this the next day and yet, a part of her dared to believe that Elissa somehow, somewhere, still held affection for her just as she, herself, would always love Elissa.

At length, Slayte extracted her hand from Elissa's, and tucked her friend's hand under her blanket, pulling the comforter over her shoulders before turning to the door and with one last, lingering look at Elissa's sleeping form, she disappeared into the night.

* * *

**AN: Hope you guys liked it! Reviews are most appreciated! :D**


	26. Part XXV: Unspoken Perils

* * *

**Part XXV: Unspoken Perils**

* * *

Stuffing her hands into her coat pockets, Slayte lifted her eyes to the night sky glimmering overhead. The air was surprisingly clear and the constellations were clearly visible. Slayte frowned. The sight was no comfort to her. It served as a haunting reminder of the intimidating goddess of night, who she had feared to cross paths with as a child and now stood, potentially, as a very formidable opponent in her personal mission to save Elissa from harm.

That their fates depended upon the hope that Itachi might take her word over the word of his mother terrified her. She knew there was no love lost between herself and her former master. They were united simply by the common interest of preserving Elissa's wellbeing. She hoped that would serve for Thanatos as motivation enough to believe in her words. She hoped Hypnos could convince him of that.

" _Lord Thanatos…"_ she willed at him, surprised to find the connection clear and steady. It had been nearly a month since she had last been able to establish a channel to him. Her mind raced over all the things she wanted to say to him, everything that had collected over the last few weeks. She never knew how much he was hearing, and he never answered her. The most of a response she had ever received was the appearance of the black crow weeks ago.

" _Do you see what's happening?"_ She frowned, thinking of the state she had left Elissa behind in. Of the terrible incident that had nearly occurred. Of the irresponsible decisions her best friend was making. " _She's being reckless and hurting herself. I can protect her from monsters, but… how should I protect her from herself? Your actions have led to all of this. You have hurt her terribly… just as I feared you would. Today, she almost… she was almost…"_ she sighed miserably, unwilling to put the event into words. " _Do something. Please."_

Nothing but the whistling of the midnight breeze met her ears. She was irked by his silence, but not surprised. Quickening her steps, she folded her arms over her chest to keep warm. The tea shop was just at the end of the road and she could scarcely wait to step into its familiar warmth.

A glance at her phone revealed it was well past one in the morning and she winced, anticipating a confrontation with Levi. Knowing him, he was most likely still awake, probably reading through the morning's newspaper for the tenth time, waiting for her to return.

It would be alright, she told herself, recalling Hypnos' words. She no longer had to guard her choice of words for fear she would inadvertently bring about his death. Despite knowing that, she was in no hurry to reveal the truth of her past to him, wanting to uphold the comforting illusion of a relationship on equal footing. One where they would stay by the other's side. Perhaps marrying someday, if that was what he wanted, having children, growing old together. She liked to imagine it - dying with him. Tending to his grave, ensuring he would never be forgotten, until she, herself, succumbed to her grief and they were reunited in the underworld.

That such simple things were impossible for her, filled her very being with a sense of yearning and regret so penetrating and painful, it sometimes made her want to turn her back on everything and disappear. How much longer until he noticed that she did not age? And even if she were to tell him the truth of her nature, he would very quickly come to realize the things that she herself knew. The time they had together was short. She could not stay by his side until death came to separate them. In her case, she knew, Death was likely to come separate them sooner, rather than later.

Why had she been so impulsive? Why had she been so greedy as to begin a relationship with this man, knowing she would not be able to fulfill the expectations such a relationship would demand? Why, even now, against her better judgment, could she not even entertain the idea of going without him? Feelings were fleeting, she had assumed. When she accepted his suggestion of being more than friends, that was what she had told herself. It was only a matter of time until they fell out of the other's good graces. She hadn't expected this. Hadn't expected them to cling to one another with an unyielding desperation as if they were the very air they breathed.

She came to a stop before the comforting green and gold door of the tea shop, glistening in the moonlight. Through the glass panels, she saw him, just as she had expected, frowning down at a newspaper with eyes unseeing. Her dark eyes softened with affection and regret at the very sight of him. She would tell him as much as was necessary. The rest could wait.

* * *

The Underworld palace gardens were unrivalled in their beauty, immaculately tended and full of enchantment. Itachi recalled visiting them frequently in childhood, back before his powers had activated and he had taken on the sombering burden of being Death himself. In those carefree days, he had often spent time in the grounds in Shisui and Sasuke's company, sparring, playing hide and seek, exploring, teaching Sasuke how to climb trees, hiding him away whenever he stole food from the kitchens that the chef's always blamed on greedy servants, or simply sitting with a book and enjoying the tranquility that the serene grounds afforded.

At present he strode through them without even acknowledging their magnificence, his mind occupied with the rushing turmoil of his thoughts. The knowledge the nymph had inferred to Shisui, that Nyx herself was Vetty's owner, weighed heavily on his conscience. Why had his mother denied missing any one of her familiars back when he had first questioned her about the matter? That had been months prior. How much time had been wasted since then? Certainly enough to place Angelissa's life in danger on more than one occasion.

His lips thinned, forming an unyielding line as he passed by the many servants who tended the grounds, not so much as glancing their way as they bowed and curtsied respectfully to their exalted prince. Rounding a flowered hedge, he approached a white-stone fountain where he found his mother seated surrounded by Underworld felines. One of them sat upon her lap contentedly as the Goddess of Night stroked the creature's dark fur with a pale, slender hand.

She looked up upon hearing his footsteps falling upon the stone pathway. Immediately a smile as radiant as the moon itself graced her beautiful features.

"My love," she greeted warmly. "A welcome sight you are indeed for my weary eyes."

"Mother," he nodded, approaching her slowly. She reached out for his hand with her own, squeezing it affectionately as she rose to her feet, peering up at him through long, dark lashes. The cat upon her lap leapt gracefully to the grass, huddling with its friends by the long skirt of her flowing, silver-stitched midnight gown.

Itachi's eyes lowered, silently counting the number of cats. There were seven at her feet.

"It has been too long since I have seen you, my Itachi. Your presence is so scarce in the palace as of late. Do your duties occupy you so that you find no time to call upon your dear old mother?"

"Forgive me," he answered courteously, having expected that she would question him following his sudden, unannounced disappearance into the realm of The Fates. "I have been occupied as of late."

She bent down to scoop up a fluffy dark-grey cat in her arms, before rising to look at him again.

"Sasuke complains of your absence, you know. He misses you a great deal," she sighed. Itachi felt a twinge of regret deep within his chest. Sasuke would have been the first to notice his disappearance, no doubt, and it filled Itachi with remorse to acknowledge that he had indeed not been spending enough time in his younger brother's company. The sooner he could arrive at the conclusion of his investigation, the sooner normality could be restored for all involved.

"Though Zeus's son keeps him occupied enough. I wonder…" Nyx pondered on, lifting a thoughtful hand to her chin. "Are you aware that he also keeps company with a young goddess? Word has reached me that she possesses hair the shade of blush found in a dawning sky and eyes as emerald as cypress trees."

Itachi regarded his mother intently. This was not at all what he had come to her to discuss, but ever polite, he indulged her musings. "Another of his friends, perhaps."

"Perhaps," Nyx smiled, her lashes sweeping down as she scratched at the cat's head, eliciting a pleased purr from the creature.

"Mother," Itachi began, when it became apparent that he would not be interrupting any further small talk. "You informed me that all of your feline familiars are accounted for, did you not?"

Nyx blinked, her eyes darting back to him. Confusion passed across her face. "My sweet?" she questioned. "I am afraid I do not follow…?"

"One appears to be missing," he continued, his voice level, calm - and yet all the while he watched his mother closely, his perceptive gaze taking note of her expression, her body language, her eyes.

"I…" Nyx glanced down at the cats at her feet. "I am not at all sure what you mean. I believed them all to be here?"

"..." Itachi was silent for a long moment.

His mother then suddenly frowned. "Wait. My son, you are right. One of them is indeed missing here." She searched among the cats. "Why, it is my dearest Vetty! How came that to escape my notice before?"

Itachi's eyes did not waver from her face.

She shook her head, looking unsurprised. "She is the wildest, most impulsive, most curious of my creatures - but she is often away for weeks on end, and I confess I haven't a clue what the precious kitten gets up to when she disappears." She turned her dark eyes back to her son. "How came you to notice this, my son? Have you come across her?"

"Upon the surface," he responded.

Nyx sighed. "Is she, indeed? She is a most mischievous creature, and I confess I mostly leave her to her own designs - but I assumed her to be roaming our Kingdom, as is her way." She turned an appraising gaze onto her first-born. "You are ever perceptive to notice her absence, my love. Now that you mention it, it _has_ been an uncommonly long time since I saw her last."

"It is a wonder," Itachi mused quietly, "that she does not return."

"She has a will of her own." Nyx answered smoothly, lifting her shoulders into a slight shrug. "As is the nature of all these cats, but she is eldest amongst them, and quite stubborn. If you come across her again, do inform her that she is summoned and that I am most displeased by her extended absence. The surface is no place for an Underworld feline."

"Indeed," Itachi murmured in agreement.

Nyx stroked the familiar in her arms for a moment, before continuing, "My sweet, I had been intending to speak with you about a matter that has been brought to my attention."

Itachi waited.

"I have spoken to your lampad Myrine not five days past. She is quite a talkative thing, is she not? Tell me, are her words true? That your last torch-bearer fled from her duty and escaped our realm?"

Itachi was silent. His mother was responsible for accounting for all the palace and royal court members' servants. He wondered how she had not become aware of Slayte's disappearance before, considering that the lampad's absence was by no means recent even given the flow of time within their world. Indeed it had been five whole surface years since the nymph had abandoned her station. It struck Itachi as odd, that Nyx would only come to notice it at that moment.

How, also, had Nyx not noticed Vetty's absence from her company of cats? What was it that had his mother so distracted, that she would allow such significant omissions to slip, he wondered? It did not seem in character for the wise, diligent Nyx at all to overlook such things.

"She spoke to me of rumours about this lampad escaping to the surface. Is this true, my sweet?"

"I do not attend to the affairs of servants," he answered her pointedly.

Nyx nodded in understanding. "Of course. Of course, my dearest heart. You are so greatly burdened already. Forgive me, my love. I should not trouble you with such trifling matters. If such a transgression has indeed transpired, then I will consult with The Erinyes and arrange for her retrieval. A servant bound to you must return to her duty, after all." Her gaze flicked down to the mewling cat in her arms.

Itachi's eyes narrowed slightly. He could not allow such a thing to happen. The deserter lampad Slayte was carrying out her service to him upon the surface, by watching over Angelissa and ensuring her welfare. Under no circumstances could she be returned to the Underworld until he had solved the matter at hand and discovered what or who was after the innocent mortal girl - and why. He would not compromise Angelissa's safety on the count of upholding tradition by returning one wayward nymph who pined for a surface life to their world.

"That is not necessary, mother." Itachi surprised her by uttering shortly. "I have a torch-bearer. Your interference in my affairs is not required."

Nyx's eyes lowered. "As it pleases you, my love," she replied gently. "Only I would not wish for such rumours to spread throughout our realm, that one of my own noble prince's servants escaped from his service."

"I care not for rumours," Itachi dismissed nonchalantly.

"No. Of course you do not." Her eyes lifted to his, and she reached out to press a palm to his cheek, caressing it with affection. "You are ever wise, and concern yourself only with duty and truth."

Itachi searched her eyes steadily - before his heavy lashes lowered back to the cats who had strolled lazily up to his feet and were meowing for his attention. Nyx gazed upon him with tenderness - when the sound of footsteps drew her attention to the individual who had joined them in the garden.

"Hades, my love!" Nyx beamed, drawing her hand back down to the cat in her arms, delighted to have both her sons with her. It was becoming a rarity indeed, to see them both together.

"Mother," Sasuke nodded respectfully to her first, before his accusing gaze settled on Itachi. "Brother." His eyes narrowed as they fell upon the god of death. "I am starting to think that you are perhaps avoiding me."

Itachi's eyes softened as he turned to his younger sibling, pushing all thoughts of his exchange with his mother to the back of his mind as he gave Hades his full and undivided attention - as he deserved to have.

"Sasuke," he greeted softly. "Do not speak such things."

Sasuke's scowl relaxed as he met his elder brother's warm gaze. "Then prove it," he replied, raising a dark eyebrow. "Spar with me."

* * *

Elissa lifted the mug of steaming coffee to her lips, savouring it like it was a healing tonic for the stubborn headache that pounded behind her eyes. She'd had a rough evening the previous night, and couldn't remember much about it, other than that she'd made the decision to go out for some late drinks at 'The Hidden Leaf' bar.

On the opposite side of the table, Cain regarded her sympathetically. "Is it that bad?"

"Ugh. The worst hangover in the entire world." Elissa set her mug down and pressed her fingers to her throbbing temples. "I had to call in sick. Pretty sure my boss will make me pay for it tomorrow."

He chuckled. "Drinking on a work-night? That's irresponsible." He smirked at her appreciatively. "And exciting."

Elissa tossed a napkin at him. "Don't. I'm regretting it. I don't even remember how I made it home. I just woke up tucked in bed." Half-joking, she added, "It wasn't you, was it?"

His eyebrows rose as he considered her. "You really don't remember?" he questioned. "Wow, Elissa. You must have really been out of it."

She frowned. "Wait a minute. Seriously? You were there? You brought me home?"

He laughed and lifted his drink to his lips.

"No way. I didn't even see you there?" she exclaimed in surprise.

"As I said, you must have really been out of it."

Elissa gave him a sheepish look. "Thanks," she said bashfully. "I appreciate you taking me home safely." When he merely smiled, she shook her head at him. "You're so sneaky not telling me… it wasn't like I was going to remember on my own."

"Vodka," Cain grinned. "It does that. Wipes you right out."

"It tastes disgusting." Elissa complained.

"It is indeed strong liquor." He regarded her intently. "Far too strong on a work-night. What were you trying to forget?"

The bluntness of his question caught her off-guard. Elissa wrestled with the image of searing, alluring dark eyes that flashed across her mind, refusing to dwell on the misery of the previous evening. Someway, _somehow,_ she needed to purge everything that had happened with Itachi out of her system. They weren't even friends. She doubted he was having any trouble continuing with his life without sparing a single thought about her.

"Nothing," she mumbled. She didn't want to talk about him. "It's just work. I'm not happy about it. I spend my whole day watching the clock, or distracted, or just hating it. I wish my boss would vanish, he's a big part of the problem, but he'll never leave. He just forces everyone else to when they can't stand working for him anymore."

"Sounds like you need a new job, darling," Cain mused. He reached into the inner pocket of the grey blazer he wore and withdrew a cigarette and a lighter.

Elissa blinked at him in surprise. "I didn't know you smoke?"

He lifted his shoulders in an easy shrug, as if it were nothing out of the ordinary. "On occasion."

"That's a bad habit," Elissa took another sip of her coffee, eyeing him with disapproval. "You should know better, Doctor Lockwood."

"Oh, don't be so boring," he rolled his eyes as he lit up the cigarette. Pausing before he lifted it to his lips, he noted the way she was staring at him, and offered, "Do you want to try it?"

At the look of distaste she pulled, he pushed, "Come on, Elissa. I dare you to take one puff."

"I don't like the smell," Elissa scowled. "You're going to make our booth stink, you know."

"I dare you," he repeated, his eyes locked defiantly on hers, dancing with mischief.

She turned her face away. "No thanks. It's gross."

"One puff isn't going to kill you, darling. Life is for the living, remember? Are you really too scared to try it just once?"

She hesitated despite herself, glancing back at him.

"I'm not scared…" she began indignantly.

He waved the cigarette in front of her enticingly. "Then prove it," he smirked. "Because it seems to me that you're too scared to even give it a go. Who on earth are you afraid will judge you? You're an adult."

She glared at him. After a few more seconds of deliberation, she then reached out and plucked the cigarette from his hand. "Fine. Just to prove you wrong." Lifting it to her lips, she inhaled - only to cough violently as thick, bitter smoke filled her mouth.

"Ugh, that's vile!" she cried, handing it back to him. Cain chuckled at her reaction and proceeded to leisurely smoke the rest.

"So adorable. It does start off disgusting, I must admit," he agreed. "But you soon forget it as the drug takes over. On my worst days on call, I find it's the only thing that keeps me sane."

Elissa shook her head. It was pointless to lecture him about the dangers of smoking. She was certain he knew all about them, being a fully qualified doctor. Releasing a heavy sigh, her eyes dropped tiredly back onto her drink.

"Why don't you just find another job?" he questioned, returning to their conversation. "If it's causing you such stress?"

"I wish it were that easy. Jobs are hard to come by in the editing field. And if I just quit, he'll give me a terrible reference, I know it. But the environment there is just so toxic and draining, I don't know how much longer I can take it for, though." She rubbed a palm against her aching forehead. "This week has just really sucked."

"I have an idea," Cain suggested. "Let's go out this Friday night and cheer you up."

"Out where?" she glanced at him.

"There's a new club I've started going to. I hear it's all the rage in the area. Come along. We'll have a good time."

"Where is it?" Elissa asked.

"About a half hour drive from here. It's called Paradis."

"Paradis?" Elissa repeated. "Like Paradise? Great name."

"It's a great vibe. The dress code is very particular… so if you're in, we'd need to go shopping. I have to pick up a new outfit, too."

"What's the dress code?" she asked curiously.

"Black and white for men. Red, black or white for the ladies. It's refined and sophisticated and I think an elegant woman like you would fit right in." He winked at her.

"What time does it open?" Elissa leaned back in her seat. "Most of these clubs are late, aren't they?"

"Nine o'clock. When all the children are tucked safely away in bed…" Cain grinned. Elissa rolled her eyes at him.

"You're something else," she sighed.

"I'll take that as a compliment," he chuckled. "You'd truly love it, Elissa."

"I've never been a fan of the clubbing scene," Elissa admitted. "It's too noisy, and I hate all the flashing lights."

"This one's different. Classy. Trust me, it'll be to your liking."

"If you say so," she shrugged, only partially convinced.

"So?" he pressed. "Is that a yes? What do you say I pick you up around eight-thirty, Friday night, for a good time?"

Elissa regarded him thoughtfully for a moment - then shrugged. It wasn't like she had any other plans, other than to sit on her couch and eat ice-cream and wallow over her general dissatisfaction with life. Going out with Cain would be another welcome distraction to feeling miserable and alone.

"Sure," she nodded. "It's not like I'm doing anything exciting on Friday night, anyway."

He beamed at her, and took another puff from his cigarette. "Perfect. Then shopping this afternoon it is."

* * *

Levi glanced down at where Slayte's hand was wrapped firmly around his own. He was still not used to this - this possessive, familiar touch, and that in public, but he found it pleasant, nonetheless. After all, this was Slayte, holding on to his hand as if it would physically hurt to part from him. It was a given that he liked it.

"What about that one?" she turned chocolate-brown irises up at him questioningly, as she pointed towards a café on the corner.

He met her eyes, trying to read something in their depths. Something more than the little she was always giving him to go by. They were full of admiration towards him - respect, even - but always wary and fearful, as if she, too, feared he might disappear at any moment. They were secretive and withdrawn, despite the intensity of the affection that lingered there.

The little she had told him the night before - that Elissa was in danger, that she had been summoned, that she was sorry and would speak to him properly the next time - had done little to assuage his doubts and worries. She had not simply left, she had _disappeared,_ and she had yet to address that.

As much as he wanted to shake some sense into her at times, it was that fear that he spied in her eyes, one that seemed to suggest that everything between them would come to an end if he discovered the truth, that made him hesitate. It made him wonder if he truly needed to know everything, after all. He would rather have her by his side, lying to him, than somewhere far away, leaving him alone with the truth.

And so, it was this dance on thin ice that he entertained with her. Trying to pry just enough of the truth out of her so that he could keep her safe, and not so much that she would disappear. Like a blind man groping in the dark for something to hold on to, not knowing where the ground beneath him ended, leading only to a fatal drop into nothingness below. It was a shitty situation, to be sure.

"Levi?"

His eyes followed the direction she pointed, coming to rest on a bright, pastel-pink sign where an image of a pink-haired baker holding up a cupcake lined in blue paper winked at passersby.

"Patty's Patisserie?" he scoffed, "What a lame name."

"We haven't been before, right? It looks like a cross between a bakery and a coffee shop. Maybe we can get some more ideas for our baked goods?" Slayte reasoned, observing the shop thoughtfully.

Levi glanced at his girlfriend once more. Their "research" trips had long since devolved into little more than dates, although they never called it that outright, but Slayte seemed to be all business at the moment. Well, it wouldn't hurt to check out the competition.

"You're always adding on to the cakes we have on offer," Levi scolded as he opened the door for her, "We're a _tea shop,_ not a bakery."

"We're not a coffee shop either, but we offer that, too, right?" She smiled back as she entered.

The pair of them observed their surroundings with a critical eye as they sidled into one of the empty booths. The beechwood floors were gleaming and earned even Levi's hum of approval. The furnishings were white, accentuated with a modest use of pastel pinks and greens, that was not so glaring as to be distasteful but made apparent that females were their main demographic.

Levi removed his sunglasses and picked up a menu, just as Slayte did the same, comparing their own business with the locale they were visiting.

"Tch," Levi scoffed, "With only five sorts of tea on offer, you can be sure they're not going to brew it properly."

"Well, they don't specialize in tea…" Slayte defended, her eyes flying over the cakes on offer.

"It's going to taste like shit," Levi complained with a scowl.

"You could always go for a coffee?" She offered, restraining her amusement at his general grumpiness.

"That tastes even worse than shit."

"Look at all these cakes," Slayte indicated at the corresponding section of the menu, "They're amazing."

Levi's eyes moved, for the first time, towards the cakes on offer and sure enough, a long list covered half the menu, but he was unimpressed.

"Quality over quantity, Slayte," he dismissed, returning his attention to the selection of tea.

When a waiter came by to take their orders, Levi opted for a black tea with milk, hoping the dairy would soothe the bitterness of their sure-to-be substandard brewing techniques, and a slice of apple cake, while Slayte ordered a cappuccino and four types of cake, indicating that she was researching in earnest.

They received their orders and Levi frowned his way halfway through his tea - bitter even through the milk - and Slayte picked apart four slices of cake only to discover they were far too sweet and mostly dry. She assumed they had likely been baked in advance and then not wrapped properly. The two of them exchanged a glance, mutually deciding wordlessly to abandon their orders and continue researching elsewhere.

"Wait a minute, let me just check out their reviews," Slayte decided, pulling out her phone. Genuinely interested, Levi took another draught of his abhorrent tea as he kept an eye on Slayte's screen. "Well, they don't have better ratings than us, that's for sure… but people seem to like it here."

"Must be the ambience, it distracts from the food," Levi surmised.

Slayte hummed in agreement when a familiar voice drifted over to their ears.

"Oh, yeah, I've been here a few times, it's nice."

Levi's eyes lifted to Slayte's expression - Elissa's very mention seemed to signal an imminent breakdown these days - and observed the way her ears seemed to perk up at the sound.

Her mouth dropped open in surprise and she looked back at him in bewilderment. She pressed a finger to her lips, asking for quiet, as she leaned towards the wall of their booth, listening more closely.

"Isn't it? It's certainly more comfortable than that quaint little tea shop your friends have. I've always found it a little stuffy."

Slayte's expression darkened as she recognized the second voice. It was obviously Cain who had once more lured Elissa out away from her friends and into this substandard coffee shop.

Levi, who had intended to tell Slayte off for listening in on their conversation, raised an irritated brow at Cain's statement and said nothing.

"This seat is free," Elissa announced pleasantly and Slayte pressed a hand to her mouth, as if trying to muffle even the sound of her breathing, as they heard their footsteps approaching and it became apparent that the two of them were seated in the booth just behind Slayte. A thin wall was all that separated the two couples.

Slayte's brow furrowed in determination, something that always seemed to spell trouble, and she gestured for Levi to come over and sit beside her, to better listen in. Levi stared at her blankly. Despite five years of careful education, she clearly had still not understood that there was such a thing as privacy and personal space. Remembering Cain's earlier comment, however, he crossed to the other side of the table and joined her on her bench, humoring her.

Slayte's gaze dropped to her hands in her lap as they listened to the two of them talk about Elissa's hangover and how she had been drinking the night before, but it was when Elissa thanked Cain for bringing her home in her blacked-out state that Slayte's hands clenched into fists and her expression darkened considerably.

It didn't take much for Levi to piece two-and-two together. So, that was where Slayte had disappeared to, the night before. Clearly, she had brought Elissa home, safe and sound, and Elissa, true to character, had forgotten all about it while Dr. Shit-for-brains here was all too willing to take credit for Slayte's actions. He glanced at the slight, raven-haired woman who unclenched her hands with a resigned expression. Doubtless having just told herself it didn't matter.

Except, it did.

Levi reached out and took one of her hands in his own in a comforting gesture, drawing her conflicted coffee irises up to his clouded grey ones. Gratitude lingered there, but she said nothing, intertwining her fingers through his, instead, as she listened on.

"I didn't know you smoke?"

Slayte rolled her eyes. Of course he smoked. The asshole.

It was when he dared Elissa to try it, however, that anger flared to life in Slayte's eyes, evident in the rigid set of her shoulders. Elissa would never…

"Fine. Just to prove you wrong."

Slayte, fully intending to break down the barrier between the two booths and give the good-for-nothing doctor a piece of her mind, made to jump to her feet but Levi squeezed her hand, drawing her back to her seat. She glared at him for stopping her, and opened her mouth to protest, but he met her gaze through disapproving, narrowed, steel-grey eyes and silenced her with a curt shake of his head. Elissa's mistakes were her own to make and a single puff of a cigarette would not be the end of her.

Slayte's shoulders shook with anger as they listened to their friend cough. The two listened on quietly, the back of Levi's hand rested on Slayte's knee, where he held hers, offering reassurance for this exchange that was clearly turning out to be too much for her.

The conversation was steering into different territory, through Elissa's work troubles - unsurprising given that grey concrete nightmare Levi had seen the one time he had visited - to plotting out their next adventure. They were visiting a nightclub, something that seemed to upset Slayte but was, again, not the end of the world. At least, not until Levi heard Elissa's next words.

"Paradis? Like Paradise? Great name."

It was as if someone had doused him with ice water. Where had Cain even heard of that place? Of all the clubs he could think to take her to, it had to be _that_ one? Images flashed through his mind of naked bodies writhing in pleasure or in the throes of death. Or both, at the same time. Blood-stained black marble floors and easy, glaring smiles haunted his memory. Severed limbs preserved on ice. Screams. More than one addict had developed their addiction there. Not all of them willingly.

There was no way that he could allow her to go there. Making foolish, harmless mistakes was one thing. Unwittingly endangering her safety, or even her very life, under the influence of this shitty quack was another entirely.

Slayte lifted her eyes to his, aware of the way his hand had suddenly gripped her own in a white-knuckled hold and his eyebrows furrowed in concern. He shook his head, a gesture that clearly indicated they would speak later. The mismatched couple made plans to leave Friday night, before paying the bill and leaving the shop together, oblivious to the anguished concern they had sparked.

"Oi," Levi announced as soon as they were out of earshot, his voice harsher than he had intended for it to be. "She can't go there, you have to talk her out of it."

"Me?" Slayte gaped at him in disbelief, "You think she'll listen to me? I tell her not to go and she might as well move in!"

He met Slayte's eyes, his mind racing for a solution. It was true, there was no way that Elissa would take their advice, however well-intended it was. The more they tried to warn her, the more certain it would be that the stubborn brunette would be going. He frowned in concentration. Cain could always have an unfortunate accident. He doubted Elissa would go alone.

No. That was not his way of dealing with things anymore. There had to be another option.

"Levi, what is it? What kind of place is it, that Elissa shouldn't go there?" It was unnerving, to see Levi be the one concerned, for once, and even more aggravating not to know what it was that he was so worried about.

"It's bad," he dismissed shortly, not at all inclined to get into the details with her.

Slayte hesitated, wondering what she could possibly do to prevent Elissa from visiting this terrible place. Was this something she should inform Thanatos about? But what would she tell him? Elissa is going somewhere my mortal says is dangerous? He hadn't even said dangerous outright. Just bad, then? Thanatos would laugh in her face, if he were the laughing type.

"I'll go," he announced with sudden certainty, "It's the only way to make sure she keeps out of trouble."

"You? Alone?" Slayte asked, unsatisfied. If there was danger, wasn't it better for her to follow along? Who better to protect both Elissa and Levi than herself? Hadn't she proven herself on more than one occasion already?

"Yeah, don't even think about tagging along," he muttered sharply.

"Levi, I'm not staying home while you and Elissa are out somewhere dangerous," she hissed back. "You said we'll do this _together._ "

"Maybe you should have thought of that last night," he retorted with a disapproving, arched brow. If he didn't like the thought of Elissa being in that place, then he absolutely hated the idea of Slayte setting foot there. She was still frustratingly innocent and naive in many ways and being at his side would undoubtedly make her a target.

She frowned at him, "Last night was a different matter. I didn't have the choice to wait and make plans."

Levi gestured for a waiter, wanting to pay the bill and be done with this place, "It doesn't matter. You're not coming."

"Levi…" she began, irritation sparking in the warning tone of her voice.

"Oi, you can sit at the shop and cry and mope all night if you want. I'm not taking you. You'll have to leave Elissa to me. Tell that guy I insisted until you gave in." Levi nodded his thanks as he handed a stack of bills to the waiter. "In fact, that's actually what I intend to do."

Slayte felt cold indignance rush through her. Usually, she trusted Levi's decision-making inherently, but this was different. This was about Elissa. Did he think she couldn't handle it?

"Fine," she sighed in exasperation.

Replacing his wallet, he glanced at her. Was she giving up already? He wasn't sure if he should be relieved or suspicious.

"I would already be hiding from Elissa," she announced, getting to her feet and slinging her purse over her shoulder, "I guess it makes no difference if I have to hide from you, too." With that, she stepped smoothly past him and made to leave the coffee shop.

It took him no time at all to catch up to her with his long strides and caught hold of her wrist before she could make it more than a few steps out the door.

"Oi, don't even think about it." The warning in his voice was unmistakable.

"Who's going to stop me?" she threw back coolly.

There was, in fact, more than one way to stop her, but none that he would seriously consider, given that this was Slayte. Frustrating as ever.

"Alright," he relented finally, releasing her wrist. Going with him was still better than going alone. "You want to go that badly? I'll take you. Don't regret it. And do as I say when we're there."

"Of course," she agreed, her expression brightening almost instantly.

"Don't look so smug," he muttered, annoyed.

But she only smiled up at him easily, "Thank you, Levi.".

"Believe me, it's nothing you'd want to thank me for."

* * *

He was there.

She felt it innately, like the last piece of a puzzle being pushed into place, or a key turning in the lock. Was she growing more attuned to the shadow abilities he had afforded her? She had seemed to sense the very moment that he appeared on their rooftop and knew, without words, that she was expected to follow.

"Young lady? My order?" her gaze was drawn back from the ceiling to the elderly man in front of her. Uneasily, she leaned to the side, seeing the long line behind him. It was the worst of manners to keep Thanatos waiting. Something she had never done in her 805 years of life.

"Excuse me, of course, I'll get right to it," she apologized, glancing briefly at the ceiling again. Not only did she not want to keep him waiting, but she had so much to say. So much she needed to know. She tapped her foot nervously, waiting for the coffee machine to pour out the man's cappuccino as she glanced at Levi, hidden behind his newspaper.

"Levi?" she asked, hoping he wouldn't think she was shirking work again.

The newspaper lowered as he regarded her wordlessly.

"Could you take over for a minute? I need to go tend to something."

He blinked slowly, before folding the newspaper and putting it aside. Wordlessly, he rose from his seat and gently pushed her away from the coffee machine as he seamlessly began preparing the man's order. Had he been listening the whole time?

Not wanting to wait and find out, she tore off her apron and dashed up the stairs to the rooftop, oblivious of the way his eyes followed her knowingly.

The metal door creaked as it swung open and, just as she had expected, Thanatos stood near the edge of the roof, the gentle breeze teasing his raven locks and unfurling his cloak. He did not turn as she approached, and she swallowed the relief flooding through her at seeing him unharmed and turned to close the door, more quietly than she had opened it.

These oddly silent weeks had made it painfully apparent to her, how lost she would have been without him. Trying to protect Elissa on her own from everything that sought to harm her: Underworld creatures, Cain, Elissa herself… it was enough to drive anyone mad, least of all a useless nymph such as herself.

She turned towards the stoic deity and stepped forward, maintaining a respectful distance before greeting him, "Lord Thanatos."

Now, at last, he turned to face her, his expression unreadable behind that gilded black mask. Likely unreadable even without it. She felt nervous, somehow, both grateful to and angry at him at the same time. There was no knowing when she would next find the opportunity to speak with him and the storm of words brewing inside her seemed to block her throat as they all rushed to get out.

"Are you well?" she asked finally, sincerely, despite knowing that was not an appropriate question for a servant to ask. He had gone to see the Fates and such a meeting was not without its perils.

The look he gave her was an undecided one, as if the question surprised him, as if he had not yet decided where her loyalties lie. Anxiety crept through her as Slayte realized there could only be one reason for him to look at her that way. He had likely received her message.

At his extended silence, she decided to push forward with her concerns. Waiting for him to address her first had never yet served her well. "Elissa is troubled," she reported, there was neither time nor use for small talk between them, "She has begun keeping poor company. She is making regrettable decisions - dangerous choices that have dire consequences. She will not listen to reason and she refuses to speak with me at all."

At length, he broke the silence with two quiet words, "What danger?"

Slayte took a deep breath, she had waited an entire month for this chance to finally voice her concerns, "Elissa … has fallen to despair. She has taken to drinking, of all things, and other reckless actions so unlike her. In all the time I have known her, I have never seen her like this." Slayte began pacing back and forth, gesturing wildly as she spoke, counting off one worrisome incident after another. "She has befriended a terrible man named Cain who does not mean her well, of that, I am certain. He is only encouraging her into further recklessness, he eyes her like a piece of meat, and she - she tolerates it!" Slayte's frustration peaked at mention of the infuriating blonde and she ran a hand through her hair in exasperation, "and the entire reason she is doing all this is because…" She stopped in her tracks, and looked up at the underworld prince. When confronted with Thanatos, all eloquence escaped her. She never knew the right words to say to him, never knew how to express her concerns in a way that might reach him.

"You believe my actions to have caused these events." It was not a question as much as a statement and Slayte recalled the words she had communicated telepathically the previous evening. She had been unsure, back then, if he heard her at all and was now presented with indisputable proof that he had.

Slayte straightened resolutely, she was not about to take back her words. "Yes," she confirmed simply.

There was distrust written in those onyx irises, and although Slayte knew she did not deserve that sentiment, she accepted it. Silence stretched between them in the face of her open accusation and she considered how very differently this conversation would have been, only a decade ago. She would have considered his undivided attention a great honor. How earnestly she would have wished to convey her humility in her posture, in the tone of her voice, and the choice of her words.

Now, she stood across from him straight-backed, meeting his eye as if they were equals. It was no wonder he was annoyed by her. Every one of her actions spurned underworld etiquette. But Slayte no longer believed that divinity equated superiority. Gods were no different from mortals simply by virtue of their immortality. They were equally flawed, equally selfish, equally capable of good or evil. Thanatos was one of the few deities that she deeply respected, despite everything, but to lower her head and display abject humility as might have been expected of her was to scorn everything she had learned in her time on the surface.

"You have hurt her deeply, as I am certain was your intent." She met his intimidating, dark gaze with unyielding brown eyes. "This is the result." Her words were void of intonation and she held her ground, as if she were ignorant of the implications of her accusation.

"Do you suggest I entertain her delusions? Were you not on your knees not long ago, begging me to spare her Death? Were these not your wishes?"

He had her there. Slayte accepted responsibility. She had always ignored Elissa's wishes, thinking she knew things that Elissa couldn't possibly know. She had forgotten the inalienable right of every living being to be master of their own fate. She had forgotten the pain of being deprived of that. Truly, she deserved the way Elissa was shunning her, of this she was certain.

"Indeed," she acknowledged, her gaze falling to the ground, "I do not deny that I am also to blame."

"And would you now throw your friend into Death's arms?" When he spoke, there was a dangerous, accusing undertone to his words, demanding that she rethink her suggestion.

Slayte looked up at him again, his couplet racing through her mind. He was suffering as well, it would seem, even if he did not let on. "I ask only that you make her not to feel invisible. Do not deprive her of her sense of worth in her own eyes. I feel that you are not aware of how painful your neglect can be."

"She is to return to her mortal life," Thanatos dismissed, his voice carried clear and steady, announcing that he would not tolerate further dissent on the matter. "Do not misinterpret my aim. I will see to it that she is unharmed by the foreign influence in my domain, but I have no reason to interfere with the path of her choosing in her mortal life."

"But you _have_ interfered," Slayte contested, "By meeting with her and spurning her as you have done. Everything that's happening is a direct result of your interference! I ask only that you undo that influence, nothing more."

"And how," he retorted, scorn in his voice, "would you have that done?"

"Must you abandon her in such a way? Could not you have left her on peaceful, friendly terms?" Slayte prompted hesitantly.

"There is room not for friendship between us," he dismissed indifferently, "and it is no concern of yours."

"She was nearly taken advantage of," Slayte announced, not wanting him to evade the topic further. "She had turned to drink. On her own, as I mentioned." She paused, noting the way he observed her intently, quietly. "Three men attempted to avail themselves of her inebriated state. By the time I arrived, she had nearly been dragged away by those vile men into a darkened alleyway. Their intentions were apparent on their accursed countenances." The very memory filled Slayte with rage anew and she all but spat the words.

She watched him tense, saw the set of his mouth tighten. For him to show any reaction at all, she knew, meant that the words had hit home.

"I conveyed her to her dwelling, but despite her near unconscious state, she was distraught all the while." Thanatos listened quietly, tension in the lines of his shoulders. "She spoke of you, about how much you hurt her. You must know as well as I, that she would not engage in such behaviour were it not for the pain you caused her." Slayte continued gently, not wanting to offend him, but wanting him to understand the weight of his actions.

He did not immediately answer and she sighed, "This Friday as well, she is seeking out unsavory entertainment with that swine, Cain."

Itachi arched a brow at the insult. It was clear that she held this mortal in low regard, but if Angelissa carried affection for the man, then surely, all was well?

"I've never been there, but Levi says it's dangerous… I mean, he said it's bad…" she corrected, striving for accuracy, "But when he says bad, he means dangerous."

At Thanatos' blank stare, she quickly surmised that this was her first time using Levi's name.

"Levi is my… um, you know, he is -" she stammered, hating having brought him up at all. The less the underworld deities knew about him the better. The instinct to shield him from their notice ran rampant, making her nervous, and she wished she could take back her words.

"Your mortal lover," Thanatos finished for her, as if it were the simplest of things.

She flushed a deep red before nodding.

"He is aware of the danger Angelissa is in?" For the mortal to be aware of the danger at hand indicated a surprising degree of trust, both on Slayte's part and on part of the mortal in question. If nothing else, he assumed the lampad knew better than to involve a harmless mortal in dangerous underworld affairs.

"To an extent," she answered tentatively, "He does not know of the … supernatural element of the situation, but he is aware that a threat looms over her and is helping me keep her safe. As I recall, I was explicitly ordered not to inform Elissa of the truth. That order did not extend to others." She glanced at him, hoping she had interpreted his command correctly.

Thanatos considered this. If she chose to endanger her mortal of her own volition, it was no concern of his. And yet, despite not being fully informed of the situation, and despite being aware that the threat of death was involved, he offered Angelissa protection as well. It was unusual behavior for a mortal. "Why should he offer you his aid?"

Slayte hesitated, why was he helping her? She could not admit to having had several nervous breakdowns in the course of her duty, and that Levi had been witness to them. But, Elissa was a friend to both of them, it was obvious he would help, wasn't it?

"Elissa is our friend," she replied, although the words rang hollow to her, as if she was expected to provide a more meaningful explanation. "I mean to say that she is his friend, as well, it stands to reason that he would do all he can to help."

Thanatos' silence served as his answer, but Slayte had the distinct impression he considered her response foolish. "He's reliable and trustworthy," she defended, "He's been in contact with her for the entire duration of this time that Elissa isn't speaking to me. He, himself, is the one who suggested we follow her on Friday in light of the fact that we can't convince her not to go. We can trust him, Lord Thanatos. I would trust him with my life."

"He knows not that you are a nymph of the underworld?" was the calm question that took the wind out of her sails.

"He does not," she ground out, guilt clawing at her heart.

Thanatos regarded her through ebony irises with an expression she could not decipher and she dropped her gaze to the floor. She had the distinct expression she had done someone a great wrong, a feeling that was becoming disturbingly familiar.

"Which, of the two of us, do you believe to be more cruel?"

Slayte's head shot up at the statement and she opened and closed her mouth wordlessly, floundering for a response that did not seem to exist. Was she the crueler one? Leading Levi on this way? The more time they spent together, the deeper their affection seemed to grow, and all the while he did not have a clue about the truth of who she was - which would only hurt all the more when he finally came to learn that she did not even have a life to share with him.

"Perhaps, it is me," she muttered miserably. "Perhaps, it is you." She met his eye defiantly, "Only time will tell."

"The point of the matter is," Slayte redirected the conversation, wanting to keep Levi's existence firmly away from Thanatos' attention, "Elissa is stumbling through one perilous situation after another. You have given me these abilities, but you've been unreachable. I was nearly out of my mind these past few weeks with worry."

"You have spoken with Hypnos," he replied calmly.

"I have," she agreed, "I trust you have received my message."

Thanatos paused a moment more than he might have, before answering her, "Is it fearlessness or foolishness that drives you to cast blame on the queen of the underworld, my mother?"

Slayte swallowed nervously. If Thanatos, the deity she considered wisest and most just of them all, did not believe her, then there was no hope at all of escaping whatever scheme Nyx was cooking up. The more time passed, the more certain she was that Nyx somehow had a hand in all of this. The cunning, mysterious way this whole plot was spun out - the way it seemed to wrap around their throats in ways they failed to predict - it was just like the terrifying impression Nyx had given her throughout her childhood. Even the fear felt the same. But only Thanatos and Hypnos had the means to investigate her at all. If she failed to convey the urgency of the situation, they would never get to the bottom of this.

"Is there any difference between the two?" she retorted, trying not to let her nerves get the better of her. "I remember Vetty by her side. I'm certain of it. I informed you, at risk of my life, because I believed you to be wise and just. Am I mistaken?"

Thanatos glanced at her reproachfully, before turning away from her and back towards the street, watching the mortals pass by below and Slayte approached him warily, standing further than arm's reach away, looking down as well at the humans going about their business. Ignorant of how many deities toiled for all eternity for them to live the lives they so clung to.

"The Lady Nyx does indeed recall a demon cat by that name who had disappeared. It had escaped her notice initially," he responded mildly, as if still mulling over that information himself.

"That's certainly convenient," Slayte scoffed, and at his sharp look, she continued, "She is _your_ mother. Do you truly believe she would not notice the absence of her own familiar? Vetty was her favorite. She never went anywhere without her."

"How do you claim to know this?"

"I lived every day in fear of her," Slayte shrugged, "You probably don't know because she is your mother, but for the servants, she can be downright terrifying, especially if you make a mistake. She does not tolerate oversights, and makes none herself. I don't know why I didn't realize it earlier, but now that I've had a closer look at Vetty, it's obvious she's the same familiar the queen always had at her side."

After a moment's silence, she provided, "In my defense, servants don't often see the queen." Under her breath, she added, "Unless you're being punished."

With a sigh, she lifted her gaze to read his response. As usual, there was none. She had no way of knowing if he took her concerns seriously or considered her worries to be little more than the mad rambling of a wayward lampad. Gathering her courage, she ventured, "Do you believe me?"

Silence reigned as he casually observed the street below, as if her presence was inconsequential, her question meaningless. He was the very appearance of regal, underworld beauty with his aristocratic features, his darker-than-night hair, and his effortless elegance, and the very look of him always made her feel small and insignificant. The way he ignored her, now, stung as well, although not as much as it used to.

Accepting that he was not going to answer her, she crossed her arms and returned her gaze to the view in front of her as well. Countless mortals, going about their days, cradled between life and death.

"Did you learn anything useful from the Fates?" she tried instead, hoping for an answer.

The words ' _lend ear to your nymph'_ rang through his mind, but he said nothing. He had heard a great deal, but had learned next to nothing. Only one statement had been defined enough for him to make anything out of it, "I will heighten my guard on the surface for the time being."

"You mean, you will be watching over Elissa as well?" Slayte's eyes widened in surprise at the statement, and when he nodded in confirmation she breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness."

They watched the scene below a few minutes longer, before she cleared her throat, "You don't have to believe me," she offered, "Just don't let the _Lady Nyx_ out of your eye." She failed to veil her sarcasm at the honorable title, "If I'm right, you'll notice, and if I'm wrong, well, you'll notice that, too. You notice everything, right? I mean, almost everything."

Thanatos said nothing to this, but merely nodded. "And also… would you take a look at Cain? Something is undoubtedly strange about him. He seems to be merely a mortal, but… he's causing me more of a headache than harpies ever have. He's been nothing but trouble for Elissa ever since he appeared. If you can somehow get rid of him…" she hesitated, knowing what she was asking and from whom, "that might not be such a bad thing."

The look of disbelief he gave her, as if telling her to reconsider her words, did not have the desired effect. She knew precisely what she was saying and returned his gaze without remorse.

"Mortal life is sacred. You should not take it so lightly," he admonished, disapproval heavy in his voice.

"I'll ask you about that when you've seen the way he hangs all over Elissa," she scowled. When her phone rang suddenly, she pulled it from her pocket to see Levi was calling her. To her dismay, she realized she had been up here for nearly an hour.

"I need to head back down..." she began, but when she looked up from her phone to say goodbye, Thanatos had already disappeared. She pocketed the cell phone and made for the stairs, hoping against hope that he would take a look at Cain after all, and realize she was right.

* * *

The laughter ringing sweetly in his ears undoubtedly belonged to Angelissa. He would recognize that sound anywhere. From his perch on the rooftop, the light of the full moon glowing reverently behind him, he observed the shadows flickering over the balcony.

The incident that Slayte had reported, about Elissa nearly falling victim to three lecherous men had cast a tremor of apprehension in his heart he could not dismiss. Contrary to his better judgment, he decided he needed to see, just once, with his own eyes that Elissa was unharmed, that the vulgar incident had not left behind any lasting grief.

He had not expected to be assured of that so soon, in the lighthearted way she all but sang her words in the presence of the mortal man Slayte had warned him of.

"Stop it, Cain," a pleasant voice laughed in protest, "You're such a flirt."

Itachi's eyes narrowed at the sound, at the affection laced through the foreign name spoken by a familiar voice. Despite himself, he felt a burning sensation in the pit of his stomach. Jealousy was foolishness. One could not be jealous of what one had no claim over.

The glass doors of the balcony slid open and all thought seemed to flee from his mind as Angelissa herself stepped out. The minute he had set foot on the surface, he had discovered with chagrin, that an entire month had passed during the duration of his meeting with the Fates but, to look at Angelissa now, it seemed, that no time at all had transpired between the hour of their parting and this very moment. To see the way her chestnut locks rolled in waves down her back, the way her hazel eyes glittered as she looked back over her shoulder, mirth hidden in that bemused, flattered smile. The curve of her rosy lips, an expression he had often prompted, now aimed at another. It was a wonder he had been deceived by the illusion in the valley of desire for even a moment, when the Angelissa of reality was such a wonder to behold. She radiated warmth and life, her very aura was one of comfort, of autumn leaves and crackling fires.

The thought, and the associated recollection of the trials surrounding Atropos' residence, prompted wanton memories of desperate touches and near kisses that he quickly banished. They had no place in reality. No place in his memory.

Music spilled out through the open balcony doors, joyous piano tunes and a deep, male voice singing of better times to come. Angelissa's eyes lit up as a tall male stepped out through the glass doors to join her on the balcony. Itachi recognized him as the handsome blond who had called out flirtatious advances on the evening he had seen him leaving Elissa's home.

The tall blond was well-built and carried two wine glasses as he approached Angelissa with a teasing look in his eye that only thinly veiled a hunger Itachi recognized all too well. He leaned over Angelissa as he handed her the glass and whispered something into her ear that made her laugh. She sipped from her glass, looking up at Cain through heavy-lashed eyes as he launched into a tale of some adventure that had her laughing on occasion and eyeing him with starry-eyed admiration.

At length, he took the wineglass out of her hands and placed it along with his own on a nearby table. The man wasted no time in pulling Elissa in for a dance, both his hands easily coming to a rest on her hips. She swatted his hands away with a giggle, but he quickly reestablished his grip and pulled her in closer, until she relented and wrapped her arms around his neck, easily swaying with him in time to the music.

Itachi regretted having come. The nymph was concerned over nothing and had wasted his time. The mortal was unsavory, certainly, but not the worst of them and, besides, Angelissa was clearly enamored with him. He made up his mind to leave when he cast one last glance at Angelissa. The blood seemed to freeze in his veins when he found her looking directly at him. She should not have been able to see him, he had taken care to cloak himself from her gaze, and yet, her hazel eyes seemed to be drawn to his own ebony irises.

"What is it, Elissa?" Cain murmured into her ear, curious about her sudden stillness.

"The moon…" Elissa whispered in breathless response and Itachi felt bitter relief spread through him. She had not seen him after all, her gaze was drawn to the moon behind him. Acknowledging this, he rose to his feet, preparing to leave. He had no further place in her life.

"Why does it look so sad?"

The voice that carried over to his ears seemed to be on the verge of tears and he turned back towards her, meeting her eyes. Rationally, he knew, she was not seeing him, but the ethereal, luminous moon high in the sky, but her eyes seemed so surely to be focused on him that he could not bring himself to look away.

"It makes you want to cry, doesn't it?" She whispered, her eyes brimming with tears. "I'm sorry," she dragged her gaze away and wiped at her eyes. "That sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?"

Cain glanced up in Itachi's general direction, and Itachi ignored the stranger's gaze, knowing this was the man Elissa had chosen to diminish the wound he himself had inflicted on her. He thought he spied the barest hint of a smirk on the mortal's face, before he turned back towards Angelissa, lifting her chin with a fingertip, bringing her eyes to his.

"Don't cry, darling. If the moon is that upsetting, we just won't look at it, will we?"

Elissa laughed yet again, a common occurrence in this stranger's presence, "Don't be ridiculous. It must be the wine getting to my head."

"If that's the case," he countered mischievously, reaching for her glass, "Have some more."

Itachi had seen enough. He turned away from the pair, dissolving into the shadows, leaving a single raven behind to maintain sentry over her. Her tear-filled hazel eyes haunted him all the way to the mouth of the cave that marked the underworld's entrance.

As he stepped into the shadows, the barest glimmer of a smirk that had flitted over the mortal's mouth flashed across his memory. He could not be sure that he had not merely imagined it and yet, he had as little success banishing it from his thoughts as he had muting the echo of Angelissa's laugh from his ears.

* * *

Slayte stared forlornly at her collection of clothes, her eyes roaming over the subdued hues of greys, blacks and dark blues contained within the open, wooden wardrobe. Friday night had finally arrived, and they were going to the nightclub that they'd overheard Cain mentioning to Elissa at the coffee shop, three days earlier.

Alarm filled Slayte's heart, plaguing her with a sense of unease. If even sensible, calm, level-headed Levi was uncomfortable with allowing Elissa to go to that venue, then it couldn't be a good place at all.

She sifted through her clothes. She'd never gone to a human nightclub before. What did one wear? She only possessed a handful of dresses and fashion wasn't exactly her passion. That had always been Elissa's forte. Her stylish best friend always seemed to know just what to buy, just which accessories to pick out to accentuate any outfit. Slayte's chest constricted with longing. It would have been fun, she thought, to pick out dresses with Elissa for a special occasion under usual circumstances. She imagined how her friend would fuss over her hair and makeup, and coordinate shoes with handbags so perfectly.

Slayte glumly wondered when they'd get a chance to do something like that again together - or if they ever would at all. Every day that dragged by without Elissa in it, made it feel like she was slipping further and farther away from Slayte and Levi. More deeply into the sickening circle of Cain and all his bad habits.

She sighed heavily, and Levi, who was perched on the edge of the bed behind her, raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oi," he quipped. "You've been staring at that stupid wardrobe for five whole minutes. Just pick something."

"I don't know what to wear," Slayte said helplessly. "Elissa is good at this stuff. I've never even been to a party before - other than Elissa's birthdays."

Levi closed the book he'd been reading, and set it tidily on the bedside table. She was hopeless, he thought to himself, and got to his feet, joining her by the wardrobe. He shifted through the hangers, regarding her collection. The lack of colours didn't leave much choice, but given Paradis's dress code, her black outfits would qualify.

Slayte pulled out a dress, holding it up against herself.

"This one's nice?" she said, looking at him uncertainly. Levi had brought it for her as a surprise gift once. It had made her blush at the time, for its keyhole neckline sat flatteringly upon the curve of her breasts and the fabric was gorgeous, black lace.

Levi's eyes narrowed. _No._ Most certainly not. There was no way he was going to let Slayte dress up in something so short, figure hugging and seductive for other pigs to drool over. That dress was for his eyes only. He knew what kinds of men lurked within that sleazy establishment; glossed over with shiny, sophisticated decor and dazzling lighting didn't hide away what the place really was - a hotspot for secret, illegal, scandalous, criminal activity behind closed doors. He didn't want any of the scum who frequented there leering lecherously at his girlfriend.

"Forget it," he dismissed.

"What?" Slayte blinked at him cluelessly, and he felt a twinge of irritation within him at her naive innocence. "Why not?"

"Because I said so. Pick something else," he ordered flatly.

Slayte sighed. She replaced the beautiful dress and searched through some more clothes. Levi reached in and picked out another black dress, inspecting it intently. It was knee-length. That was acceptable and more appropriate. The neckline wasn't plunging, and the lace sleeves were elbow length, which would cover the pale skin of her arms. This was acceptable, he thought. She just needed some black heels and she'd be all set.

"Here," he handed it to her. "Wear this."

She looked at it, considering the fabric, and decided it seemed suitable enough.

"Which shoes?" she asked. "Maybe these?" she bent down and pulled out mid-high black court heels.

"Yeah, that works," he nodded.

Slayte was right. Amongst the three of them, Elissa was definitely the more fashion forward one. It wasn't like he was an expert on clothing himself, but the truth was that he knew Slayte would look sensational in anything. It was for that exact reason he didn't want her wearing anything too alluring. He didn't like other men ogling over what was his - especially not the twisted, sick-minded men he knew would be at Paradis. Their hungry eyes would be all over his girlfriend, and their minds would entertain all kinds of disgusting thoughts. Why give them the opportunity?

"What are you wearing?" she turned back to him, clutching her outfit.

He nodded at the crisp white shirt, and neatly-pressed black suit he'd already picked out and hung neatly behind the door. As expected, he was organised to a fault, and had left himself plenty of time to get ready.

"Oh, Levi," Slayte gushed. "You'll look great in that."

"Hurry up," he dismissed, trying to brush off the warmth that filled his chest at her compliment. "We can't keep our eyes off Elissa for even a second there. We don't want to be late."

Slayte nodded, biting her lower lip, and moved to the bathroom to get ready.

* * *

He exhaled at the sight of her as she stepped out of her apartment building, a vision of alluring loveliness in the short, figure hugging, deep crimson dress he'd helped her pick out when they had gone shopping together earlier in the week. It had thin, gold-chain shoulder straps and boasted a plunging neckline that showed off the softness of her cleavage. The top half of the dress had a corset-like bodice and the short hem of its skirt grazed halfway up her thighs, showcasing her attractive, slender legs. The luxurious satin fabric clung to the feminine curve of her hips and rear like second skin.

Her long, glossy, wavy brown hair had been prettily styled and was pinned back at the sides with gold clasps, keeping it out of her face at the front, and tumbled over her slender shoulders in lively, soft curls. Gold stiletto heels adorned her feet and a small, gold clutch bag was in her hand. She'd painted her nails red and had just draped a black fur shawl over her shoulders. As she drew closer, hips swaying enticingly to her movements, he saw that her mesmerising hazel eyes were accentuated with enchanting black eyeliner and mascara, making them appear brighter, more striking, molten gold merged with vivid green and warm honey. She'd brushed a flattering dusting of blusher and highlighter to her cheeks, and the deep red lipstick she'd applied on her lips made them appear fuller, sexy, inviting. Gold hoop earrings glinted in her ears and she wore a matching bracelet on her right wrist.

If he had thought her pretty before, she was an absolute siren of a woman right then, all smokey eyes and scarlet-stained lips that sang seduction as her song. Cain could not tear his eyes from her, helplessly entranced, and felt a swell of pride within his chest as he held the car door open for her, allowing her to slip gracefully inside the passenger seat, the intoxicating scent of her sweet, floral perfume like addictive opium overtaking his senses. He had no doubt that many eyes would follow Elissa with lust that night, and that countless men would gaze at him with envy, coveting the beauty on his arm.

"Elissa," he breathed, as he got into the driver's seat, turning appreciative eyes onto her. "Darling. You look absolutely stunning."

She ducked her head at the compliment. "You don't scrub up too badly, either," she smiled, angling an approving glance at the black suit he wore. His shirt was deep red, left open at the collar, matching the exact shade of her dress, and he'd tied his long hair back into a tidy bun.

When he continued to stare at her, she punched him playfully on the shoulder. "Hey. You're totally ogling me."

"I'm sorry," he shook his head, and turned his attention back to the ignition. "You look incredible. It's difficult not to."

Elissa glanced down at herself, not used to wearing a dress so short and revealing. It was daring, it was flirty, it was teasing and sexy. She could hardly move in it with how tightly it clung onto her and she was certain that if her parents and brothers had seen her in it, their jaws would have dropped. Perhaps her over-protective big brother Gabriel would have even insisted she changed entirely.

It was ordinary club-wear, Cain had reassured her. But she still felt more exposed than normal, more exposed than she was ordinarily comfortable with, and had already had a glass of wine upstairs in her apartment to calm her nerves and to stop herself from changing out of the dress into something less skimpy last minute. She didn't want Cain thinking she had chickened out, when he'd been the one who'd insisted on buying it for her.

She looked sensational, she'd told herself standing before the full-length mirror in her room, and had kept repeating it to quell her insecurities up until the moment Cain had arrived to pick her up. She'd styled her hair in a way that she hoped would keep the wisps on her back safely hidden - though she was gambling on everyone being too drunk at the club to notice regardless.

Taking a deep breath, she secured her seat-belt, pulling the warm shawl more firmly around her shoulders.

"I have a good feeling about tonight," Cain winked, and switched on the ignition, before pulling away into the night.


	27. Part XXVI: Trouble in Paradis

**A/N: We absolve ourselves of all health risks resulting from the emotional turmoil the following fiction may induce. Please see a mental health professional if you fear the angst may be detrimental to your health. As always, read responsibly.**

* * *

**Part XXVI: Trouble in Paradis**

* * *

The club was the sweeping image of high-end, glitzy sophistication and elegant black and gold decor. It boasted impeccably polished black marble floors, black, plush, leather seating areas and sleek, gold-lined onyx-granite bars. It was impressively spacious, illuminated with star-like spotlights on the high ceiling, and pale purple and red neon lighting that shone from cascading crystal chandeliers, lending a seductive, sensual ambience to the venue. The walls alternated between glossy black marble, brilliant full-length mirrors and padded, burnt gold wall-panels. There were a multitude of black doors lining the four walls, gold embossed, which led to different areas, some of which were manned by burly looking bouncers in black suits and shades.

Elissa gazed around in awe as Cain led her down the glass staircase, further inside the establishment. She could see what he had meant about it being classy and refined. There were various booths stationed about the club floor, where she spied young men and women seated, smoking, chatting and drinking. There were also more open areas at the corners of the room, lined with L-shaped plush couches set around low, mirrored coffee tables. People were seated there, kissing and making out, talking or drinking and exchanging drugs. Pole dancers writhed alluringly upon a raised stage, and there was a crowd of people stationed before the scantily clad performers, tossing notes of money into the air.

Elissa blinked. It certainly looked classy, but it was clear to her that all manner of questionable behaviour freely took place and nobody seemed to bat an eyelid, indicating a relaxed set of rules. Was that why the place was so packed? Her eyes caught onto the dance-floor. It was a huge black, gleaming square, dotted with flecks of gold, giving the illusion of stars set into an impossibly dark night sky. Masses of clubbers were already on it, raving away to the music that blasted from the DJ's booth.

"Wow," Elissa exhaled, as the loud music infiltrated her ears, vibrating through her body. It was certainly impressive, like an exclusive hangout for the young and rich, all glossy and expensive, promising a night that delighted all of the senses.

"What do you think?" Cain leaned closer to her to speak to her over the steady thumping of music around them. She allowed him to take her shawl, which he handed to a passing member of staff to take to the cloakroom, along with his blazer.

"This is so glamorous!" Elissa gazed around them with wide, bedazzled eyes.

"Do you like it?" He smiled, his eyes appreciatively drinking up the sight of her in her skin-tight satin dress.

"It's amazing!" She then pointed at the various doors lining the walls. "Where do those lead?"

"That one in the left corner takes you to the rest-rooms. The one next to it is the cloakroom. The others in the central and right walls lead to exclusive areas and privately rented rooms."

"You can rent rooms here?" Elissa blinked in surprise.

"Oh, yes. Some are business halls, some are for pleasure. All sorts goes on behind those closed doors, but they're exclusive access. You don't need to worry about any of that, darling. We're here to have a good time."

Elissa saw some people pass them, and noted the way men's gazes were immediately lingering on her. She turned her face away from them, focusing instead on Cain, trying not to dwell on the way their eyes travelled up and down her body, how it would have made her feel violated under ordinary circumstances.

"Let's get some drinks at the bar, and then there are some people I must introduce you to," Cain smiled.

When he slipped his hand into hers, Elissa let him, and followed him into the crowd.

* * *

Levi extended a hand to Slayte, concern glimmering in his eyes as he helped her out of the car. She reached behind her for her clutch purse and his eyes trailed over her form, wanting to have her anywhere but the place they were going.

The dress was modest in comparison to what others would be wearing, he knew, and yet, not modest enough for his tastes. When he had chosen the black dress, he had not expected it to be this form-fitting. It skirted above her knees and the heels she wore only served to elongate her already long legs; pale, creamy calves glistening in the moonlight. Although the neckline, too, was modest, her prominent collarbones and her long, elegant neck were all the more inviting in contrast. She had chosen to tie her hair up in a messy french twist, leaving loose strands of hair to frame her face. Her long-lashed eyes were heavily lined with kohl and her lips painted a dark, wine red. A single, thin gold bangle adorned her wrist and golden dangle earrings hung from her ears. She was a display of elegant, otherworldly beauty and he wished he had locked her in the basement.

When she lifted dark eyes to his, however, he recognized that the dark makeup she wore only accentuated the sinister impression she sometimes gave. She was intimidating, arrogant, and unapproachable - to most, anyway. She would be alright, he would see to that.

He held a hand out towards her, palm facing upwards, as he tried to banish his worries, and she accepted gratefully. Her heels clicked against the pavement as they made their way towards the nightclub. Levi frowned, breathing in the serene night air, knowing this was likely the last of the peace and calm they would find for the remainder of the evening.

"You look stunning," Slayte smiled up at him, trying to banish her nerves. "Have I ever told you how handsome you are?"

He glanced down at her, "You might have mentioned it once or twice," and then, seeing the nervous way she tugged at the hem of her dress he remembered that Slayte had a distaste for dresses. "Stop that, you look fine."

"Do I? I've never been to a place like this, I feel so overdressed." She pulled her hand away from her dress with apparent difficulty and sighed.

"You're not overdressed," he dismissed. When she went inside, she was likely to feel the contrary was true.

"Do you think Elissa will be alright?" she worried, lifting concerned dark eyes to him.

"That's what we're here for, aren't we?" he answered with a placid expression, "Just bear in mind, we intervene only if she's in _physical_ danger. If you go on a rampage and I have to haul your ass out of there, I'll make you regret it."

"Right, right," she reminded herself, "I won't forget."

The sound of loud, thumping music and heavy bass spilled down the street towards them before they even saw the long line of people waiting to be allowed entrance into the nightclub. Levi frowned in distaste. Were they trying to get a noise violation?

When Slayte veered towards the back of the line, Levi pressed a hand to the small of her back, leading her past the countless people waiting. If she had been involved with popular media at all, she would have recognized more than a few noteworthy individuals, waiting there. She blinked at Levi in surprise, but said nothing as he led her directly up towards the double doors where three men in black suits with earpieces stood guarding the entrance. Slayte saw the way their eyes fell on Levi and surprise lit up on their expressions.

What she failed to see was the change in Levi's expression. One of boredom and utter superiority, as if the world around him was nothing but filth. A dangerous expression. A get-the-fuck-out-of-my-way expression. Two men immediately sprang to the side, allowing them entrance, and when the third made to approach them, he was swiftly dragged away and admonished by his two coworkers.

The words, "Good evening, boss," drifted toward her ears, but Levi paid the men no heed and stepped past the threshold without so much as slowing down or changing pace. Slayte's eyes lingered on the men who stood with heads lowered in deference, but Levi's hand, still resting on the small of her back, guided her through the doors and into the nightclub he had been so concerned about.

"Stay close," he murmured into her ear as he led her across the floor and through the crowd.

The music that had been loud before, now seemed to swamp her as she stepped into the dim lighting of the nightclub. The gleaming, polished surfaces, the alternating violet and red lighting, the bodies pressed up against one another - the sights, sounds, and smells of the unfamiliar location were overwhelming.

Her eyes darted around, trying to make sense of the place, trying to find Elissa, trying to identify potential danger when she caught sight of a couple pressed up against a wall in a compromising position, the skirt of her dress pushed up to her waist and his belt hanging loosely open from his hips. Her face was raised to the ceiling, her eyes pressed closed and her lips parted as if gasping for air, while his was buried in the crook of her neck.

"Oh, gods…" she muttered, mortified, hiding her face in Levi's shoulder as an intense blush burned across her face.

"Oi," he reprimanded harshly, throwing a glance over his shoulder at her, "Man up or go home." There was no time for reassurances or comfort. This was business.

Slayte drew away from him with a grim nod. "Right," she agreed. She was here to protect Elissa, she couldn't afford to show any weakness herself. She straightened and her eyes narrowed as she observed her surroundings anew. Levi watched her shift from helpless, oblivious Slayte to the cold, intimidating woman he knew she could be when she was on a warpath. He nodded in satisfaction, he could not afford for anyone here to see her as an easy target.

She noticed now that the walls of the club were lined with multiple doors that led into further rooms, leading off from the main floor into hidden rooms that each stood guarded by a pair of well-built men. Her eyes narrowed in concern as it dawned on her that all of these guards seemed to have their eyes on her. No, not her, she realized, they were watching Levi, it seemed, noting his every move with apprehension. Just what sort of history did Levi have with this place?

He seemed oblivious of their gaze, either that or he simply did not care as he led the way to the bar. She slipped into the seat beside him, her eyes still scanning the area for Elissa. It was a most unsavory place, and the depravity of some mortals disgusted her, but she had yet to see the danger that had Levi so concerned.

When Levi tapped her shoulder and pointed at a distant spot beyond the dance floor, her eyes followed in the direction he indicated to see Elissa entering with Cain close behind. She was wrapped in a black, fur shawl and Slayte cast Levi a grateful look before turning her full attention on her friend.

It was when Elissa removed her shawl and handed it to Cain with a murmur of thanks that the blood ran cold in Slayte's veins. Elissa wore a barely-there dress that even her fashion-forward friend would ordinarily have turned her nose up at. A deep crimson burned in Slayte's irises. It barely grazed mid-thigh, and the deep straight neckline revealed more of Elissa's ample chest than her friend would ever have approved of under normal circumstances. The slip of a dress, with its corset-like bodice was something Elissa would never have worn in public, it seemed to have been poured onto her skin with how tightly it clung to Elissa's curves and Slayte's mouth dropped open in horror.

"Levi," she turned anguished eyes up to him in desperate complaint, as if he could somehow return Elissa to her senses, as if he could somehow bring back the friend she had lost, and his grey eyes slid down towards her expressionlessly. Without words, she understood that there was nothing they could do but accept Elissa's choices, however disappointing they were.

She bit her lip in anguish, and continued her watch over her friend. It did not matter how Elissa was dressed, Slayte determined, if that slimebag so much as dared to lay a hand on her, there would be hell to pay.

"Mr. Ackerman," a deep voice interrupted Slayte's bitter reflections and she looked up to see a tall, muscular man standing over them, dressed in the garb she had come to associate with the many bodyguards roaming this place. She glanced towards Levi, to see her boyfriend looking coolly at the man through narrowed eyes.

"The boss would like a word."

Levi returned the man's gaze wordlessly and Slayte felt the tension thick in the air. At length, he pushed away from the counter and responded indifferently. "That saves me the trouble of looking for him."

He gave Slayte a parting glance, one that clearly read, " _Stay here,"_ and she nodded in understanding before he turned away from her and followed the bodyguard. Her eyes clung to him in concern, watching his retreating silhouette until he disappeared through one of the many doors lining the walls. Slayte felt worry clench her heart with an iron grip.

Levi had no superhuman abilities to speak of. He was only a mortal and severely outnumbered. There was no way of knowing what went on behind those doors. What if he was injured? Or worse, killed? He had made clear that this place was incredibly dangerous. If that was the case, there was no knowing what danger he, himself, had just walked into.

Slayte swallowed, and resisted the urge to break down the door he had disappeared into. With difficulty, she returned her gaze to her friend swaying over the dance floor, arm-in-arm with Cain. Levi knew what he was doing. He was smarter than her, and world-wise in more ways than she could even think to count. He would be okay. He had to be.

* * *

Levi followed the bodyguard down a dimly-lit hallway. The music of choice alternated between upbeat, thumping pop songs and heavy rock music interlaced with background screaming. Not a coincidence, he knew. The rooms were heavily soundproofed but the screams of the dying were a difficult thing to contain.

At the end of the hallway, muffled cries sounded from beyond a heavy steel door and Levi felt a deadened apathy settle over his senses as the steel door creaked open and he stepped inside. Ten men stood at attention around the brightly lit room, an imposing mahogany desk and burgundy armchair stood at one end of the chamber, a glass table and four chairs were set off to the side.

In the center, a man lay shrieking in an ear-splitting cry and writhing in pain. His legs were bent at odd angles, clearly broken, and blood streamed from his fingers, where fingernails had once been. Saliva dribbled from his mouth as he screamed without pausing for breath, and his face and brown hair were stained red as he lay trembling in a pool of his own blood. Trails of smeared red handprints, and bloodied footprints indicated he had made more than one fruitless attempt to escape. Attempts that had likely only been indulged to serve for further amusement.

Levi's eyes took in the scene before him, apathy and bored disgust written on his features. When he entered the room, it was with the air of one who belonged there, and not that of a guest.

"What a fucking mess." he drawled, stepping past the mess of a man on the floor, "If they're going to talk, they'll talk after removing the first fingernail, didn't I teach you that?" He lifted impenetrable steel-grey eyes to the man seated on top of the ornate desk, "Floch?"

The red-haired man was not as well-built as his many bodyguards and, dressed in a white suit, cast the intended impression that he was a man who had no need to get his own hands dirty. Golden chains glinted from his neck and an opulent watch glistened on his wrist. Amber eyes flashed wickedly as the man in question turned towards Levi with a grin.

"Hey, give me more credit. I wasn't _only_ in it for the information. We all have to get our entertainment somewhere, right?" The menacing smirk widened as Floch met Levi's gaze with a challenge, "Some of us have fun with the boss's dirty work. Others open tea shops and pick up pretty girlfriends." Sarcasm all but dripped from his voice as he taunted Levi openly.

A creaking sound met his ears as the steel door behind him was pressed shut, an iron latch sliding into place. Levi observed from the corner of his eyes, unbothered by this development.

"Get…" the man on the floor whimpered, turning pain-addled eyes onto Levi, "Get out of here."

Levi lifted his eyes from the pathetic form on the floor to Floch Forster. "You wanted a word? I have some of my own."

"You should have told us you were coming," the redhead gestured amicably, in a false pretense of hospitality, "We would have shown you a _proper welcome_." The threat in those words did not seem to affect Levi in the slightest.

"What, would you have finally taken the time to clean these shitty floors? We used to have standards, Floch, before they let runts like you climb on the tables."

Indignant anger flashed over the redhead's face. "Must be hard for you to see someone else in your position, and being at the mercy of said _runt."_

"Position?" Levi scoffed, "This place isn't a position, it's a pain in the ass. But you seem to like bending over, don't you?"

"I'd watch my mouth if I were you," Floch growled, all feigned calmness forgotten, "You're outnumbered."

"Is that what it looks like to you?" Levi drawled, his lidded eyes clearly unimpressed.

"Hate to break it to you, Levi, but you're going to have to stay here. You know he's been looking for you for a while, but you've always been a slippery snake. It gives me shivers to think of what he'll do to you, and of course, there would be a modest reward in it for me, as well."

Barely listening, Levi crossed over to the three-seater and took a seat. Leaning back comfortably, he slung an arm over the backrest and crossed one leg over the other before fixing Floch with a bored, unimpressed look.

"Alright, I've had enough of your lip, brat." His words rang clear throughout the room, echoing off the bare walls, and the men standing at attention stiffened in surprise as they watched their boss all but burn up in anger at the open disrespect. "Listen up, asshole, I'll do you the favor of explaining it to you since your type tends to not be as dumb as they look."

"I came here for my own reasons, and there are two young women with me. I don't need to tell you what happens if someone here lays a hand on my girls, right?"

Floch chuckled with disbelief, "Should you really be telling me about your weaknesses, right now?"

"My weaknesses?" Levi arched an unbothered brow, "It looks like you're misunderstanding something. Those girls are _your_ weakness, since I will be holding you responsible for whatever happens under this roof."

"Take a look around you, do you really think you are in the position to be making demands?" Floch's unruffled facade had gone up into thin air. His fists were clenched in anger and he all but spat the words at Levi.

"Rub your two brain cells together and bear with me here," Levi continued, unperturbed. "Are you dumb enough to think I need him? That I'm running away? He's the one who needs me. You sure he'll thank you for pissing me off? If you don't want to die, think."

"It's a one-way trip from doing the boss's dirty work to _being_ the boss's dirty work... and it usually starts with pissing off someone like me."

The guards shifted and exchanged uneasy glances, as if they were no longer assured of the distribution of power in the room.

"Nice bluff," Floch mocked, amber eyes unconvinced, "You haven't shown your face in what, seven years? You think you still have any kind of standing?"

"Do you want to find out?" Levi drawled.

"I've heard enough," Floch got to his feet and with a wave of his hand, the guards closed in, "What's most important, is for you to know your place. You're stuck here until the boss arrives and then we'll see what he does with you."

Floch made for the door, calling over his shoulder, "I'll take good care of your girl for you. What was her name, Slayte?" He snickered, "Fucking stupid name."

Levi angled his head to follow him with his eyes as the first of the guards approached. There was a flash of movement as Levi kicked the guard's legs out from under him and he fell face-first, his head making contact with the solid oak armrest with a sickening crack. Before they could make sense of what had just occurred, how the tables had suddenly turned, Levi was already on his feet, his shoe pressed between the man's shoulder blades.

He withdrew a knife from the man's belt and before Floch truly realized what had happened it went flying past his ear, leaving a clean cut on his earlobe before embedding itself into the wall beyond. A steady trickle of blood dripped onto his white suit jacket.

"Oi," Levi muttered at the guard on the ground, "Did I say he could talk? I didn't, did I?"

The man on the floor shook his bleeding head in answer and Levi nodded to himself, satisfied, "That's what I thought. And then he just had to go and say something that pissed me off."

"What are you waiting for?!" Floch shrieked, "Take him out!"

As if jolted into action, the surrounding guards dashed forward, and Levi turned narrowed grey eyes on them. It had been ages since he had last been in an actual fight, and his blood seemed to sing as his body came alive with familiar instincts. A closed fist approached as slowly as a leaf falling to the ground. Dodging, taking hold of the wrist, kicking upwards to break the man's elbow with his knee, these were things he didn't even have to think about. It was second nature to him, his actions robotic, automated.

The man with the broken elbow fell to the ground and another all but leapt over the fallen man, hands outstretched for Levi's throat. Ducking under his outstretched hands, he threw a punch into the man's abdomen that sent him flying into the opposite wall, unconscious, but not dead - he hoped.

One after the other, they closed in, seeking strength in numbers, but they were too slow, their movements too predictable to his eyes. Even when a man came forward with his knife outstretched, it almost felt as if he were handing Levi the weapon with how simple it was to break his wrist and pull the knife from his fingers.

The crack of bone, the slice of skin, groans of pain and shrieks of agony. It was almost nostalgic, in a way. When the last of the men had fallen in a heap to the floor, Levi's eyes scanned the room for his next opponent, disappointed to find no one but Floch still standing.

"Oi," he gestured with the knife, "Sit your ass down, I'm talking."

Levi watched Floch slowly step past the bodies littered on the floor. The man they had been torturing only minutes before now lay surrounded by his very tormentors in similar states of agony. Levi rested a foot on the head of the fallen guard nearest to him and leaned forward to address Floch, who had resumed a seat on a nearby armchair, trembling.

"No one touches my girls."

Floch shook his head vehemently, "No one will."

"You're going to mind your own fucking business from now on."

"I will, I swear it."

"Slayte is not a stupid name."

"It…" he hesitated, surprised, "It is a very good name. Slayte is-"

"Oi." The warning in Levi's voice and the flash of anger in his eyes made the redhead jump. "Who let you say her name?"

"I won't say it again," he promised.

"Damn straight, you won't." Just then, the man serving as Levi's footrest coughed up blood and both Levi and Floch dropped their gazes to the sight.

"Oi," Levi complained, "You're getting blood on my shoes. Show some consideration."

Wiping his shoes on the guard's suit jacket, he finally stepped back and let the knife fall to the floor with a clatter. "Glad we had this talk," he nodded at Floch and turned away, stepping neatly over the bodies laying haphazardly across the floor. Levi pulled open the steel door to enter the dimly lit hallway. When he pulled the door shut behind him, he saw Floch still seated in the armchair staring numbly at the scene before him.

Tch. It would take him a while to return to his senses.

Amateurs.

* * *

When he pushed open the doors leading back out into the main area of the nightclub, he sought her out like a castaway seeking water. This place, familiar and oppressive, the adrenaline rush still pumping through his veins, how easy it was to claim his rightful place at the top of the pecking order… it gave him a heady sensation. It was tempting at the same time that it was vile. He needed someone, something, to ground him.

He had long since made up his mind to leave all this filth behind him. He wanted no part in the shithole that was the underground, no matter how well he fit there. How suited it was to him, and how suited he, himself, was to that life. Then why did he feel no regret? Why had it been nothing but immensely satisfying to put those squealing pigs in their places? Who was he deceiving?

He needed her. Needed those almost-black irises to reflect back to him who he truly was. He needed her mindless adoration. Her senseless, unconditional affection. She was broken in ways that aligned with the cracks on his own soul. Crazy in ways that made him feel sane. Even as she, herself, was lost perpetually on the stormy sea of her own emotions, she put his mind at ease, brought peace to his tormented soul. She considered herself a nuisance, a burden, felt that she brought chaos wherever she went, but in truth, she also radiated a calmness, a serenity that made one crave her company, but she was none the wiser.

And he found her, of course, precisely where he had left her. What had he been expecting? She had always taken his instructions to heart as if they were gospel. At least, so long as Elissa wasn't involved. It seemed she had acclimatized rather quickly to the atmosphere, because her posture was no longer tense with apprehension. Her gaze was fixed on Elissa. She sat straight-backed, regal, as if she were royalty from some other world.

At the moment, her chin was raised arrogantly, and her eyes narrowed in distaste, as if the world itself had failed to meet her standards. She exuded an impenetrable, icy aura that made her unapproachable as was her intention. It was a demeanor that he rarely saw, because it existed only in his absence, to be replaced by warmth and affection the minute she laid eyes on him.

With a sigh, he made his way through the crowd, to return to her side.

* * *

"Hey there."

The voice was foreign, and it grated against Slayte's ears in its unfamiliarity, in the audacity of its addressing her without knowing her. The hand that brushed up her arm, in a mockery of a caress, before coming to rest on her shoulder sent a sickening wave of revulsion through her.

"What's a pretty little thing like you doing here all alone?"

Her gaze flitted toward the speaker, a muscular brunet with a chiseled jawline and cocky green eyes that traveled up and down her form unabashed. She sat straight and tall and regarded the foolish mortal through narrowed eyes. Would blinding him temporarily, or choking him be considered a misuse of her powers? Someone needed to put the arrogant bastard in his place.

The leering nuisance leaned in closer, his left hand resting on the bar counter as the fingers of his right hand slid down her shoulder, resting now on her back. "Can I get you a drink?" he asked casually, ignorant of the glass already set before her, clearly seeking to distract her from his repulsive touch.

Oh, this one was asking for it.

The – _thwack_ – of sharp metal embedding itself into wood called their attention before Slayte had yet reached a conclusion on just how to punish the fool for his transgressions, and when the man cried out in indignant alarm, Slayte saw a familiar knife resting just between the man's fingers, the point of the knife lodged two centimeters deep into the countertop.

"Hey! What gives – " The angry tirade came to a sudden stop when the stranger looked up and saw none other than Levi Ackerman looking down on him through narrowed grey eyes. The heavyset man paled in recognition.

"I've never seen someone so eager to lose a few fingers," Levi commented dryly, his voice deceptively soft, smooth and silky as a viper. It struck Slayte in that moment, that Levi was never more dangerous than when he was soft-spoken.

The heavyset man scrambled to his feet and made a hasty escape into the throng of people dancing behind them; Levi's eyes following him all the while until he was out of sight. With an irritated expression, he sidled into the seat the other man had abandoned and reached without hesitation for Slayte's glass. If there was ever a time for a drink, this was it.

He winced as the flavor of something sweet and fruity met his tongue, a taste he had no inclination for. Slayte placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned close to be heard over the noise. "I had no idea what I was ordering," she confessed into his ear.

"Yeah," he frowned, "I can tell."

Replacing the glass on the counter, his eyes caught sight of his own hand, flecked with blood, the knuckles red and stinging. Tch. How could he have forgotten that pigs bleed when beaten? He should have thought to wash his hands. Fucking disgusting. He had clearly lost his touch.

With a furrowed brow, he acknowledged that it had been far too easy to step right back into his abandoned persona. It was like slipping into a second skin, one familiar and comfortable and tailored to every inch of him. He didn't know, in that moment, just which identity was the farce. Was it the idiot spending hours on hours brewing up every flavor of tea imaginable or the one cutting assholes down to size like weeds? Which one was he really, and which one was the fraud?

Slayte, whose perceptive dark eyes had followed his line of sight, propped open her clutch. "Oh, I have something here." Removing a pack of disinfectant wipes, she handed them to him, unbothered.

"Here," she said casually, as if he had spilled nothing more significant than grape juice over his hands.

Raising an eyebrow at her, he took the offering with a bemused, "Thanks."

"Everything went well?" she asked mildly, turning her gaze back to the dance floor.

Wiping off his hands, he responded gruffly, "What does it look like?"

"It looks like you put some assholes in their places."

"Yeah. That's about right."

"Nicely done."

He lifted grey eyes to regard her skeptically. "Should you be so okay with this?"

She turned back to him with approving eyes. "They had it coming. You did well." She patted his hand affectionately before turning away to continue watching her friend.

He didn't know what to make of that statement, but the conflict warring within himself seemed to settle at her words, to be replaced with an easy quiet.

A few moments of silence passed between them as Slayte disapprovingly watched her best friend dance with the public menace - if it could be called dancing. The way the two of them were pushed up against one another had to warrant at least a few counts of public indecency.

"I shouldn't have brought you here," Levi commented, irked, even as his gaze followed Slayte's toward their mutual friend.

"I don't know what you're so worried about, these guys are all weak." Slayte tossed back, glad for the distraction from the unsavory sight before her eyes.

"Then what the hell was that just now?" Levi demanded, his narrowed gaze flitting back to his unperturbed girlfriend.

Slayte only shrugged, "I could have handled him."

Levi stared incredulously at the unimposing raven-haired woman. They had been together long enough for him to have an accurate grasp of the extent of her physical strength. The only thing she had going for her was a rather intimidating glare.

"Have you ever been in a fight?"

Slayte hesitated, considering. "Well, there was the thing with Vetty…" she began.

"So, no," he scoffed, taking another gulp of her sickeningly sweet order, despite himself, "What makes you so confident, then?"

"Let's just say I have a few tricks up my sleeve," she answered evenly. The firm set of her mouth and the cold look in her eyes as she all but impaled Cain with her piercing gaze signaled to him that what she was saying was nothing less than the simple truth. He wondered just what those "tricks" entailed.

"Besides," she added reassuringly, "You don't need to worry about them." She gestured at the crowd vaguely, apparently indicating the entirety of the male population present. "In my eyes they're all just… children. All of humanity, actually." An accurate assessment, given that the fools had not even lived a century but pranced around as if they knew all there was to know.

"Oh?" Levi replied, reining in his amusement at her odd statements - one of her more endearing quirks. He felt his tension fade at their easy banter and rested an elbow on the counter, propping his head up on an elegant fingertip. If she saw people as nothing more than children… "What about me, then?" he queried, genuinely curious as to her answer.

She glanced back at him, taking in his stormy grey eyes, the amused smirk playing on his lips, the lovely raven locks falling into his face as well as his relaxed posture that made him no less intimidating, and a fervent blush crept over her features before she tore her gaze away to focus her attention more resolutely on Elissa.

"So it's like that, huh?" he smirked, straightening to drain her glass. "That you still react that way after five years. Tch." The apparent complaint thinly veiled a note of fondness that was not lost on her.

"Three," she corrected automatically.

"Eh?" He pushed the empty glass away from himself.

"It's been three years," she clarified. "Officially. That we're together."

He glanced at her once, doing the math before admitting to himself that she was right. "Waste of two years if you ask me," he muttered.

"Yeah," she voiced, smiling softly as warmth filled her at his affectionate words, delivered indifferently as ever, "agreed."

Her good cheer was short lived, as she lifted her eyes to his only to see a disgusted expression cross his features, his eye caught on something over her shoulder. With a scowl, he nodded toward the dance floor, "Don't look now."

Slayte spun around, only to have her mouth drop open in horror at what she saw.

* * *

She'd had a few drinks at the bar already, and the warm kiss of alcohol burned down her throat, progressively melting away her inhibitions. As Elissa swayed with Cain on the dance-floor, she felt relaxed, at ease - free in a way she never had before. His hands were on her waist and her arms had lifted to his shoulders, their dance becoming more intimate and sensual by the minute.

She could feel eyes on her, had felt them all night. Men who stared at her intently, following her movements hungrily, lustfully, and women who gaped at her or tossed dirty looks her way for causing their men's gaze to stray. Usually Elissa would have hated all the attention. The vulnerable feeling of being so exposed, as if she were in the process of being inspected under a magnifying microscope with all her flaws laid out bare to see. But under the influence of alcohol, she felt empowered. Seductive. Sexy.

It felt flattering, good, to be admired. To be desired. Even when she didn't want any of them back the way they wanted her.

When intrusive men tried to touch and pester her, Cain interceded and warded their hands away. She felt secure in his presence. As long as she stuck by him, he wouldn't allow any harm to come to her.

She gazed up into his eyes as they danced at close proximity, marvelling at the clarity of the azure blue, brightened from the touch of alcohol. He was handsome, she admired, as his hand slid to her lower back and tugged her closer against him. His eyes had been on her all evening, and she found that she quite liked the way he kept her close, the way his gaze caressed over her curves. She liked that he made her feel wanted. Like she was important. Worth his time, his attention. He was straightforward with her, made plain what he desired. There were no hidden agendas with Cain.

Under the influence of alcohol, her tongue loosened. She felt bolder. More daring, fuelled to tease him by the way he was looking at her, the craving in his eyes plain to see.

"You've been staring at me all evening," she said huskily, a playful smile dancing upon her lips.

He gripped her hips, and slowly swayed with her off the dance-floor.

"You look ravishing," he murmured. "I fear you've enchanted me completely, Elissa."

She laughed, sliding her hands up his shoulders. "Thanks for keeping all the creeps off me."

"Of course," he smirked back. "They can look… but they mustn't touch."

"Oh, no?" Elissa continued, a part of her astonished to find herself openly flirting with him. But she didn't care. The drink in her system made her feel invincible. The night was young. She was letting off steam, having a good time. She was acting like someone her own age for once - instead of wasting away worries on consequences, or overthinking things.

All her efforts to be sensible and cautious had led to heartbreak over the years of her life. Cain stood before her, on the opposite side of the spectrum, a risk-taker, a go-getter, who wasn't afraid to be open and chase after the things he wanted. Elissa wanted to be like that too. She wanted to spring back whenever things tried to knock her down, to spread her wings and soar. She wanted to not care, when people tried to hurt her or crush her.

She wanted to feel anything but the hurt and pain.

"But _you're_ touching me," she murmured. Her heart started to pound in her chest no sooner had the words escaped her lips.

"I am," he replied, making no move to remove the hands on her hips. "Does it make you uncomfortable?"

"No," Elissa answered. "Maybe…" she licked her lips. "Maybe I like it."

He exhaled, unable to tear his gaze off her face. She was pure seduction, and he had never wanted a woman as much as he wanted her right then. And Cain was a man used to getting what he wanted.

"Elissa…" he murmured. "Do you mean that?"

Her arms locked tighter around his neck in response, and he bent his head in instinct. His lips now hovered over her own, a mere breath away. The music pounded in Elissa's ears, the hypnotising beat synchronising with the alcohol that ran through her veins. She felt exhilarated. Reckless. She felt unbreakable.

Cain's hands on her hips were warm and she liked how it felt, to have someone holding her, someone craving her the way he so clearly did. She was intoxicated and flattered by his affections - and his heavy lidded eyes had never looked as alluring as they did just then, in that moment, fixed onto her as if she were the most beautiful and mesmerising creature in the world. As if she were all that existed within it, all that mattered and all that he could see.

 _Thump, thump, thump, thump_. Her heart pounded at his proximity, catching the dizzying scent of his aftershave mingled with the drink on his lips.

"Elissa," he whispered suddenly, his breath tickling her tingling lips. Somehow she was still able to hear him over the din of the club around them. She distantly registered her back hitting one of the black marble columns that supported the ceiling of the club, bringing their dance to an abrupt stop.

"Yes," she whispered back, feeling oddly breathless.

His eyes drank in her features, before coming to rest on her full, blood-painted lips. "I want to kiss you," he said hoarsely.

Her eyes widened. She lifted her hands, pressing them to his chest - but she didn't push him away.

"I've wanted to kiss you from the moment I first set eyes on you," he added, his eyes burning with want. "It consumes me. I can't fight it anymore."

The pillar at her back was hard and cold and Cain was all masculine heat. At that moment, caught in a drunk-haze, her reasoning compromised with only instinct fuelling her, she thought maybe she wouldn't mind him kissing her. At that moment, she wanted him to.

She tilted her head up, opening herself to him. She wanted to know how it felt. To kiss. To touch. To feel love and desire and all the things she had been so afraid of experiencing for herself, out of fear that they would be torn from her hands by tragedy. Could she love Cain? Did she even like him in that way? Her inebriated mind spun. Did it matter what the answer to any of that was? Life was for taking risks, for living. And she so desperately wanted to live.

"Then do it," she whispered back.

He blinked, and lifted a hand as if in a trance, slipping his palm to the side of her neck, as he bent his head to capture her lips with his own in a deeply passionate kiss that was no parts gentle and all parts fiery and consuming. Her eyes fluttered shut, and she gave herself up to it, parting her lips to allow his tongue to pillage, swirling over her own. When his arm came around her, to crush her against his chest, a strange coolness followed by heat flooded through her body, making her head spin. She clung to him, squeezing her eyes shut to banish the tiny whispers of doubt in the back of her mind that belonged to the voice of reason, crushing down all thoughts and emotions. She didn't want to feel numb and empty anymore. The fire of lust and mutual physical attraction was a welcome distraction to being dead inside.

She pressed herself up against him, kissing him harder, faster, mindlessly. It was too fast, too much, too soon - and she didn't care. She wanted to burn until everything within her was extinguished, until she forgot how to feel misery and pain.

When Cain finally broke away, and stared down at her in wonder, she blinked. Was that what she had imagined her first kiss would be like? Raw, rough, demanding, hungry? A part of her was bewildered, almost disappointed. It hadn't been the magic she had anticipated by any means. It hadn't left her feeling weak, like she was falling and melting, like all the kisses she had read about in novels. But did that matter? Fairytales didn't exist. Cain was real and warm and he made her feel good about herself. Perhaps the butterflies would follow in time. For now, feeling wanted was enough. Wasn't it?

Cain gripped her chin, his lips ghosting over hers again, ready to initiate another ravenous kiss - when he paused suddenly, his gaze slipping past the pillar. He blinked, angling his head slightly as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Then he released a surprised snort.

"Darling. You won't guess who I've just seen by the bar."

"Hmm?" Elissa's mind was reeling, the alcohol in her bloodstream now hitting her hard. "Who?"

"Your friends didn't strike me as the clubbing types." Cain smirked.

"What?" she blinked at him in confusion.

"Take a look," he nodded toward the distance, at a spot somewhere behind the pillar. Elissa took her own weight back and turned, peering around the column, her eyes searching the crowd - only to lock onto a familiar pair of faces seated by the bar.

Slayte and Levi were staring right their way, and Elissa felt the breath flee from her lungs in disbelief. What were they _doing_ there? She couldn't fathom why they would be at the same club she was. They never went clubbing. Slayte hadn't ever even been to one, she was absolutely sure.

She gaped at them a moment, before turning back to Cain, whose eyebrows were raised. Was it a coincidence? The alcohol stripped her of all her rationality, and bitter, scorching anger exploded within her chest. No. It was no coincidence. It couldn't be. Not when they were the sort to spend Friday nights in. They had to be there because she was. But why? She hadn't even checked in her location on social media. How in the world had they known?

"I don't believe it," she gasped incredulously. "What are they _doing_ here?"

"Perhaps they've come to chaperone you, darling?" Cain chuckled in amusement.

She met his eyes, simmering inside, her fury complete. "Stay here," she said to him stiffly, and then turned away. She was well under the influence, but felt alert and alive, not inebriated enough to be unaware of her surroundings or emotions.

Weaving through the crowd, her eyes locked onto Slayte with intent. She was dressed in a knee-length black dress with lace-sleeves up to the elbows, and her straight, long raven hair was worn in a messy french twist. She'd applied a simple coating of lipstick, eyeliner and Elissa was astonished to see that she was even wearing heels. Beside her, Levi was dressed in a coordinated black suit, with a crisp white shirt underneath.

They'd clearly made a big effort to blend into the environment. Her hands balled into fists as she drew closer, and she saw Slayte's eyes widen as she realised that Elissa was heading her way. She said something to Levi and then slipped off her bar stool, walking forward to meet with Elissa.

Elissa saw the way Slayte's gaze darted over her outfit, the way she bit her lip before she began over the music, "Elissa!"

Elissa didn't wait for her to finish. "What are you doing here?" she demanded, her eyes blazing with anger.

Slayte faltered. "We- we were just out and-"

"Still lying to me?" Elissa glared.

"Elissa, please-"

"Since _when_ do you and Levi ever go out clubbing? Since when do you ever dress like this?!" she gestured to Slayte's outfit - undeniably fancy by her standards. "Give me a break. Do you think I'm stupid?! You're both here because I am!"

Slayte pursed her lips together, before admitting. "You know what? You're right, Elissa. We are."

Elissa inhaled sharply. "What the _hell_ , Slayte?!"

"I had to make sure you're safe."

Elissa stared at her, speechless.

"Levi knows this place," Slayte went on. "It's not the kind of environment you want to be in!"

Elissa's mouth dropped open, her anger escalating by the second. Not the kind of environment she _wanted_ to be in? There Slayte went again. Thinking she knew what was best for her. Did she not realise how wrong it was for her and Levi to follow her in such a way? What an infringement of her privacy it was? It bordered on stalking. How could they not see that?

"How the hell did you even know I was here?!" Elissa snapped. Her eyes darted to where Levi had stood up by the bar, his eyes on them, as if he were allowing them space to talk - but ready to rush forward to them in seconds if required. She turned her attention back to Slayte, scowling. "Are you-" she sucked in a breath. "Have you two been _following_ me?"

"I just want you to be safe, Elissa," Slayte entreated. "Please. I know you're angry at me, but look around at this place. It isn't like you!"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Elissa sneered. "Why wouldn't I want to be here? It's just a nightclub. People my age go to clubs to have _fun_ , Slayte. I guess you wouldn't know anything about that!" She ran a hand agitatedly through her chestnut locks. "I can't believe you've both been following me like… like a pair of obsessive stalkers! Why can't you both just leave me alone?!"

Slayte swallowed, refusing to back down. "How can I? The last thing I want is for you to be alone… even if you don't approve of my actions, even if this will only make you hate me more. But I don't care. If being hated is the price for protecting you, for keeping you safe, then I'll take it!"

"Protecting me?!" Elissa spat back. "From _what?!_ You're unbelievable! It's been over a month and you're still sprouting the same cryptic bullshit!" Her eyes stung with unshed tears, the hurt Slayte had caused her with her dishonesty and betrayal burning through her anew. It brought to mind dark eyes she didn't want to think about, and suddenly Elissa realised that she clearly hadn't drunk anywhere near enough alcohol, if she could still think of Itachi. Shoving all thoughts of him that Slayte's presence always reminded her far too uncomfortably of out her head, she bit out, "Why do I need protecting? What's this secret, huge danger I'm supposedly in that you can't tell me about?!"

Slayte clenched her jaw. "Look around you, Elissa! Look at what the people are doing here! Strippers. Alcohol. Drugs! The gods know what else is happening behind those closed doors." Her eyes trailed down over her friend's dress. "Even that dress," Slayte averted her gaze, as if she were ashamed to look at her friend, filling Elissa with more indignance than any reproach could have.

Elissa bristled, glancing down at her outfit, affronted. "What _about_ what I'm wearing?" she challenged.

"This- this isn't _you!_ " Slayte cried helplessly. "Elissa, you don't see it, but you're changing, you're becoming reckless!" She stepped in closer, and after a moment of hesitation, lifted her hands to her friend's shoulders. "You could get hurt!"

"Don't touch me!" Elissa snarled, stepping back. "If you came here to judge me on what I'm wearing, or where I'm hanging out, then you can fuck right off, Slayte!"

Slayte's hands balled into fists. "Elissa. _Please._ Please don't hurt yourself to punish me!"

"Shut up!" Elissa screamed back at her. "My life doesn't revolve around you, believe it or not! What were you and Levi doing sitting there, watching me with Cain? Are you going to lecture me about that, too?"

Slayte stared at her in dismay. "You kissed him!"

"So what?" Elissa's eyes flashed dangerously, glittering with open resentment. Almost as if she dared Slayte to share the rest of her opinion.

Slayte shook her head, horrified. Cain had his claws so deeply embedded into her friend. Where had it all gone so wrong? How had Elissa become so derailed? How could Slayte have allowed it to happen? She blamed herself more than anyone else, and just wanted, more than anything, for her best friend to return to her. The Elissa standing before her was unrecognisable. She was so angry - and Slayte didn't know how to get through to her.

"Elissa, don't you see what he's pulling you into?! Dangerous clubs! Alcohol. You've even tried smoking!"

Understanding dawned upon Elissa, and she recoiled. "You… you were at the coffee shop? That's how you knew we were coming here?"

"That was a coincidence!" Slayte defended. "We were checking out the competition in other coffee shops, you know we do that! And when we heard you were coming here - we couldn't let you go alone."

"I'm not alone, I'm with Cain, there's security here!" Elissa yelled at her in frustration. She could feel that people around them were starting to stare, as it was evident that they were arguing, but she didn't care. She only cared about giving Slayte a piece of her mind.

"It's because you're with him that you're not safe!" Slayte shot back. "This! All of this!" She gestured vaguely at the provoking, low cut crimson dress her friend wore, clinging to her slender frame like second skin. Stunning - but unrecognizable all the same. "This isn't you! He's taking advantage of you! That jerk stole your first kiss?! He doesn't deserve-"

Elissa erupted, unable to stand the judgement and righteous disapproval she saw in the dark-haired young woman's eyes.

"Oh, I'm sorry, was I meant to wait until I found someone more to _your_ liking, Slayte? Someone more 'deserving'? Are you listening to yourself?" She was so livid, so overcome with rage, that her body was starting to shake.

"That's not what I meant at all-!"

"That's EXACTLY what you mean! What did you want me to do, save it for Prince Charming?" She screamed. "He doesn't exist! We're not all as lucky as _you_ are to find the perfect partner in love! Who else was I going to give it to?!"

Slayte's breath caught in her throat. She could see the pain and hurt in Elissa's eyes and it tore her to pieces. "Elissa," she whispered. "You-"

"Stop! I'm so sick of everyone judging me, like I have to meet everyone else's standards! I'm sick of hearing what everyone else thinks is best for me, when the only opinions that matter should be my own, and what I want to do! You're disgusting! Both of you, following me here, like you have the right to intrude on my personal life like this! Questioning what I'm wearing, who I'm kissing, where I'm going clubbing. My own parents don't do that, what gives you the RIGHT?!"

"Elissa!" Slayte was horrified. "If you'd just listen-!"

"No! YOU listen to me!" She jabbed a finger aggressively at Slayte. "I'm sick of you! Stop obsessing over me! You stay the fuck out of my life, Slayte! I want nothing more to do with either of you! Do you hear me? I don't need your protection, I don't want you in my life anymore and you need to mind your own God-damned business! Don't _ever_ talk to me again!"

"You don't mean that-" Slayte reached out to her in desperation, but her arm was batted away by Elissa's with such force, it made a strange vibration travel up the limb, causing it to tingle almost painfully. Slayte blinked, stunned, looked down at her hand in confusion, trying to figure out just what had happened. When she looked up again, she found that Elissa had already turned away and stormed off.

She watched in muted shock as a smirking Cain wrapped his arm around her, tossing a smug look back at Slayte, before he led Elissa to one corner of the room where a crowd of people were seated on the L-shaped sofas. Watched, as he pulled her deeper into his web of corruption.

"Elissa, darling, you're trembling," Cain sat down on the plush couch, and pulled her down onto his lap.

"I need another drink," she replied shakily, fighting back the tears in her eyes. She wanted not to think. It was too unbearable. Seeing Slayte and Levi had ruined her evening, reminded her of everything she had been trying so hard to run from and forget. She bit her lower lip tearfully. Couldn't they have just let her enjoy herself, for one night, without forcing her back into the cages of her inner torment?

"Hey, man," an unfamiliar male voice said. "Good to see you. We're about to roll up some joints. You in?"

"Hi Scott," Cain gestured to someone who was sitting on the couch. "In a second. Give me some of that vodka first."

"Who's this?" Elissa heard the man say. "Damn, bro." There was an appreciative whistle. "She's hot. Share?"

"Shut up and pass me the vodka," Cain repeated.

Scott laughed and did as he was told.

Elissa felt a bottle press into her hands a moment later, and she lifted it to her lips, wincing at the strength of the liquor, but she welcomed its bitterness and burn as it passed down her throat.

She felt Cain's hand rest on her thigh. "There, there, darling," he cooed soothingly. "Was it that bad?"

"I hate her," Elissa said, her voice thick with emotion. "Can you believe she admitted that she and Levi came here to keep an eye on me?"

Cain's eyebrows rose. His fingers crept higher up her thigh slowly. "Babysitting you?" he exclaimed. "Unforgivable - but not all that unsurprising, given how stifling they are."

Elissa took another swig of the bottle. "I can't believe them," she shook her head in disgust.

Cain's eyes slid back toward the bar. He saw Slayte looking tearful, sitting beside Levi, who was looking right their way with narrowed stormy eyes. He glanced back at Elissa, his eyes trailing over the cleavage just inches away from his face.

"If they're here to watch you, then what do you say we give them something worth looking at?" he whispered sauvely into her ear.

Elissa blinked. The vodka was kicking in fast, and she felt her body growing warmer. When Cain's lips brushed against her shoulder, she didn't pull away. When they pressed against the side of her throat, sucking sensually against her flesh before growing bolder and nibbling with his teeth when she didn't resist, she wrapped a steadying arm around his shoulders, releasing an unsteady breath.

He lifted a hand, burying his fingers in her silky tresses, and turned her face toward his, capturing her lips in another fiery, rough kiss. Elissa squeezed her eyes shut, and forced herself to focus solely on the sensation of his lips moving against hers. She kissed him hard, pouring into it all her frustrations as she clung to him. When he broke the kiss and turned his attention back to her throat, to leave another trail of angry love-bites there, she tilted her head back to allow him better access, hoping that the sight would enrage Slayte and Levi enough to leave the club altogether.

* * *

Levi met Cain's eye, the smug expression on the blond's face unmistakable even over the distance, before the so-called doctor began trailing kisses over Elissa's shoulders and the brunette did nothing to stop him, clutching a bottle of vodka in her hands. A bottle the quack himself had placed there.

"Oh," Slayte's anguish caused her voice to falter, as the blond grew increasingly bold with his affections. Slayte thought with horror of the couple she had seen upon entering the club, and feared that Elissa would similarly be made a spectacle of. Cain did not respect her friend enough to shelter her from prying eyes. Did Elissa retain enough of her senses to stop him?

"I can't watch," she murmured miserably, her voice almost a whine, looking on as the most vile of men lay his hands on her friend, and she was helpless to do anything to stop him, helpless even to tear her eyes away.

A warm hand closed on her shoulder and spun her around, bringing her face to face with a broad chest. "Then don't," Levi said simply, holding her firmly in place when she attempted to turn back around. "Just stay there," he instructed, "I'll tell you when it's over."

Slayte, who had never yet averted her eyes from a horror movie, squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face in his chest, grateful beyond expression that she was being spared the terrible sight.

Elissa's words rang through her ears. _Don't ever talk to me again._ Not ever. Truly? Did Elissa want Slayte to go the rest of her life without her? Did Elissa want to spend the rest of her own without her as well? Had she lost every trace of affection that once lingered in Elissa's heart in her name? Her own thoughts were smothering her and she felt tears sting her eyes, but she couldn't cry. Not yet. Not until Elissa was safely out of this miserable place.

"Is it over?"

Levi watched the way Cain had his filthy hands in Elissa's hair, his disgusting mouth planted firmly on the younger woman's throat. "... not yet," he replied, distaste apparent in his voice.

Slayte drew away from him, collecting herself to face the sight, but he wrapped an arm around her. "Oi, are you deaf?" he reprimanded, "I said not yet."

"It's fine, I can handle it," she protested.

"Shut up," he snapped, "No, you can't. I'll let you know."

When a man tapped Cain's shoulder, calling his attention, Levi released Slayte. She spun around instantly, to find that Elissa was still perched on Cain's lap and she still held the bottle of alcohol clutched to her chest. A hand rested on Cain's chest, and Elissa's face was flushed, whether from intoxication or from Cain's unwarranted advances, she did not know.

"She'll be fine," Levi attempted, "I took care of things. No one is going to go after her." Elissa was clearly giving in to Cain. Staying here any longer to watch only meant torturing herself for no reason. No good could come of this, but they were in no position to stop her any longer. It was time to let Elissa face the consequences of her actions.

"I can't," Slayte bit out, narrowing her eyes at the group hidden away in a shady corner of the club. "I have to see her leave safely."

Levi sighed and his eyes scanned the perimeter. He needed to get Slayte out of here, whether she wanted to go or not. "Slayte, she's not in physical danger, we've established that. Let's go."

"Levi," the alarm in her voice drew his eyes back to her, and she pointed towards the group surrounding Elissa, "What's that?"

Lifting grey eyes to Elissa and her new friends, he blinked at what he saw. Syringes being passed around, one young man already leaning against the wall, his eyes rolled up into the back of his head. Elissa seemed nervous but Cain had taken a hold of her wrist and drew her arm out, exposing the veins of her pale arm under the flashing club lights.

The group burst into raucous laughter, likely over the uninjured skin of her arm and one of the men slapped the skin, making the veins running through her arm more prominently visible. Elissa's nervous laughter went unnoticed and Cain held onto her other hand, smirking as he offered her reassurances.

"Levi, what is that?" Slayte repeated, panic rising.

"Fuck," Levi cursed. Elissa's behaviour was frustrating. She didn't want to be treated like a child, but she simply refused to stop acting like one.

Another woman approached the group and patted Elissa's shoulder, likely offering words of confidence as well. She untied her bandana and wrapped it tightly around Elissa's upper arm.

"Are those drugs?" Slayte turned horrified eyes towards him.

"Yes," Levi ground out, avoiding her gaze. He caught the eye of a guard standing nearby, and, with a nod in Elissa's direction, made his intentions clear. The man immediately began moving towards the group.

Slayte, who had not taken notice of Levi's discreet directions, turned back towards Elissa, all but paralyzed with terror.

" _Lord Thanatos!"_ she pleaded helplessly, desperation and panic filling her heart as she watched the mortals crowd around Elissa, " _Lord Thanatos, please! Help me! Stop this, please!"_

A familiar, haunting silence echoed back to her as she watched a tattooed young man take the cap off of the syringe with his teeth. Her blood rushed to her head and her limbs went numb with cold fury. A woman held Elissa's arm in place and Cain tightened his grip around her waist, murmuring something into her ear. A roaring sound like the rushing of a tidal wave, or the crackling of a blazing fire filled Slayte's ears. She lost sight of everything around her until she saw nothing and no one but Elissa's uneasy smile and Cain's hand closed around her wrist.

"Slayte," Levi began, turning towards her, but his words died in his throat as he saw the way the hair framing her face seemed to be floating, her hands were clenched into fists, and her eyes - it was almost as if the coffee-hued irises had been dyed black, and were flooding the whites of her eyes but before he could get a closer look, the lights overhead crackled and sparked. He looked up in surprise, as one lightbulb after another burst, glass shattering throughout the venue, littering the visitors with broken shards, and plunging them into darkness.

Screams resounded throughout the dance floor as the bodyguards hastened to throw open the doors to the exits, leading the visitors out while attempting to maintain some semblance of calm. As soon as the lights went out, Levi reached out for Slayte, not wanting to lose her in the chaos.

"Oi, let's get out of here," he murmured into her ear, leading her towards the exit.

"Wait," she protested, pulling away, "What about Elissa? We need to get her out!"

"Slayte," he hissed, patience growing thin as he held onto her wrist more firmly, pulling her towards the exit, "She'll be fine, come on."

But Slayte was having none of it, the panicked state the sight of the drugs had induced in her was showing no signs of abating, and she attempted to tear free, to dash madly back into the chaos, "Elissa!" she called desperately, "ELISSA!"

"Oh, for fuck's sake," without waiting another moment, Levi reached out and hauled Slayte over his shoulder, effectively carrying her out of the venue with no further resistance. "Levi, stop! We need to get her!" He heard the tears in her voice, but paid her no heed. Elissa had made her bed, they needed to let her lie in it. Elissa's words had made one thing painfully apparent. From here on out, he would no longer be able to protect both of them, and if he could only protect one of the two girls, it was clear who that would have to be.

"Levi!" Slayte pounded on his back in protest, tears streaming down her face. What if they dragged Elissa deeper into the depths? What if they were drugging her as they spoke? Why had she thought only underworld creatures were harmful to her friend when mortal perils were equally terrifying?

When they burst out into the cool night air, Levi set her down unceremoniously and she nearly lost her balance as her feet hit the ground. Looking up at him resentfully, she wiped the tears from her face, "How could you just leave her there?!"

"Oi," he growled, closing in on her, "What did I say? If you go on a rampage and I have to haul you out of there…?"

She bit her lip, not wanting to admit that it had turned out precisely as he had predicted. She glared up at him defiantly, even as her eyeliner streaked down her face in the form of blackened tears.

"Tch," he reached into his pocket and withdrew a white handkerchief. "Look at you," he reprimanded, wiping her tears away, "Are you out of your mind?"

"We can't just leave her… with _them!"_ she complained again, gesticulating wildly towards the nightclub.

"No one is stupid enough to be injecting themselves with anything when it's pitch black, stupid," he shot back, "Think of yourself a little."

"But, Levi-" she attempted to step past him, to where the others were still filing out of the nightclub but he took hold of her arm and hauled her back.

"Think of _me_ a little," he ground out, still gripping her arm, his stormy grey eyes boring through her, "for once."

She paused in her attempts to escape him, and lifted conflicted brown eyes, meeting his gaze helplessly. Had she somehow neglected him yet again?

"How the hell was I supposed to find you if you disappeared in the dark in there? What if someone got to you?"

"Levi, I would have been fine. I can handle myself," she reassured him, not seeing what the problem was.

"I don't care how capable you think you are, or how strong you think you must be. In that empty head of yours, danger only exists for Elissa, I know, but anyone who grabbed hold of you in there would see nothing but a vulnerable woman, and that is exactly what you are, whether you like it or not." His grey eyes flashed dangerously, as his voice dropped low, compelling her to understand the truth of his words.

"Levi, what?" she scoffed and rolled her eyes, "That would never happen. Who would want me? And anyways, I pity the fool who tries, so, stop changing the subject."

"Slayte…" he growled, genuinely angry now.

"No, listen, Levi," she countered, "If it's dangerous for me, it's that much more dangerous for Elissa!"

He had never wanted to physically hurt her as badly as he did in that moment. With narrowed eyes and an angry scowl, he grabbed hold of her wrist and dragged her back towards the nightclub.

"Wait, what… where are we going?" she asked, barely keeping up as he marched on.

"To find the stupid girl who hates you," he ground out, not looking back at her. He came to a sudden stop only a few feet from the double doors and pointed towards the road where Elissa was leaning heavily on Cain, who was calling them a cab.

"There she is, safe and sound. Satisfied?" He shot her a look, but she was unintimidated. The hand in his went limp, and her eyes filled with sorrow as she watched her friend stumbling along.

"Where did I go wrong, Levi?" she mumbled, her eyes filling with tears. "I just wanted to protect her. To keep her safe. To love her."

Levi sighed as he turned towards her, but her eyes were fixed on Elissa, spellbound. "I loved her wrong," she bit her lip, tears cascading down her cheeks, "I messed her up."

"Oi," his reproach was gentle as he reached up to wipe her tears away, "there is no wrong way to love someone."

"There is," she protested, hastily wiping at her tears herself. "I ruin everything."

Levi's righteous indignation with her faded in the sight of her anguish, and he shrugged out of his jacket and placed it on her shoulders, before wrapping an arm around her and leading her up the road to where he had parked their black jeep. "Oi, it isn't all on you. Give Elissa some credit, too."

She blinked up at him, not understanding his meaning, but allowed herself to be led away. She cast one last, tear-stricken glance over her shoulder at her friend, mouthing the words, " _be safe,"_ into the night.

* * *

Cain gripped onto her hand tightly, leading Elissa out of the nightclub, following the crowds of people evacuating the venue after the unexpected power cut. They collected her shawl and Cain's blazer from the cloakroom, then headed out into the night. If it was cold, Elissa didn't feel it. She had enough alcohol in her system that her vision was growing bleary, and she felt light-headed and unsteady on her feet. Everything Cain was saying seemed to be funny and made her giggle. The bottle of vodka was still in her hand. She'd only managed to have just over half of it.

"Steady there, darling," Cain chuckled above her ear. "You're in quite the state. Let's get you home." He supported her weight as they walked, and he led her to an alleyway, leaning her carefully back against the wall. "I'll be right back," he reassured her. "I'm going to hail a cab for us. Stay here, Elissa. It's safe. Security is right around the corner. I'll only be a few minutes."

Elissa nodded mutely, her head swimming. His hands fell away from her shoulders and she rested back against the cold stone wall, gripping her shawl and clutch bag in one hand, and the bottle of vodka in the other.

She lifted it again to her lips, wondering how much she could drown down before she would pass out entirely. She needed to sleep, and to not think at all until the next morning. She couldn't even taste the vodka anymore. Everything was starting to go numb and fuzzy.

The alleyway was dark, hiding her from view of any clubbers who passed by. She turned her head, watching them pass, waiting for Cain to come back and collect her.

Something moved in the right corner of her vision, and she blinked, turning her head automatically toward it. Her eyes came to rest on what appeared to be black… mist? She blinked again in confusion. Was she inebriated enough to be hallucinating? Why did it look like tendrils of darkness were rippling into being before her?

A moment later, a tall figure materialised from the shadows, and Elissa felt the breath arrest in her lungs. She blinked again through the blur of her vision. No, she told herself. She had to be seeing things. There was no conceivable, possible way that Itachi was standing there before her.

"Uhn…" she lifted a hand to her forehead. It was starting to throb, and a wave of nausea washed over her. "You're not there," she whispered to herself. "I'm seeing things." She desperately downed another gulp of the alcohol, willing the phantom mirage to dissipate. He was the last thing she wanted to see. Why wasn't the drink working?

But when she blinked again and again, his image did not fade. A moment later, she felt fingertips brush lightly over hers, prying the vodka bottle gently out of her hand. Her heart immediately began to pound in her chest as she turned her eyes up to him in bewilderment. The touch at her hand had been warm. Real.

He wasn't an illusion.

"I-Itachi...?" she whispered hoarsely, blinking up at him in confusion, stunned by his unexpected appearance before her. She was so shocked, that for a moment she forgot all about her anger toward him, her eyes helplessly drinking up the sight of him, somehow so vivid to her even through the haze of her vision. The angled planes of his chiselled jaw. The full, inviting, unyielding lips. His long, midnight, flowing hair, the gilded black mask and dark, smouldering eyes that seemed to blaze through her, pinning her in place. "How…?" she stuttered, eyebrows knotting together. "What... are you doing here?"

She had tried so hard to forget that face. And yet there he was again, and her body's reaction to him was as instantaneous and devastating as it had been the last time they had met. A tremor ran through her, and she felt as though she were burning under the scrutiny of that heavy, silent gaze. He was dressed in a long, flowing black cloak, the collar of which was lined with raven feathers, and stood as tall, regal and terrible in his beauty as she remembered. He clearly hadn't come to partake in any form of revelry. Once again she was left wondering just how he had appeared. The alleyway was a dead-end. And yet he had materialised from thin air.

He did not reply. Elissa couldn't stop the sudden, inappropriate, tipsy giggle that escaped her lips. Oh, _of course_ he was being silent. Why had she expected him to be any different to his usual, infuriating, impossible self? But why was he here? Had he shown up to torment her, or worse, maybe Slayte had called him somehow to give her another lecture? Weren't they friends? Or Master and Servant? Something? Whatever? Her mind was struggling to form coherent thoughts.

"Gimmie back… my drink," she said, fumbling half-heartedly to retrieve it. Her tongue felt heavy in her mouth, and her vision doubled dangerously for a moment.

In response, Itachi wordlessly lifted his hand before dropping the bottle. It shattered upon impact on the ground, sending broken fragments of glass scattering everywhere. Elissa blinked down at it stupidly, before lifting her eyes back to his in confusion.

"What was that for…?" she demanded. "What're you… even doing here? We… we parted ways, we..." Speaking was difficult. She wondered if that was from the alcohol, or his gaze on her, or both. Despite the darkness, she could make out his eyes all too clearly. Piercing and fathomless, ensnaring her in their onyx spun-web. She couldn't tear her gaze from his and was disturbed by how fast her pulse was hurtling within her in response to being the sole focus of that enigmatic stare once more.

"Is this the meaning you have assigned to your life?" he spoke quietly, softly, his words begging deep contemplation.

Elissa blinked up at him again, her alcohol-compromised mind taking longer than normal to process his words.

"Oh…" she exhaled, leaning her head back against the wall, as a smirk danced upon her lips. His eyes trailed slowly over her face, dipping briefly lower, to her neck - before slipping back up to meet hers. "I get it. You've come here... to lecture me, too. Just like Slayte and Levi." She giggled again, and then abruptly stopped. Regarding him with contempt, she went on, "Who do you think you are... just showing up like this?"

He did not respond.

She squinted at him. "Why are you... staring at me like that?"

When he simply continued to gaze at her in smothering silence, his eyes unwavering and steady, she scowled. "Stop it. Stop looking at me that way… like you're judging me. Who do you think you are?" She gestured vaguely. "God or something?"

"..." He did not say a word. Anger burned white hot, scorching through Elissa's chest. She hated the way her heart was racing. She hated that even in her inebriated state, she could not deny his beauty, his majesty, how he seemed to be forged of all things dark and enchanting. This was the man who had pretended to care, only to cast her so heartlessly aside. Why was he there now? What did he mean by it, appearing again when he had made it all too transparently clear that they would never cross paths again, that she was nothing more than a pawn in whatever stupid investigation he was involved in?

Her fury was exacerbated by the alcohol in her blood-stream. It made her feel bolder in his presence. More reckless. If he thought she would just wilt at his unwelcome appearance, he was wrong.

Slowly she pushed away from the wall, and sauntered up to him. Her right foot in its high stiletto heel stumbled, and Itachi immediately reached out, fingers closing above her right upper arm, to steady her. Elissa exhaled at the memory of his touch and dared to step even closer, until the front of her body brushed against his. He radiated warmth. Enticement. Danger. Things that were forbidden and off-limits to her. Even despite her state of intoxication, Elissa could still smell him. Pine. Woodsmoke. Something comforting and familiar.

He did not move to replace distance between them, his sable eyes regarding her aloofly down the barrel of his nose behind the barrier afforded by his mask. He did not bend his head, and it appeared to Elissa that he was looking at her almost with pity.

She hated it. She hated _him._

"What's the matter...?" she turned her face up to him, pouting at his continued silence. She saw his gaze dart briefly onto her parted, kiss-swollen, crimson-stained lips, lingering for but a moment, before returning to her eyes. The fingers around her upper arm tightened ever so slightly. But Elissa did not notice. The exhilaration of being so close to him mixed with the recklessness running rampant in her blood. She wanted a reaction from him. Something. Anything at all.

"Don't you have anything else cryptic to say?" Pressed up close against him, she smirked up at him mockingly. "Go on. Speak in your riddles."

He blinked. Then his head did tilt down, marginally, his gaze boring into hers.

"Angelissa…" he murmured. Her heart leapt into her throat treacherously, and something twisted violently within the depths of her stomach as she forgot to breathe. How she both loathed and loved her name on his lips, falling like pure seduction, like the richest of silks, his voice a dark, sensual caress. She felt the warmth of his breath tickling against her upturned face, and suddenly she was overly aware of him, of how closely they were standing together in the dark alley. Her entire body was on edge and she felt a strange, humming static in the air between them.

"You seek what you have willingly cast aside." She blinked at him, his every word resonating through the haze of her mind despite how much she tried to shut him out, to not listen. Even as she willed herself not to, she found herself helplessly hanging on every word.

"Yourself," he finished quietly.

The smirk immediately vanished from her lips, all mirth dissolving away. She stared up at him in silence, searching his eyes with the desperate need to understand, suddenly dragged back into a somber sense of sullenness by the grave severity of his words. They pelted like slicing stones through the sluggish barriers of her mind, striking a chord deeply within her, leaving her feeling shaken - when the call of her name caused Itachi's hand to fall away from her abruptly. Immediately, foolishly, she found herself lamenting its absence.

She straightened and glanced to her right, to find Cain standing at the entrance of the alleyway. Her heart lodged itself in her throat. What would he think if he saw Itachi with her?

But he spoke as if nothing was amiss. "Elissa, darling, the cab's here." He walked toward her, holding out a hand. "Let's get you safely home."

She glanced back in front of her, stunned to find that Itachi had disappeared. Her eyes darted around the alleyway in confusion, wondering whether she had imagined his presence after all. But she could still feel the lingering touch of his warm, firm fingers on her upper arm, and a glance down at the floor revealed the broken pieces of glass from where he had allowed the bottle to shatter against the floor, denying her the opportunity to drink any further. No, she determined, he had definitely been there. His words rang with alarming clarity in her mind even despite her intoxicated state. Resounding. Upsetting.

Why had he appeared to her at all? She couldn't comprehend the reasons behind his actions. To make her feel judged, worthless? To make her feel even lower than she did already? To remind her how naive and foolish she was that she still listened to him?

She swallowed thickly. Tears blurred her vision and her heart thundered in her chest as she allowed Cain to support her weight and help her toward the cab. When they slipped inside, he held her hand but she did not feel it, her mind overcome with the image of the dark-haired enigma who had just left her feeling even more anguished, lost and tormented than ever before.

Maybe, she thought bitterly to herself, she ought not to have been surprised by his soundless disappearance at all. After all, wasn't that precisely the way he had always left her before?

* * *

Standing high above on the club's rooftop, he watched as the fair-haired mortal man wrapped his arm around Angelissa's shoulders, drawing her close to his side as he supported her weight. Behind the gilded black mask, Itachi's eyes narrowed with displeasure. It was the same youth he had spied lurking around Angelissa's private quarters on multiple occasions. The one who had danced with her under the moonlight. The one Slayte had warned him about. Was this young man the one responsible for inebriating the young woman to the point that she barely retained any ounce of sense in a mind that was usually anything but slow and dull-witted?

He watched her stumble down the road, her movements uncoordinated, sluggish, and recalled their brief encounter. He had determined never to meet with her in person again, but the nymph's call to him had been one of such mindless panic and desperation, it had compelled him to alight at her location. To see for himself, with his own eyes, what the cause of such distress was.

And he _had_ seen it. He had seen it in Angelissa, almost unrecognisable to his own eyes. Beautiful, as he knew her to be - and yet radiating fierceness, seduction, and wild-sensuality in a way he was unaccustomed to seeing. A way that was on display to everyone around her. In truth, her appearance had surprised him, even as his eyes had been unable to deny her loveliness, the curves of her hips haunting him with memories of the illusion he had seen in the Valley of Desire, and how those hips had felt beneath his roaming hands - as if they had been molded by the gods for him in the way they had fit so perfectly beneath his palms.

He knew what mortal men were like. Simple beings with basic urges. He had no doubt that Angelissa's alluring figure had been devoured by many eyes that night. With tousled chestnut hair, lips redder than the most crimson of the Underworld's roses, smokey lined, smouldering eyes and a dress that had clung enticingly, alluringly to her slender body, accentuating all her assets, he could not fault them for staring. He had seen it in the angry bite-marks that marred the smooth skin of her throat, as if some lover's teeth had sunk possessively into that tender flesh, claiming Angelissa for their own.

The mortal, Itachi's sharp mind ascertained, noting the way the man's arm wrapped around her waist so tightly. Unbidden, one corner of his lips curled upwards to form the faintest sneer of refined, detached disgust. He could already discern from the man's aura that he would never reach the Blessed Isles if he continued his life in such a way. He reeked of corruption, arrogance, self-indulgence and greed. And yet Angelissa accepted his company, seemed to even revel in his affections.

Slayte's words echoed in his mind. She had claimed this was his fault. The Fate Atropos had implied something similar. That Angelissa threw herself into danger, without her knowledge. Was this the danger to her? Or was she the danger to herself, as the nymph had informed him? He had granted Slayte powers to defend Angelissa from others. But how could she be protected from destroying herself, indeed?

Was he the one responsible for her descent? For the marked lack of control and discipline he had seen in her alcohol inebriated eyes? Was the distance he had placed between them truly the catalyst for her reckless actions?

As she slipped into the vehicle and disappeared from his sight, Itachi found himself recalling Atropos's words.

_Your mortal slip of a thing pines for you and throws herself to ruin in the process … It is doubtful she, herself, is aware of what she is doing._

He frowned, troubled by the turbulence of his thoughts. The Angelissa he had seen in the alleyway was unfamiliar to him. So wholly unlike the kind-hearted young woman he had spent countless hours listening to by the riverbank. And yet as unfamiliar as she had been in her mannerisms, his body had responded to her proximity all the same, recognising the familiarity of her soul, betraying him once more in its reaction to her. He had been drawn to her despite himself. When she had pressed herself so brazenly up against him, he had intended to push her back - only for his treacherous hand to tighten its hold on her arm, anchoring her in place as his pulse had quickened in a way so foreign to him, so displacing that the air had hitched in his lungs entirely.

It had become alarmingly evident to him at that moment that even despite their extended time apart, the senseless chemistry, the stifling, dangerous attraction between them remained unchanged. He had sincerely believed that distance would dull the flame. Extinguish it. Instead, he was disturbed to find that he had felt it more acutely, more intensely, aware of her in a way he had never been before.

It was the Valley, he knew, that had awakened such a realisation within him. Presenting him with a vision of cruel loveliness that he knew he could never lay claim to or possess. But this time, Angelissa had been no illusion. In place of the smiling beauty who had greeted him in the Valley of Desire, he had glimpsed an exhausted young woman plagued with unrest. He had seen pain reflected in her hazel eyes, the striking bright spectrum of gold, green and brown significantly dulled from intoxication - a pain that she had battled so hard to keep concealed from him, and yet he had seen it all too clearly. She was suffering. She had fallen into despair. She was lost.

When he had seen Angelissa last at her balcony with the very same man who had just driven off into the night with her, he had assumed her to be happy, content, moving forward with her mortal life as he had hoped for her to do. It appeared that she was anything but. She had been drinking to the point of wishing to do harm to her body, with the clear intent to dull her mind and to forget.

What was she trying to forget? Was it him? What had his actions, intended to spare her any further pain, inadvertently led to? Was he truly the root of all her distress? Was it possible that his rejection of her had hurt her so profoundly?

Why? Why would it? Why could she not forget him, the way he willed her to? Why was she not reacting to the distance he had placed between them the way he had intended and anticipated she would? Itachi was not one who was easily riled, and yet at that moment he felt frustration and discontent at the way matters were unfolding. The solution had been so simple. To part. To place distance. To allow Angelissa to live freely, unaffected by the influence of a world she ought not to have had any dealings with, until the moment of her death.

He had just watched her depart, clearly having taken leave from her better senses under the influence of alcohol, alone with a man. His eyes moved from inspecting the humans who lingered on the streets below with clinical detachment, up to the night sky, as a breeze stirred the strands of his dark hair across his face. Who was to tell what further debauchery would unfold between Angelissa and her companion that night? The very thought troubled him greatly, caused something unfamiliar to shift deeply within his chest and yet he reminded himself, he was Death. It was not his place to intervene with the affairs of the living, though the thought of what their intoxicated states might inevitably lead to left a bitter taste behind in his mouth. It was not of his concern, Itachi told himself resolutely. Angelissa was aware of the company she kept.

_You must keep her close. And when she is close, keep her even closer._

Despite this, Atropos's cautioning words still weighed heavily upon his chest. How could he keep her close, when there was no room for closeness between them? He was Death. She despised death. And yet, doubts about the course of action he had chosen to take, and the decisions he had made, trickled into his mind for the first time, leaving him feeling gravely troubled, unsettled by the possibility that the nymph may have been right in the concerns she had expressed about Angelissa's wellbeing, and that perhaps he may have miscalculated and underestimated the situation entirely.

After all, humans were not such predictable beings, after all.

* * *

The cab pulled up outside her apartment, and Elissa released a shaky breath. She felt sick, like her head was swimming. Her senses had dulled and yet through the haze anger burned through her like a raging inferno, leaving a bitter taste in her throat.

How dare Itachi show up after so long, after the cruel way he had admitted that she was nothing more to him than a means to an end, just to judge her? What did he mean by it? What business did he have in doing so? When they had already spoken their goodbyes? Had Slayte put him up to it? Was this the special 'Master and Servant' bond they had, where they were able to communicate about her? Her paranoia was soaring through the roof, and yet she scarcely acknowledged that she was thinking irrationally. Maybe Slayte and Itachi were still in regular contact. Another betrayal, given that Slayte had been so adamant about Elissa avoiding him to begin with.

Why? Why had he shown up? Why couldn't he, and Slayte, and Levi just leave her in peace? She didn't want to think anymore. It was too terrible. Why was she still able to feel pain, when she had consumed so much alcohol that night? Instead of feeling liberated from the drink, she felt queasy, uneasy, and loathed herself for reasons she could not fathom.

Cain supported her weight as they made their way up to her apartment. Elissa's hands fumbled with the keys, and he chuckled, helping her to unlock the front door. They entered inside, and he took her straight to her bedroom, keeping the lights off inside. Lowering her onto the bed, he said, "There we go. Home safe and sound."

He moved to the balcony doors, opening them slightly to allow some cool air to flow into the room. He saw that Vetty was sitting outside, raised an eyebrow at her as the cat regarded him intently, then abruptly drew the curtains, his haste to close them leaving a gap between the drapes that still afforded the feline a view inside. Moving back to Elissa, he removed her heels from her feet, but she suddenly sat up, unsteady, her eyes heavy-lidded in the darkness of the room.

She grabbed his hand as he rose to stand. "Don't go," she said thickly, her words a barely coherent slur.

Cain looked down at her. She was a mess, her hair dishevelled, her lipstick smeared from the kisses they'd shared throughout the course of the evening. And yet suddenly, she had never looked so desirable. When she pulled him down to sit beside her, he didn't resist.

"I don't… wanna be alone," she said tearfully, throat clogged with emotion.

"Alright, Elissa," he answered softly. "I'm here. I'll stay. Shhh." He reached out, pushing a lock of hair that had come undone from its pin, behind her ear. She leaned into his touch, closing her eyes, breathing shakily. Then her eyes opened, and locked onto his.

Something seemed to pass between them. Her gaze lowered to his lips, and she slowly leaned forward. Suddenly, they were only inches apart.

Elissa felt reckless. Angry. A surge of emotion flooded through her. She wanted to hurt someone. Even if it was just herself.

When she grabbed onto his face, almost angrily, and crashed her lips against his, Cain returned the kiss willingly, roughly, his blood immediately strewn alight from the taste and feel of her. He wanted Elissa. He always had. And she had initiated this, which told him she wanted him, too. Lifting a hand to her hair, he devoured her lips and pushed her back down onto the bed.

* * *

Beyond the glass, Vetty watched in dismay as Elissa's lips met the blond-haired man's. She released a low hiss of disapproval. It was apparent to her that Elissa was completely intoxicated, and yet she had been the one to kiss that cursed parasite _Cain_ first. Was she aware of what she was doing? Should Vetty intervene? Why did Elissa insist on spending so much time in the presence of a human who was clearly so decidedly beneath her in principles and values?

Vetty could not comprehend it, her feline eyes narrowing as she watched the scene inside the bedroom escalate rapidly. Their kisses grew more urgent and frantic. The man rose, tugging Elissa to her feet, and his hands began to roam far too intrusively upon her mortal familiar.

 _Foolish little Thanatos_ , Vetty thought begrudgingly to herself, deeply displeased. She had thought him so wise. But perhaps she had been mistaken, for he certainly seemed fool enough to allow such a jewel to slip out from between his royal fingers, into the clamouring clutches of the lowest of scum. Now what would happen? Elissa would lay with this human, and surely the consequences of that would bring even more disaster and turmoil into her life.

"Whatever are you doing out here, looking so miserable?" A smooth voice intoned teasingly.

Vetty glanced up to discover that the God of Sleep had effortlessly and silently appeared on the railing beside her. With a nimble, graceful leap, he alighted onto the balcony, and reached out to pet her head, scratching between her ears. She leaned into his touch and meowed unhappily.

"Well, Vetty? What has you so upset?"

Vetty released another dejected mewl and turned her dark eyes toward the glass doors. Shisui followed her gaze, and saw through the slight parting of the drapes on the other side that two bodies were moving within the shadows.

"What's this...?" He murmured and withdrew his hand from Vetty, stepping forward to take a closer look - only for his eyes, fully accustomed to darkness, to widen in disbelief at what they discerned.

Elissa was in the arms of a mortal man, and they were locked in a passionate embrace. His lips were devouring hers and his hands were tugging demandingly at her clothing. He had already succeeded in dragging the top of her dress away from her shoulders, exposing the lacy undergarment that concealed her breasts. They stumbled around, clearly not in full control of their senses. Shisui's eyes narrowed and disgust filled him. His keen gaze could already distinguish from their clumsy movements that they were both foolishly inebriated. What in the world was Elissa doing, allowing this man to take advantage of her in such a state?

What was she doing with any other man at all?

But he could see that Elissa was pulling at the mortal's shirt, too, as if it were a hindrance, as if desperate to rip it away from his body. Almost as if she were in a hurry to do so. They were stumbling back toward the bed. Shisui's eyes darted to it. In just a few more minutes, they would lose all clothing and pass a point of no return.

This wasn't at all like the responsible, level-headed young woman he had glimpsed and conversed with on several occasions. There was no way in any world, surface or otherwise, his cousin would have penned a poem to any woman that was less than a lady, to anyone so crass who disrespected her own body and willingly allowed others to do so, too. No. This wasn't the Elissa they knew. She had clearly taken leave of her senses entirely. The alcohol had to be influencing her and Shisui wagered that she would surely regret it in the morning.

 _If_ he stood back and allowed it to happen.

His eyes bled to crimson as they fixed onto the fair-haired man who was now turning his attention to the hem of Elissa's dress, bunching it up over her hips as they continued to kiss wildly in the dark.

Vetty released an angry hiss, bristling behind him, her eyes turning up to the God of Sleep. Shisui's lips drew back to form a faint sneer. He needed no further prompting.

 _'Oh no you don't...'_ he thought out, and lifted a finger, sending a powerful command that no glass or barrier could deny. He watched, in satisfaction, as the mortal man suddenly stiffened before slumping forward, landing face first on the bed, Elissa entangled beneath him. He heard her protest, before wriggling free, sitting up and staring down at him in bewildered confusion.

"C-Cain?" She spluttered.

He saw the frustration and exasperation on her face - and chuckled lightly, leaning casually back against the railings as he watched her run a hand through her disheveled tresses, clearly quite put out by the unexpected slumber her companion had fallen into. With a huff, she pulled up and rearranged her clothing to cover herself fully again.

 _'You will awake in an hour and you will not touch her. You will immediately take your leave and return to your dwelling place,'_ he telepathically commanded the snoring man. _'And you, little Elissa...'_ he thought out to Elissa, as he gently instilled sleep upon her. _'Will awake in the morn and be glad that you were saved from your own stupidity.'_

Elissa swayed, lay back down on the bed, and soon fell asleep.

Angling a glance down at the feline beside him, a smirking Shisui scratched her chin, eliciting a pleased purr, before he winked at Vetty, signalling a job well done. Then he addressed her, revealing the purpose of his visit.

' _It would seem that my aunt, the Lady Nyx, is missing one of her cats, Vetty.'_

Vetty tilted her head, and then lifted a paw, licking it nonchalantly.

Shisui stared at her a moment, taking it as confirmation that Vetty was indeed one of his aunt's familiars.

' _Why came you to the surface?'_ he questioned. ' _Was it of your own will - or at Nyx's bidding? I ask in earnest and in concern, Vetty. I fear this mortal will fall into further ruin than this, if we conceal truths any further.'_

Vetty merely purred in response. Shisui watched, troubled, as she padded toward the opening in the door, angled a glance back up at him, tail swishing, before entering inside, leaving him knowing little more than he had upon arrival.

* * *

**A/N: Reviews are gold, see you next update!**


	28. Part XXVII: Until Death

* * *

**Part XXVII: Until Death**

* * *

Nyx smoothed her black velvet skirts as she made her way down the torchlit marble hallway. Her servants had informed her that Cronus' meeting had come to an end, and that the Uchiha patriarch was alone in the meeting room. Her smooth, impassive face betrayed nothing of the fear and anxiety that plagued her. Ever since she had been discovered by Cronus on that one terrifying eve, the God of Chaos had ignored her entirely, never once seeking her out, or appearing suddenly to claim her body as he often used to do.

She swallowed with trepidation as she could not help but wonder if she had fallen out of favor with him entirely. Her heart flooded with terror at the mere prospect. If she had earned Cronus' unabating ire, then there was nothing at all that could hope to protect her husband and her sons.

It was through exposing herself to his chaos, by meeting his every desire, by making herself into little more than a living doll for him to do with as he wished, that she had sought to shield her family. Hoping against hope that he would turn the other way when it came to them, out of some sense of courtesy towards her. But if she had displeased him, then… she knew Cronus to be a god of quick and cruel vengeance. Kokytos had been proof enough of that. Not a soul could survive in the face of his wrath, deity or otherwise.

She came to a stop before tall, ebony double-doors intricately adorned with large, glowing amethysts. This was undoubtedly a more "official" meeting room than the one she had spied him in last. She straightened and threw her hair back over her shoulder with a toss of her proud head. She was Lady Nyx, Goddess of Night, and his equal.

She parted the dark, heavy doors and clung to her fleeting confidence as she caught sight of his proud, broad back where he stood facing the floor-to-ceiling stained glass windows. Her breath caught in her throat as her instinct screamed for her to escape, but she persevered and stepped forward.

"My Lord," she greeted demurely, curtsying low in reverence. "I beg an audience."

"Lady Nyx," Cronus returned, sarcasm dripping from his voice at her title, he turned slowly, angling his head over his shoulder to cast her a withering glance, "You need not have gone to the trouble."

"I beg your pardon, my Lord," she breathed, "Forgive your humble servant."

"Forgive?" The word sounded foreign on his tongue as he turned towards her fully now, his dark eyes glinting in the flickering torchlight as he regarded her down the bridge of his nose with a sneer. "Whatever for?"

She said nothing to this, her pale, onyx-ringed fingers trembling as she clutched more tightly at her skirts. "My Lord, I fear I have earned your displeasure." He narrowed his eyes at her and with an elegant gesture of his right hand the doors behind her flew shut with a resounding thud.

She held her gaze fixed resolutely at his feet, trying to banish the fear that set her trembling. She had spied on him. That amounted to treachery. Treason. Betrayal. He had slaughtered masses for less. She knew that. Her body knew it as well.

When she suddenly found him standing just before her, jolting her from her thoughts, she dared not lift her head. He took hold of her chin and lifted her face to meet his eyes. His touch was gentle. An illusion, she knew.

"Do you seek forgiveness for your treachery, woman?" he purred, his voice low and terrifying.

"I do, my Lord," she breathed in a hopeless whisper. There was no use denying it. His eyes could see right through her.

He regarded her contemplatively, his thumb traced a path up her jawline to her ear, where chandelier onyx earrings hung. "Should I…" he began, the lighthearted tone of his voice making the following words all the more bone-chilling, "... take off the ear that dared to spy on me?"

She gaped at him wide-eyed, would he truly make an example of her in such a way? By mutilating her?

"You appear surprised, Nyx. This ear is not your friend."

She dropped her gaze. It was a small loss, if it meant averting his wrath. "As- as you wish, my Lord."

A smirk spread across his features as he leaned in closer, bringing his lips to her ear. "Do you wish to know what we discuss in our meetings, Nyx?" He chuckled and the sound of it sent shivers down her spine.

"The death of Zeus."

Her eyes went wide with horror. Ousting the olympian ruler? Murdering him outright? It would plunge the Realms into chaos! The darkest chapter of existence since time itself came to be. But was it the truth? Or was he merely testing her loyalty? At the moment her racing pulse, her wide-eyed terror, every inch of her being was giving her away. She was Nyx, Goddess of Night, Queen of the Underworld. She closed her eyes and summoned command of her senses.

"I confess," she murmured quietly, causing him to draw back and meet her eyes with veiled curiosity. "I confess, my Lord, to listening in on your private conversations. Had I known the meeting concerned only the foolish olympians I would not have done so. I trust your judgment regarding the usurpers wholeheartedly, as you well know, my Lord." Her fathomless midnight eyes as she held his gaze revealed nothing of what lay concealed in her heart.

He waited, wordlessly and Nyx felt inherently, that this was her only chance to try and appease his anger. He was judge, jury, and executioner in one and if she had any chance in redeeming his favor it depended on the following words.

"I only wished to know if there was some deeper meaning to your orders regarding the Child of Prophecy."

He released a low breath, something akin to a sigh of frustration.

"My Lord, she is within our reach at last. I have waited centuries for this moment. You have commanded me to still my hand in a wisdom I fail to comprehend. That is all I wished to discover. I swear it, my Lord. On my life."

"And what is your life worth?" he spat, "If any words from your lips carry meaning then swear on your sons' lives, woman."

She faltered, but felt hope. If he was expressing his anger with her, instead of being cool and calculating. Surely, that was a beginning?

"I will do anything. Anything, my Lord, to redeem myself."

"Indeed, you shall." The words were spoken with a finality that was threat and verdict in one.

She struggled to calm the frantic beating of her heart, as he regarded her coolly, clearly deciding what to do with her. When he stepped forward, his broad chest merely inches from her nose, she could not help but look up helplessly, wondering what awaited her.

"On your knees, woman."

She sunk to her knees on command, realization dawning as she understood with dread what he wanted her to do. A thousand images flashed through her mind's eye. An infant Sasuke in her arms, Itachi just beside her, and Erebus at her shoulder, his protective shadow encompassing them all. The moonlight reflected on the glimmering waters of the pond. Moonfire-flies, an ivory bench. Warm kisses. Strong hands. Dancing in his embrace through the sunlit halls of Olympus, on one of their many festivals. She cursed Erebus for rekindling these long-forgotten memories. His protective shadow had proven to be nothing more than the shadow of a cloud - transient, fleeting. It would not be the first time she had used her mouth to pleasure the God of Chaos, nor would it be the last.

He angled his head to observe her, amusement marking his features as she slowly reached up to unfasten his trousers. Ah, she was always quick on the uptake. Ever eager to please. Just as he had thought her to be, ever since he first laid eyes on her as a young goddess.

Her hands fell to her sides as the doors were suddenly flung open. Panic flooded her veins and rushed to her head at having been discovered. She dared not look up at the intruder and hoped and prayed that Cronus would take pity on her and find some excuse to salvage her dignity.

"My Lord Cronus."

Dread sank through her as she recognized the voice that had spoken. She remained frozen in place, her head lowered. She knew that not rising to greet her husband was an oversight, but it served to further underline her loyalty to Cronus and, she hoped, to appease his wrath.

"Come in, Erebus. Your betrothed is merely here to seek forgiveness for that unfortunate incident. Although, I have assured her such subjugation is unnecessary."

Did Erebus believe that? Surely, he recognized that the distance between the two of them fell too short for that to be a likely tale. Still, Nyx waited for the command that would free her from her position. Only Cronus could undo his own order once uttered.

"Nyx," Erebus turned towards his wife, addressing her directly now. "Something is the matter with our son. The servants were unable to locate you. Sasuke has need of you."

"Sasuke?" Nyx jumped to her feet, all thought of pleasing Cronus flying from her mind as she rushed towards her husband. She grasped his forearms, her wide eyes searching his for explanation, "What is the matter with him?"

Erebus held onto her hand, and wrapped his arm around her shoulders in a comforting gesture. "It is best you see for yourself, my love."

Nyx nodded and hastened towards the door as Erebus turned to meet Cronus' eye over his shoulder. "Excuse us, my Lord. My wife will trouble you no further."

"Of course," Cronus nodded, waving his hand in a dismissive gesture. He narrowed his eyes at their retreating backs. Erebus had grown troublesome of late, and Cronus tired of his interference.

Nyx all but flew down the winding pathways of the palace, while Erebus followed close behind at a leisurely pace. The servants sprang to the side at the Queen's urgency.

When she finally spied Sasuke's personal chambers at the end of a long hallway, she quickened her steps, before flinging the door open with both hands. Her chest heaving with exertion and concern, she rushed inside, her eyes tearing across the room for her son. Erebus stepped in quietly after her, closing the door behind them, before crossing his arms and leaning against the closed door. Not finding Sasuke in his bed, Nyx turned helplessly in circles in the empty room before turning back to her husband in confusion.

"Where is Sasuke?"

Erebus drew away from the door and walked calmly towards his wife as he unfolded his arms, "On the surface, I believe."

"The surface? But…" Nyx's lips parted in disbelief as she realized what Erebus had done. Her stomach clenched in horror as she realized she had fled Cronus without so much as a parting glance. All her efforts at reconciliation had been thrown aside for this, a bold falsehood.

"Do you  _ dare?"  _ she seethed, approaching Erebus now. What did he know? About her struggles and her sacrifice? He was always away on missions and assignments. He had no clue about what she had had to do to protect this family. He had no right, none whatsoever, to stir up old feelings and weaken her resolve. "Do you dare speak an outright falsehood to Lord Cronus?"

"You have made quite clear, Nyx, how little loyalty to the Uchiha Lord concerns you. Pray, what, then, disturbs you?" His eyes were alit with a spark she could not recognize. Challenging, teasing, coaxing. She could not guess what he hoped to achieve and wasn't sure which way to tread to distance herself from him and what direction would only lead her further into his lures.

"I was in meeting with our Lord. You called me away by uttering falsehoods to Cronus. Do you believe that will go unpunished?" She straightened in indignance and met his eye, fire for fire.

"Would that grieve you?" he asked, stepping closer still until they were merely inches apart. Reaching for her hand, he added, "To see me punished?"

A nameless emotion constricted her chest and she turned her flushed countenance aside, "Don't be a fool."

Erebus held her hand up to his eyes, observed the elegant, ringed fingers of her pale, thin hand and stroked a gentle thumb over her knuckles. "I spoke no falsehood to the Lord, Nyx. I lied only to you."

Nyx blinked at him then, recalling that he had entered the meeting chamber and, after a perfunctory greeting to Cronus, turned to address her directly, a rude dismissal of the Uchiha hierarchy. At least now she knew, from whom their youngest had inherited his blunt manner.

"Do not tempt our Lord's wrath, Erebus," she hissed urgently. "Only a fool toys with fire."

"Yes," he agreed quietly, "and still greater fools would deign to make their homes in it."

He raised an eyebrow at her and his fathomless onyx eyes suggested a deeper meaning that caused the breath to arrest in her lungs. Her eyes flitted from her own hand to his unreadable expression, the open question in his dark, flashing eyes.

"Erebus…" she breathed, at a loss for words.

"It is best you not involve yourself in affairs that are beyond your scope. I can not always come to your rescue, however much I may desire it. You are queen of the underworld," he stepped even closer, snaking his arm around her waist and drawing her close to him until her chest was pressed flush against his, until she was sure he could feel her heart hammering wildly in her chest. "And you are fated to rule. But for now, stay here, stay quiet, and let me carve a path for you."

Her mind spun, trying to make sense of his words. She had always thought him to be ignorant of her affairs but being once more confronted with the now indisputable evidence to the contrary, she asked herself with terror, just  _ how much  _ he knew.

"Sometimes," he spoke in a low whisper, and his warm breath fanning against her lips was warm, familiar, and inviting. When was the last time he had kissed her? She found herself wondering. Was it that night by the moonflower pond? It seemed so long ago now. "Sometimes," he repeated, "the wisest course of action, is to wait."

She blinked up at him, confused both by his words and by her own reaction to his proximity. A warm yearning, an aching longing filled her body with a sensation she could not name. She wanted to scream at him, to hurt him, to pound on his chest until her strength left her at the same time that she wanted him to hold her close and never let go. What on earth was the name of this feeling? It could not be desire. It was nothing like the feeling Cronus awakened in her.

"My Lord Erebus!" the sound of knocking at the door jolted her from her thoughts. "Your presence is urgently required. Visitors from Olympus have appeared at the Styx!"

Erebus' gaze slid away from her to the door, and she took the moment to calm her racing heart. Turning back towards her, he lifted her hand to his lips and brushed a feather-light kiss against her knuckles, his eyes never leaving hers.

The skin of her hand tingled where he had kissed her and she stared at it in wonder.

"I must take my leave of you, my Queen. Until tonight."

She nodded mutely, and watched his broad, retreating back exit through the door to eager servants hastily informing him of the developments. Erebus was a wise and fair ruler, she knew. The Underworld ran well under his care.

She drew her eyes away from the empty doorway back to her hand. Her entire body was flushed with warmth. What was the meaning of this? It could not be attraction. It could not be love. That, she had determined ages ago, was what she felt with Cronus. She knew those feelings well. The chills he gave her. The way he made her shiver from head to toe. The way he stole her sleep, even lying beside him, eyes open throughout the night. The senseless, heady rush of lust. The dizziness, the lightheadedness. She knew all of that well.

So what then, was this feeling? Warm and foolish. An illusion of safety. A painful yearning. A desire to protect and be protected. She felt tears stinging her eyes. Erebus was her husband. But she would never truly have him. For she was a woman lost, and robbed of worth. She was not so foolish as to deceive herself about the truth of her affairs. Erebus was the king of the underworld. He was the father of Thanatos and Hades. The God of Darkness.

And she was Cronus' whore.

* * *

The feel of wetness against her cheek summoned Elissa from the comforting arms of slumber. Groggily she opened her eyes, her blurry gaze slowly coming to focus on a familiar feline face hovering over her.

"Vetty…?" She croaked, blinking in confusion. A throbbing pain immediately assaulted her head, followed by an overpowering wave of nausea. Wincing, she squeezed her eyes shut again, feeling like death, as though she had been run over by a heavy-duty truck. Her stomach was churning, and her throat was parched. Her chapped lips were desperate for the cooling kiss of water.

Vetty mewled in concern, licking the back of Elissa's hand to will her owner to rise. With painstaking slowness, Elissa shifted, lifting herself into a half sitting position on her elbows. The room spun violently around her, and she pressed a palm to her aching skull, groaning.

"Ugh. I feel like crap," she mumbled - only for her eyes to fly open as the events of the previous night came rushing back to her.

The nightclub. Cain's hands on her hips. His rough, demanding kisses. Levi. Her fight with Slayte. The black-out at the venue. An alleyway. Dark eyes. A bottle shattering upon the concrete ground.

Itachi.

She sucked in a sharp breath and sat upright, fighting against the way her vision swam, looking dazedly around her as she struggled to fill in the blanks. Hadn't... Cain returned her home? Hadn't they come upstairs together? She vaguely recalled it. Yes. He  _ had _ taken her up to her apartment. They'd kissed. Fumbled in the dark. She remembered stumbling around with him, his hands dragging down the straps of her dress.

She glanced down at her outfit, a tight knot of dread twisting unpleasantly in the pits of her stomach. The satin material was crumpled and had shifted awkwardly out of position, resting far too high up her thighs. She could feel that her undergarments were still very much intact and then remembered that Cain had abruptly passed out. A strong wave of relief washed over her.  _ Thank God. _ She hadn't ended up doing anything stupid with him the night before. She knew that she would have regretted it, and had evidently been saved from her own recklessness by a sheer stroke of luck.

He was nowhere to be seen. Elissa assumed that meant that he had to have left after she too fell asleep from alcohol intoxication. It struck her as somewhat odd, however, that he hadn't even left a note of any kind, or even bothered to at least cover her with the duvet before he'd departed.

She dragged herself up to her feet, almost tripping on the discarded heels at her feet.

"Ugh…" she kicked them clumsily aside and moved to the mirror, squinting in dismay at her reflection as she pushed her wild, dishevelled locks of hair out of her face. She looked like an absolute mess. Her makeup was smeared, her eyes blackened from smudged eyeliner, and she cringed as she touched the angry love-bites on her neck. She knew that she'd drunk way too much the previous evening and allowed some questionable things to happen to her in her drunken haze.

She recalled being pulled into Cain's lap. Laughter. A woman speaking to her. Syringes. Elissa swallowed, looking down at her arms as a burst of panic spiked through her. The smooth skin was thankfully unblemished. She hadn't done anything - had she? Apprehension filled her. It was one thing to get drunk. To dabble in unknown narcotics was entirely another. How could Cain have drawn her so irresponsibly into such an environment when she'd been far too under the influence to think straight and express her disagreement? What would have happened if she'd been injected?

' _ Is this the meaning you have assigned to your life?' _

She clutched at her head, as words drifted through her mind. Haunting. Piercing. Somehow crystal clear in her memory, even when she didn't want them to be. She blinked at her reflection, troubled, as she remembered her brief encounter with Itachi in the dark alley. He had shown up again after months, seemingly out of nowhere. Was she certain she had seen him at all? Maybe she had imagined it? But no. That wasn't right. She'd felt his fingers pry hers loose from the bottle she'd been holding. Hadn't she?

' _ You seek what you have willingly cast aside. Yourself.' _

"Shut up," she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut again as she turned away from her reflection, unable to look at the image of the broken girl on the other side of the glass anymore. She stumbled to the kitchen, and drank water straight out the tap in her haste to quench her thirst. Then she felt nausea swirl in her stomach and dashed to the bathroom to throw up the contents of her empty stomach.

Leaning miserably over the rim of the toilet, Elissa pushed her hair dejectedly out of her face, wiping at her eyes tearfully. Vetty padded to the bathroom door, and sat beside it, observing her silently.

This was it, wasn't it? Rock bottom? The lowest of all lows in adulthood? When one sat bent over the toilet, in the grips of a savage hangover, unable to comprehend why they had made the choices they had the previous night? Elissa had never felt so low; the highs of the previous night had completely worn off, sending her crashing into a spiral of utter misery. She had never let herself go like this before, and it suddenly occurred to her that perhaps she was anything  _ but _ fine.

"Vetty…" Elissa confided to her cat shakily. "What the hell am I doing? I don't know what's happening to me."

Vetty's tail swished back and forth, her keen eyes not moving from the dejected figure of her familiar.

"Everything is just… it's falling apart and I- I don't know why. I just can't get it togeth-" Elissa broke off, as another, stronger wave of sickness washed over her, leaving her skin prickling and cold. She slapped a hand over her mouth and clenched her teeth as she swallowed the rising nausea down. "Slayte stabbed me in the back." Her eyes welled with fresh, angry tears. "She lied to me about everything. I just wanted her to leave me alone, but she and Levi followed me last night. Then there's Cain. Oh, Vetty." She sucked in a deep breath. "He makes me forget. He makes me feel wanted. I know it's crazy. I know I've never done any of these things before, but I just- I don't want to feel like  _ this. _ This low. The moment I slow down, I remember. I don't want to think… about any of it… about…" she swallowed, taking in a slow, trembling breath as she closed her eyes once more. " _ Him… _ " she finished in a hopeless whisper, dark, heavy-lashed eyes ghosting through her mind, leaving her feeling restless and haunted. "He was there. Why was he there…?"

Vetty blinked at her quietly.

Elissa rested her forehead tiredly against her arm. "What am I doing, Vetty…?" she muttered again to herself, feeling hopeless, lost, despondent as the alcohol high was filtered from her bloodstream.

The ringing tone of her mobile drew Elissa's attention away from her falling tears. She dragged herself back up to her feet and walked gingerly, unsteadily over to her bedroom. Fumbling for her clutch-bag, she opened it, drawing out her phone as she fell onto her back on the bed once more.

It was 11:23AM on a Saturday morning. She winced at the bright glare of the phone screen, her temples throbbing, and immediately dimmed the brightness.

The missed call was from Cain.

Elissa swallowed. She definitely wasn't ready to talk to him yet. Not when she felt so awful. Not when she hadn't even washed away the filth of the previous night from her flesh. Frowning with pain, she typed him a quick, brief message.  _ Hey. Hungover. Talk later.  _ Then she tossed her phone aside. She grazed her fingertips over the tender bite-marks on her throat. Why did they make her feel queasy? She liked Cain, didn't she? Wasn't that the reason why she had permitted him to take her first kiss? To leave his marks on her skin?

' _ That jerk stole your first kiss?! He doesn't deserve-' _

Elissa closed her eyes, lifting her hands to her eyes as she shoved the sudden recollection of Slayte's judgemental words out of her head. She remembered far too much of the previous night for someone who had supposedly passed out from alcohol and she hated that she did.

Her phone rang again. She sighed and picked it back up, to see her elder brother Gabriel's name and smiling face on the screen.

Fresh tears blurred her vision. Gabe. How she missed him, and this was one phone-call she wanted to take. But her head hurt too much. First she determined that she would force some food down her stomach, clean herself up - and then he'd be the first one she called back.

Three hours later, Elissa had showered and managed to eat peanut butter on toast, with an accompanying glass of cold milk. She called her brother and spoke to him for almost fifty minutes, and was just putting out some tuna flakes for Vetty, when her phone rang again.

Grabbing it, Elissa saw that it was Cain again. She sighed, finished placing the food for her cat into the bowl and put it down on the kitchen floor for her pet to enjoy, then finally answered his call.

"Finally!" he exclaimed. "I was starting to worry that you'd passed out again."

"Hey," Elissa said, jabbing the loud-speaker button on her phone as she moved to the sink to wash up the dishes she'd earlier neglected.

"I got your text. How are you feeling now, darling?"

The nausea still lingered, but was more manageable. Elissa's head still hurt, but the ache was subsiding now that she had eaten, hydrated and taken some painkillers. At least the room was no longer spinning wildly, and she didn't feel like she was about to throw up at any second.

"A little better," she admitted.

"You'll get used to it," he assured her. "We had such a great night, didn't we? It was wild."

It had been wild. Perhaps a bit  _ too  _ wild for her tastes. Elissa frowned as she scrubbed at a particularly stubborn stain on the base of a pan.

"I don't want to get used to feeling like crap," she answered. "I drank way too much last night. We both did. That's why we both passed out. And when I woke up, you'd already left."

"I can't remember how or when I did, honestly," Cain mused. "I woke up back home. It was all a blur." He then laughed. "The sign of a good time, right? I really enjoyed yesterday. Didn't you?"

Had she? Letting her hair down admittedly had felt good. Dancing with Cain had felt good. Acting her age, being carefree for a short time had been wonderful. The way he had looked at her and wanted her had been flattering. The liberating feeling of the initial high of alcohol warming her blood-stream and how desired she had felt had been intoxicating. But everything else? Her encounter with Slayte? Itachi outside the club? Waking up feeling like the walking dead?

"I liked the dancing," she answered vaguely.

"And... the kissing?" he teased.

Elissa was silent. She recalled it hadn't felt like how she had expected it to. But she couldn't very well tell Cain that, could she? She hesitated despite herself. Did Cain now expect them to kiss again? What were they to each other now? Had last night changed their status? Were they together? Were they still just friends? Were they going casual? She didn't know what they were, and she wasn't so sure she wanted to define it.

"Uh…" she began awkwardly. "Sure. It was… nice."

"Nice?" He echoed. "Oh, come on, Elissa," he snickered. "You have to give me a little more than that."

"It  _ was _ nice," she repeated, as if trying to convince herself that she  _ had _ enjoyed it, even if it hadn't been as magical or mind-blowing as she had anticipated her first kiss would be. "But forget that for now. I have a serious bone to pick with you about last night."

"Oh? What's that?" Cain drawled.

"You do drugs?" Elissa scowled. "You tried to inject me, too? When I was half out of it?"

"Oh, that," he said, in such dismissive tones that Elissa felt a flare of irritation and stopped scrubbing at the pan. "It was just a bit of fun, darling."

Elissa turned off the tap and glared at the phone. "It's not just a bit of 'fun', Cain," she censured. "Those are narcotics. What were you even taking?"

"Just some heroin, cocaine…"

"What?!" Elissa exclaimed furiously, horrified to hear that they had been illegal Class A drugs.

"Relax, darling. You were only getting a small dose. It's not like I was going to put you in any dange-"

"You're a doctor!" she yelled at the phone. "I've never taken any narcotics before! How do you know how I might have reacted? That's so… so irresponsible, Cain! I've not once expressed any interest in taking drugs!"

"You haven't expressed any interest in  _ not,  _ either _.  _ Don't be so boring, Elissa. Nothing ended up happening anyway-"

"Shut up!" she snapped at him. "Don't call me boring just because I respect what I put into my body!"

"You mean like all the alcohol?" he chuckled. "There's no difference between the two - they're both drugs in the system."

"They're  _ not _ the same! Drugs are…" Elissa fumbled for words. "Drugs are dangerous! Those drugs are illegal! That's not my scene! And anyway, you can control how much alcohol you drink, but drugs - what if I was allergic to any of the ingredients? How are you even controlling what's in those syringes? Drugs are full of so many impurities - that's how people wind up dead taking them!"

"Elissa," he attempted to interject. But she was ranting on.

"God, Cain! That wasn't okay! I wasn't even asked if I wanted to take them, you put that on me while I was completely out of it!"

She heard him snort. "You still could've refused. Nobody was holding you down."

"I was out of it." She argued. "You caught me by surprise!"

"It's not a big deal."

"Yes, it IS," she insisted, upset and angered that he didn't seem to be realising the seriousness of the situation. How could he be so blasé about it? Was this how he regularly spent his Friday nights? Getting stoned like so many other young professionals Elissa deliberately chose not to hang out with for the very reasons she'd ended up being exposed to the previous night?

"So straight-laced," he sighed. "Maybe your friends are right to babysit you, if you freak out over syringes so much."

Elissa gaped at the phone, appalled. "Excuse me?" she demanded, bristling indignantly. "What the hell, Cain?"

"I just wanted to show you a good time," he said nonchalantly. "It was a small shot. It would've made you high - nothing more."

"You jerk! You're not getting it!" Elissa cried back. "I don't want any shots of any narcotics.  _ Ever. _ I didn't feel safe! I went there with you, I trusted you to keep me safe, and what you almost allowed to happen was not okay! It's nothing like spraying graffiti or having a few drinks. You made that call for me, allowed me to be in the middle of it - how the hell does that make you any different to Slayte and Levi and everyone else making decisions for me without consulting me?!"

"Elissa," he sounded affronted. "The last thing I would ever want to do is make decisions for you."

"Well last night you  _ did _ . Never put me in that situation again. I won't take crap like that from anyone, or have anyone dictating what I do.  _ You _ included." She warned him. "That was a dick move, Cain!"

He was silent for a long moment. Then he said, "You're right. You are. I'm sorry, darling. You seemed like you were up for it, but I was probably too drunk myself to realise it was the alcohol which lowered your inhibitions. I didn't think it would upset you this much and I won't let it happen again. You have my word. Forgive me?"

Elissa glowered at the phone unhappily. "Whatever," she shook her head. "I just can't believe you'd put me in danger like that. If it wasn't for that blackout-"

"I'm sorry," he repeated. "Truly, Elissa. It was reckless of me. All of my friends were admiring you and I got carried away, and that was selfish of me. However can I make it up to you?"

Elissa returned to scrubbing her pan, too angry to respond. She swallowed back a sudden wave of nausea that washed over her, followed by an odd chill that caused her to involuntarily shiver. Her head suddenly throbbed, as if the remnants of the hangover had returned with a vengeance. Great. Just what she needed.

"Elissa. Please," he tried again sincerely, when she frostily offered no response. "I deeply apologise. Now that I know narcotics are off-limits to you, I'll be more careful from now on. I'll respect that, darling. Unless you ever want to give it another shot, I won't bring it up again."

"You better not," she retorted sullenly.

He sighed. "I've upset you. Please let me make it up to you tonight. Dinner on me, how about it?"

"I'm still hungover," Elissa shook her head, wincing. "I don't think that's a good idea. My head still hurts."

"No wine tonight for you." Cain replied. "Just good food and dessert that'll make you feel better. How about it? Let me take you out?"

Elissa hesitated despite herself, considering his offer. He had apologised, and seemed sincere in his regret. So long as they were on the same page, then she supposed she could forgive him for his recklessness. After all, he had been drunk, too, and she believed she'd made it perfectly clear that she wouldn't tolerate the same mistake again.

Still, she wasn't too eager to go out, and she  _ was _ still annoyed at him.

"Maybe tomorrow," she replied. "I'd rather have a quiet night in with a takeaway."

"Then let me bring you something," Cain offered smoothly. "What are you feeling? Chinese? Italian? Mexican?"

Elissa shook her head. "No- Cain. Not tonight, alright? Maybe tomorrow after I've shaken this hangover off completely. Maybe."

There was a pause on the other side of the line. Finally, Cain answered, "As you wish, darling."

* * *

Levi blinked up at the ceiling of his bedroom, silent as the grave. The only light intruding was that of the stars glimmering unfeelingly in the distance on this moonless night. He remained unmoving, as he had been the past few hours, ever since Slayte had slipped quietly out of their bed, stealing away down the stairs, likely wanting to be alone with her turbulent thoughts. Levi respected that. He could acknowledge her need for distance. For a moment to herself.

She had cast one last look back over her shoulder before disappearing through the doorway. Her movements had been careful, noiseless, and she had no way of knowing that he had awoken the moment she had pulled away from his embrace. That his grey eyes had followed her every movement. That he had rolled onto his back with a sigh, staring at the ceiling as he listened to the wall clock tick off the hours that he waited for her to be done with her musings and return to him.

With a muttered curse, he kicked off the sheets that had wound around his legs over the course of the night, and made his way to the bathroom. Slayte was not coming back and she had taken his sleep with her. He frowned at his reflection before pulling open the medicine cabinet and reaching for his toothbrush. He hesitated as his eye fell on a yellow plastic tube of medication. His sleeping pills.

There was a time he could not so much as close his eyes without them. Now, he could not quite remember the last time he had taken them. Was there a drug more potent than Slayte's warm body, more effective than her earthy, hypnotic scent when he nuzzled into the crook of her neck? And even on the nights when sleep escaped him, watching the steady rise and fall of her chest, the peaceful expression on her face as she slumbered… seeing the way she snuggled closer to him as a subconscious reflex when he tucked her hair behind her ear, or ran a fingertip along the bridge of her nose - that wasn't so bad either, was it?

And yet, whatever went on in that brain of hers that seemed to exist purely for show, had been consistently dragging her away from him. He plucked his toothbrush out of the cabinet and shut the mirrored door decisively. She'd had time enough to think over whatever it was. Likely Elissa and her ridiculous habits of late, clinging to that shitty quack of a doctor, as well as the events of the previous night.

As Levi brushed his teeth, his eyes darkened contemplatively, recalling Slayte's furious expression as she watched Cain's friends surround Elissa. The way her eyes had seemed to darken eerily, and then - before he could make sense of what he was seeing - the lights had burst, plunging the club into darkness. Could it be… that  _ Slayte  _ had somehow caused that blackout? It sounded ridiculous, and yet… something was off about her, he knew that much. He remembered how she had sat here on this very counter, her thick, nearly-black blood staining his hands, the way her wounds had closed in on themselves… was it really such a stretch to think she had somehow caused the blackout the night previous?

His lips pressed into a thin line, his eyes narrowing at the counter. She had been terrified, desperate to hide her state from his eyes that day. No, he would not be asking her about the blackout. At the end of the day, it did not matter if she had caused it or not. Just like it didn't matter who or what she really was. What was in their pasts, what words the world chose to define them carried no weight. All that mattered was that she was there. And that he was there for her.

He switched off the bathroom lights and made his way down the stairs into the darkened tea shop. His dark grey eyes sought her out and locked onto the silhouette of her turned back where she sat at one of the tables, her eyes fixed on a distant point beyond the window, where the night sky was slowly brightening, a herald of the approaching sun that had yet to show its face.

It did not surprise him to discover that she had been sitting for hours in the dark. He had always known her to feel more comfortable under the cover of darkness. He narrowed his eyes at the back of her head, as if that would afford him the ability to penetrate her skull and peer into her frustrating mind. He stalked towards her, coming to a stop just behind her chair.

He stood there, observing her quietly, knowing a greeting was superfluous. She was as aware of his presence as he always was of hers.

"Do you think," she spoke softly, as if the very sound of her voice could break some invisible magic in the room, "If I stay very, very still, all of this will pass me by?"

For someone who had scarcely slept, she sure talked as if she was dreaming.

"It must be nice," she mused, "Not to feel anything. Not to fear anything. Not to be anything. Somewhere far away, far removed from everything."

"Is that what you want?" he found himself asking.

"Sometimes," she admitted quietly. "But it wouldn't help. Wherever I am, I can't stop knowing what I know. And those I answer to will never let me disappear. Life doesn't get easier, no matter where you are. I mean, I know that, logically."

A part of him wanted to ask her if she truly meant that, if she would be ready and willing to leave him behind, but he said nothing. He knew better than to make this about himself.

Slayte frowned as she watched the trees outside gain color and form as a grayish blue light crept into the tea shop. A sure sign that the sun would soon be rising. She wished she was just one of the many shadows that would disappear under the sun's rays. She was tired.

Tired of fighting with all her being, every waking moment. Whether it was protecting Elissa or Levi, or trying to somehow get through to Thanatos, had she ever done more than a mediocre job at any of it? What was she even doing, here on the surface? What had she been doing in the underworld? No matter where she went, she was equally useless everywhere.

_ Stay the fuck out of my life… Don't ever talk to me again… _

She flinched as the words echoed in her mind yet again and then sighed as she realized she had broken the imagined spell with her movement. Her gaze dropped to her lap. Had she hoped the coming dawn would have somehow spirited her away? She was out of her mind.

The break in her relationship with Elissa was now a gaping chasm that no words, no love, no memories could bridge. Her friend was so far removed from her, she could spend the rest of her achingly long life reaching out, but never catch hold of her. Why was Elissa so furious with her? What had she truly done so wrong? She was under orders, that much she had made clear, but Elissa refused to understand. Rather, she did not  _ want _ to understand because her anger towards Thanatos ran that deep. She needed Slayte to be a scapegoat. That was the method she had found to cope.

"To be Elissa, huh?" she smiled bitterly, "Not knowing a thing, not living in terror, being protected by everyone. Guess that must be nice. To be protected."

Absentmindedly, she reached out and rubbed at her shoulder, a nervous habit she had picked up ever since that dark day at the beach. A subconscious movement that did not register in her mind but did not escape Levi's watchful gaze.

"If I screw up and die, I'll only be replaced." Slayte lifted her eyes back to the window, watching the autumn leaves float gracefully to the ground. "My master will likely be irritated at my incompetence, indignant even, that I've somehow escaped punishment with my death, before finding someone more capable. Elissa will… well, I'm still alive and she's already replaced me, and you…" she trailed off.

"Go on," he answered her coldly, "I'd like to hear the end of that. How the hell am I supposed to replace you?"

She turned to him then, and lifted dark eyes to his, as if just remembering that he was there. He had listened quietly to her monologue but his grey eyes were flashing with suppressed anger now at her suggestion.

"Well, you could finally be rid of all this stress," she waved a hand in dismissal, "Find someone like you. Someone normal."

"What part of me looks normal to you?" he retorted, crossing his arms with a raised brow.

She bit her lip, and dropped her gaze. She had been unable to say  _ someone human. _ "See, this is why I don't think of myself," she confessed with a weak laugh. "It turns ugly."

He watched the defeated hunch of her shoulders. She was sifting through dumb thoughts but at least she was thinking of herself, considering her own feelings. He still preferred that over her suicidal selflessness.

"Maybe I like you ugly."

She blinked up at him, not sure what to make of that statement, but the muted sympathy in his cool grey eyes made her feel awkward and she turned away.

"Just," she amended, "I don't think I've actually made anything better, leaving home. I'm protecting Elissa, but only barely, and at what cost? This just keeps going from bad to worse…"

She sighed, "and I'm tired. I didn't ask for any of this either. I didn't ask for this assignment, or all this secrecy, I didn't even ask to be born into this world that has no place for me. Wherever I go, I'm… I just make everything worse. I'm a stain on every picture I'm in, I just wish I could rub it off. Have the image be whole and perfect again."

"Oi," his smooth voice cut into her thoughts, recognizing the shitty turn they were taking. "Elissa is just a kid. She's only twenty-two, everyone goes through a phase at that age. I'm sure you had a rebellious phase, too."

"I guess," she shrugged, "You could say I'm still having one."

A thought occurred to her and she turned tormented brown irises to him, "Is she coming back after? Is that what people do, come back to their senses?" As much as she hoped for that to hold true for Elissa, it was the last thing she wanted for herself.

"You gain a better understanding of who you are, is what happens. Elissa won't stay with that asshole forever. She isn't that dumb." He cast her a look, "The way I understood it, you're supposed to protect Elissa from being attacked, not from forgetting how her brain works, am I right?"

Slayte nodded quietly.

"From now on, we're backing off. You need to let her do dumb shit so that she stops doing dumb shit. Narcotics are bad, but nothing she can't recover from when she comes back around. Let her decide how far down the rabbit hole she's going to go."

She hesitated, Levi was right, of course, but something was nagging at her mind. Something that made her feel that Elissa's odd behavior was somehow  _ linked  _ to the threat that shadowed her.

"Have you had breakfast?" Levi asked, interrupting her thoughts.

Slayte glanced at the window again, seeing that dawn had taken hold of the world, "Is it that time already?"

Levi only scoffed at her obliviousness before turning into the kitchen. Slayte watched him go with a frown. He was right. He always was. So, why was she unconvinced? Something about Cain, about the way he interfered with Elissa's life made her terribly uneasy. Was it how obviously he manipulated her friend and sought to isolate her? Was it the arrogant way he looked at herself down the bridge of his nose? It was a look that she knew all too well. It was just the way the underworld dwellers had always looked at her. Like she was repugnant - filthy. Perhaps, that was simply because he truly did look down on her as Elissa's guardian but… something made her skin crawl. Something in the pit of her stomach screamed at her not to leave Elissa alone with him.

She followed Levi into the kitchen where she found him cracking eggs into a bowl.

"Can we get a background check on Cain?"

He raised an eyebrow at her as he whisked the eggs. "If you think Elissa is mad at you now, what do you think she's going to say if you get a background check on her boyfriend?"

"You heard her, didn't you?" She shot back, crossing her arms as she leaned against the counter beside him, "We're not friends anymore. I'm done holding back."

Levi glanced at her before returning his attention to the omelette he was making. Getting a background check on Cain would require calling in yet another favor and he had yet to pay back the first one. There would be no avoiding  _ him  _ anymore if he chose to do so. On the other hand…

"I can't put my finger on it, but I can't shake the feeling that Cain isn't who he says he is," Slayte clarified, "The way he manipulates her, the way he provokes us, the way he looks at me… something about all of it is just… it feels wrong. I can't explain it. If you tell me you don't get that feeling from him, that he's just a regular doctor who won't cause Elissa any harm, then I'll trust your judgment. But if you agree with me…" she trailed off, lifting inquisitive, dark eyes to his, leaving her suggestion open.

Levi did not immediately answer. Did he believe the shitty quack was legit? There was definitely something about the blond that disturbed him. He was too invested in Elissa to only be in it for short-term, physical gratification. A man with a career and friends who seemed to spend every shitty second he could find on the unassuming brunette. Men like him, as popular as he clearly was with women, just didn't put that much effort into their conquests. At the same time, he didn't care enough about Elissa's wellbeing to suggest genuine affection, either. He allowed Elissa to get in trouble with the police, let his friends pressure her into drug abuse. Men didn't engage in that sort of behavior with women they actually cared for. So, what was it? What was Cain hoping to gain from Elissa? Even if he didn't admit it to Slayte, not knowing what shit-for-brain's true intentions were, made him uneasy.

Levi glanced at the wall clock as he poured the egg mixture into the searing hot pan. 5:30 AM. He dumped the bowl in the sink and pulled his phone out of a kitchen drawer. He frowned, weighing his options, before pulling up one of his contacts and hitting the "Call" button.

Slayte watched, amazed, as he angled his head to hold the phone to his ear with his shoulder as he eased the edges of the omelette from the pan with a spatula. She had half-expected him to leave the room to make the call and she held her breath for fear he would remember she was there and make an exit.

" _ Levi." _ The voice that spoke on the other end was deep and masculine. Slayte was sure she had never heard it before.

"Erwin," Levi responded easily, "Figured you'd be awake."

" _ And you," _ Erwin agreed, " _ Did you sleep at all?" _

"Some," Levi dismissed, "I need a favor."

" _ Getting right to business, I see you haven't changed." _ Slayte thought she detected amusement in the speaker's voice. " _ And what can I expect in return for this favor?" _

Levi frowned, before answering evenly, "Forget it. I'll ask the other side."

He pulled the phone away, but Erwin called out, " _ Wait." _

Levi paused, returning the receiver to his ear as he turned away from the stove. Slayte pulled dishes out of the cabinet, listening intently all the while. His earlier words about having busy friends he had no desire to see came to mind. Perhaps he had spoken the truth, after all?

" _ We can discuss my compensation at a later date. What's the favor?" _

Levi glanced at Slayte, who was setting the table quietly. "There's a man named Cain Lockwood working at Canterbury hospital. I need every shred of information you can find on him."

" _ A doctor?" _ Erwin voiced his surprise.

"A shitty quack," Levi shot back, "I wouldn't give a swine I ran over on the street into his care, even if it was already dead."

" _ I… see." _

Slayte fought back a smile at Levi's statement as she took hold of the spatula and lifted the edges of the omelette. Seeing that it had browned nicely, she pulled out dishes for plating. Levi tapped Slayte's shoulder, indicating for her to step aside, and resumed his place at the stove, to divide the omelette evenly onto the two plates.

"So, what's it going to be?" he asked into the phone.

" _ I will have the results delivered to you within 36 hours," _ Erwin assured him confidently. " _ And will contact you at a later time to collect my compensation." _

"That's fine," Levi agreed, as Slayte carried the plates over. "What about you? Holding up alright?"

" _ That's kind of you to ask, Levi. I'm as well as can be expected, given the circumstances. I would be doing considerably better if you -" _

"Right. Bye." Levi dismissed, hanging up without waiting for a response. He tucked the phone into his pocket and joined Slayte at the table.

"Thirty six hours," he nodded at her.

She met his eye and nodded in return. "Thank you."

* * *

Monday morning. The most hated day of the working week. Elissa felt dread weigh her bones down like lead as she entered her office. Another week of misery lay ahead. A few of her colleagues cast her nods and she plastered a polite smile onto her face, greeting them in turn as she headed toward her cubicle - only for her stomach to lurch when she found her manager standing there, looking impatiently at his watch.

Walter Waterford wasn't a pleasant man. He was tall, heavily built, with a beer belly and thick black hair streaked with grey. His squinting eyes peered at her behind smart glasses. As usual, he was wearing his default, perpetual scowl, displeased with everyone and everything in the world.

"Miss Caelum," he tapped his foot, his grey suit clearly freshly pressed and his shoes polished to perfection. "What time do you call this?"

Elissa glanced at the clock on her wall in confusion. It was eight-twenty six. She began at eight-thirty. What could possibly be the reason for his displeasure when the working day hadn't even yet started for her?

"It's 08:26," she replied, following with a perfunctory, "Good morning, Mr. Waterford."

"I asked you to be in at 07:45AM sharp for a briefing with the interns."

Elissa blinked at him in genuine confusion. She stepped around him and moved to her diary on her desk which she'd opened onto the next Monday's page before she'd left on Friday. There was no mention of any briefing.

"I don't understand," she began in bewilderment.

"I sent the email to you last night," he frowned at her. "Really, Miss Caelum."

Elissa turned to face him again. "Mr. Waterford, it was the weekend," she said, trying to keep the irritation from manifesting on her face. She wasn't paid anywhere near enough to check her emails in her precious free time. "I didn't check my emails."

"Then you're once again unreliable," he lectured. "Tardiness, sloppy proof-reading… how many more times do you expect me to let such poor performances slide?"

Elissa blinked at him, stunned. "I'm sorry?"

"Your last article had mistakes in it, again! If Ian hadn't noticed them, we'd have published them wrong and been the laughing stock of the neighbourhood amongst our competitors!" Her manager berated her.

Elissa's eyes darted to Ian's booth, across from hers. He gave her a mildly apologetic look and mouthed 'sorry', lifting his shoulders in a shrug. She stared at him in disbelief for a minute, before turning confused eyes back to her manager.

"I don't understand what I've done wrong," she attempted to reason calmly. "I used the statistics given to me by the source itself."

"Without checking the source?" Walter admonished. "The first rule of proof-reading! Surely even  _ you  _ know that, Angelissa?!"

The use of her full name struck a nerve, causing her to tense. Nobody called her that. Nobody. Except-

"Don't call me that," she snapped automatically, unthinkingly.

Her boss blinked at her. "I beg your pardon?" he demanded.

Elissa swallowed, inwardly chastising herself for the reflexive slip of her tongue. "I- sorry. It's Elissa," she attempted to placate him. "I don't like to be called that-"

"I'll call you whatever I want to call you!" He glared. "Your full name, by your surname -  _ incompetent _ which is clearly what you are. You've been sloppy and careless and I've allowed you chances enough, young lady!"

Elissa felt her face burn. He was admonishing her within earshot of the entire office, and she had never felt so humiliated. Her hands clenched into fists as she scrambled to save her face before the quiet audience around them.

"I checked the source, Mr. Waterford," she tried to defend herself. "Multiple times. I even consulted  _ Ian  _ first. So if there are any mistakes left in the finished report, then it's as much his fault as it is mine."

"Wrong. It was  _ your _ article. Ian checks them as a courtesy because he is senior to you in position. This isn't the only mistake you've made lately! You're not a very promotable hire, are you, being so careless in your work?"

Elissa's eyes prickled with angry tears. "I'm sorry the statistics turned out to be inaccurate, but after checking with the source  _ and _ my superiors, I had no reason not to use them."

"Clearly you didn't do your research half as well as you believe, as this shambolic article demonstrates. It's  _ your _ job to make sure there are no inaccuracies left in the final print!" He retorted. "If you can't do that acceptably and to the standard required, then perhaps you're more suited to a lesser role elsewhere."

"But Mr. Waterford, I really didn't-" she once again attempted to reason.

He jabbed a finger in her direction. "Don't think you can get by  _ here _ on your pretty looks alone, that isn't the sort of environment I promote - or reward, for that matter! If you put in as much effort into your work as you did in coordinating your attire, Miss Caelum, perhaps some progress could be made!"

"Wha-!" Elissa gaped at him in disbelief, aghast, thoroughly offended. A glance behind him showed, to her horror, that all her colleagues were listening intently to the relentless tirade, whilst trying to look busy. One of the older women Elissa knew for a fact disliked her, was smirking as she typed away at her keyboard. Adam was the only one who made eye-contact with her, and he seemed visibly upset.

"Mr. Waterford, Sir," he called. "I have a report I'd like to show you-"

Elissa knew what he was trying to do. Distract their manager and put an end to the cruel public spectacle he was making of her.

"Later!" Walter barked. "You. Into my office, now," he clicked his fingers at Elissa and marched toward his room.

Elissa didn't lower her bag. Keeping it slung on her shoulder, she followed after him, fuming internally at the unjust way he had chosen to humiliate her in front of everyone else in the office. Tears stung at her eyes but she told herself she would not cry. Not over someone so  _ ugly,  _ so ungrateful. She poured her heart and soul into every stupid article she proof-read, changing it from a mediocre piece of writing to something of a high standard, and he had the nerve to accuse  _ her _ of being sloppy? Had he forgotten just how much good feedback the firm had received as a result of all her hard work?

Stepping into his office, she watched as he took a seat behind his sleek mahogany desk, coming to a stop before it. He roughly threw a pile of papers onto the table top and nodded at them.

"Take a look for yourself. A collection of all the errors you've made over the course of the past 3 months."

Elissa stared at him, shocked. He had collected evidence of mistakes in her work, gathered them together with the intent to make her feel inept? She saw things circled in red, and marvelled at how much free time he had to have, to have filtered through pages and pages of content with the sole aim of making her look like a failure.

Had she really lapsed in the quality of her work? Elissa was suddenly unsure. She had been very distracted at work lately, but to the point of slacking? That just wasn't like her at all. She lifted one of the pages, skimming over the content in confusion - only to realise with a start that it was not her work.

"This isn't mine," she frowned.

"Of course it is," Walter dismissed.

"It isn't," Elissa insisted. "I don't make basic spelling errors like that."

"Clearly you do," he quipped back, narrowing his eyes at her. "And frankly I'm tired of it."

"Mr. Waterford," Elissa wrestled to remain calm and polite. "I don't know why you pick on me in particular, but I'm a first class honours graduate with a degree in English, and I assure you, I know how to spell these words. This hasn't even been checked!"

"Even worse," he responded curtly. "You no longer even read the assignments given to you."

Elissa grit her teeth. Her anger was simmering at the endless tirade of his baseless accusations. "I wasn't given this assignment!" she cried.

"It's been in your tray for over a month. I assumed it would be finished by now."

"But I didn't get it," she protested, swallowing thickly when she saw the dubious, irritated expression on his face.

"I suppose you'll tell me the article went for a walk around the office." He chided patronisingly. "I've been in this business long enough to know when someone isn't pulling their weight, and that's exactly what you've been doing, Miss Caelum. Amateur mistakes. Articles unread. Incorrect statistics sent out for print. What do I pay you for?! To make a joke of my company in the eyes of the media?"

Elissa was silent. It became apparent to her that no matter what she said, her demon of a boss wouldn't believe her. She allowed the sheets to fall back onto the desk before him. She'd sustained months of snide remarks and curt jibes from him. Even when she presented a sterling piece of work, he was gruff and reluctant to acknowledge it at all.

What was she doing? Why was she putting up with such ill treatment? Why did he pick on her and two other colleagues in particular? He hadn't been the one to hire her. Was that the problem? Had he hated their old boss so much that he couldn't stand to keep on any of her last hires?

"Consider this your last verbal warning before you're fired," he sniffed. "I need competent staff willing to put in extra hours and whatever it takes to produce quality content. Not distracted little air-headed girls who take more pride in their appearance and in posting to their social media accounts than in the authenticity of their work."

Something inside Elissa snapped. Months of accumulated frustrations boiled over, churning in the centre of her chest and poured upward through her throat, coming to rest on the tip of her tongue where they deployed themselves as words she knew she could not take back. And suddenly, she didn't care. She wouldn't stand to be humiliated and spoken about in such a disparaging, unfair, sexist manner.

"Do you enjoy it?" she asked softly.

"Excuse me?" he blinked at her in distaste, as if she were a particularly repulsive nuisance who was infringing unnecessarily on his time.

"Do you enjoy treating people with feelings in such a belittling way?" Elissa's heart pounded, the realisation that it was her  _ boss,  _ the man who paid her monthly salary, the wages she lived on, that she was talking back to, but the words were pouring from her lips regardless. Her entire body felt tightly coiled, like a spring ready to snap, and strangely charged from what she assumed was the adrenaline coursing through her veins.

"Does it make you feel better, talking down to people who pour everything they have into their work, knowing they're too scared to answer you back for fear you might fire them? Does it make you feel powerful, Walter?" she spat out his name, her eyes ablaze with anger.

"I beg your pardon, Miss Caelum?" His face reddened, clearly stunned that she was standing up for herself. "You might want to hold that tongue of yours if-"

"If what?" Elissa's hands closed into fists. "If I want to keep my job? The same job you've spent months and months giving me grief over? I've completed every single article you've handed to me. I've stayed behind to make sure everything is done on time, with no paid overtime, and I haven't once complained. And I'm telling you, that isn't my work." She gestured at the papers. "Maybe my work is what's gone walkabouts from  _ your _ desk. You've had it in for me from day one and are just looking for reasons to fire me from my position so you can put the secretary we all see you making eyes at in my place!"

His eyes widened and he flushed a deeper shade of scarlet. "Angelissa Caelum!" he roared. "How dare you?!"

"I'm an easy target, right?" Elissa demanded, ignoring his escalating fury. "The youngest in the office? The least experienced? And yet one of the most qualified, and instead of recognising my potential, you disparage and patronise me. You hate it if any of your clients praise me and immediately shoot me down as just the 'assistant'."

He sputtered, outraged, glancing back at his office door which he had chosen to leave slightly open, knowing that his team outside could likely hear what was being said. "I will not be spoken to in such a disrespectful manner!"

"And neither will I," Elissa answered, her voice steadily rising, knowing she was being reckless and impulsive - but she didn't care. She was done being a victim - in any part of her life. "I've had it with you talking down to me. I've had it with you insulting every little thing I do, slandering me in front of the whole office, affording me no respect in front of any of my colleagues. Sending me on errands your secretary should be running for you!"

Her anger was growing by the second, rolling off her body in electrically-charged waves. "Do you think anyone out there  _ likes _ you, Mr. Waterford? They have no respect for you. The only reason they pretend to is because they have families to feed! You're arrogant and rude and have no people skills whatsoever and I am done being your scapegoat, done with you embarrassing me at meetings. All your horrible remarks. Your inability to praise anyone but yourself! You're just a bully!"

Walter leapt to his feet. "Now you listen here-" he broke off, alarmed, noticing that smoke was starting to exit from the cooling vents of his computer. He jabbed at it, trying to keep an eye on Elissa, who was continuing on with furious finality.

"Even if I follow every single instruction you give me, you'll still find something to complain about. So keep your stupid job! I'd rather have no job at all than allow you to humiliate me any more!" She yanked on the staff ID badge lanyard around her neck and tossed it at his table. "Get someone less qualified to read all your print! I'm done being unappreciated and insulted!"

With that, she turned on her heel and stormed out the office. Heading to her cubicle, she grabbed the only few belongings she cared to take with her - a wool cardigan on the back of her chair, two mugs she'd brought in, one from home and another a gift from Adam and three other colleagues she got on with, a pair of flat shoes, the photo-frame of her family, some toiletry items, a spare phone charger and the food she'd stashed in the side drawers of her desk, depositing them all into a carrier bag she'd neatly stored away in the bottom drawer. Taking a last look around at the office she wouldn't miss, Elissa turned away and marched out the building, catching a worried Adam's eye as she exited.

Behind her, she had the satisfaction of hearing her monster of a boss yell that his computer was on fire before she stepped through the revolving doors and walked out to the car park for the final time.

When Elissa finally arrived home and slammed the door shut behind her, the realisation of what she had just done came crashing down on her. The short-lived sense of triumph was replaced by a crippling anxiety.

"I quit my job." She whispered, collapsing on the ground by her bed. "Oh my God. I quit my job."

Vetty padded up to her, looking into her face curiously. She meowed, nuzzling Elissa's arm in affection, but Elissa scarcely saw her, overcome with a smothering sense of dread.

How was she going to pay her rent now? How was she going to live? Pay-day was only three more days away, which meant she was guaranteed payment for that month. But what about the next one? She couldn't be independent without money. How could she tell her parents that she'd not lost her job, but chosen to quit it without finding another first? She could already imagine their reactions. Sending her handouts that would make her feel like a guilty child again, or worse, demanding she gave up the flat and returned home to save money until she found another job.

The tears she had been holding back all morning fell freely, spilling down her cheeks. How was she going to make ends meet on her own? Maybe she ought not to have responded. Maybe she ought to have just kept her mouth shut, like all the other times when Mr. Waterford had yelled at her or told her off about something, anything, just to pick on her and make her feel like she was worthless. Had she made a mistake? She just hadn't wanted to be disrespected and belittled anymore. Treated like some naive fool. She was so tired of it.

Her phone rang. Elissa glanced at it, to see that it was Cain. She broke into a sob, and tossed the phone away, not wishing to speak to him, and drew her knees up to her chest, weeping over how once again, her entire life seemed to be falling to pieces.

* * *

Night on the surface was a magnificent sight, a canvas of gloriously scattered constellations that twinkled enchantingly in the dark sky. Itachi sat upon a large boulder by the cavern-like entrance to the Underworld, gazing up at the cloudless heavens above. He had always enjoyed watching the stars, their silent tranquility resonating, somehow, within his soul. There was wonder to be found, knowing that the world they had chosen to inhabit and sustain life upon was just one small fragment suspended in the mystery of the infinite cosmos beyond. Even the gods were awed by that - at least those of them who were humbled by the ancestors who had breathed life into the earth before their conception.

He rested his head back against the rockface behind him, his eyes picking out the many celestial formations his mother had taught him to find from a young age. There was Andromeda, The Chained Princess. His gaze fell to another, identifying Pegasus, The Winged Horse. Delphinus, The Dolphin, was in close proximity to it. How many nights just like this one, when his thoughts had been troubled with the burden of his function, had he turned his eyes pensively skyward?

Would that they had been centred around his role then. Instead his mind was diverted along routes he wished not to pursue, but snaked through his consciousness regardless. Itachi had always believed himself to possess sound judgement, to be a deity who refrained from all manner of folly, irrationality, impulsiveness and ill-judgement. He was always one so absolutely in control of his thoughts, his emotions, his actions and all consequences that arose from them. He exercised an iron-will, his self-discipline unrivaled amongst deities his age - and many far older.

Why, then, did thoughts of her still linger? The mortal woman he had come to know by the river's edge? Why could he not discard her from his memory? It was folly. It was irrational. It was borne from senseless impulse, disorder in his mind, not the familiar stillness of a sound iron-will. It was ill-judgement, to allow her to pass through his mind so often when he had already settled to banish her from it. It was ill-judged to remember how she had looked up at him when they had last met, not three nights past. Crimson lips. Tainted skin. Heavy-lidded eyes. First alarm, then scorn, then confusion, and finally pain mirrored in those expressive hazel irises.

He deeply inhaled the crisp autumn night air, closing his eyes briefly, willing all haunting thoughts of Angelissa to depart from his mind, willing himself instead to think of his next course of action in the ongoing investigation into Kokytos's death.

"Let it flower, in the field, sage is the heart's command," a familiar voice lightly recited in the Ancient Hallas tongue. "Quell your nature, this desire, to hold it in your hand."

Itachi's breath stilled and his closed eyes flew open, tension immediately coiling like a tightly wound spring within his body. He was not one to be caught by surprise or unawares under any circumstance - and yet there was only one individual capable of doing such to him. Turning his head, he found Shisui sitting on the boulder across from him on the other side of the mouth of the Underworld, one long leg drawn up to his chest as admired the stars above them, a blade of grass caught between his lips.

"A bittersweet couplet. You always were quite the poet, even in childhood. That is one area I will readily concede defeat to you in, cousin."

Itachi said nothing, even as his mind raced to connect the dots. If Shisui knew of the short poem he had penned in Angelissa's notebook, then that had to mean he had seen the page. Had he gone to speak with her? How and when had he come about it? Dragging his stunned eyes away from his cousin, Itachi directed them back skyward. It did not matter, he reassured himself, that Shisui was aware of the rhyme. It was meaningless now. Something he had chosen to pen in an uncharacteristic moment of fanciful whim. Angelissa could not understand the words scribed in the ancient, native tongue . Not unless the characters had been translated for her.

Had they been…? Itachi dared not think they had.

"Fear not," Shisui said reassuringly, seemingly reading his kin's thoughts. "She is none the wiser of the words penned. Indeed, the page containing them is no longer within her possession at all."

Itachi released a slow, inaudible breath, feeling a strange sense of relief trickle through him.

Shisui's head turned slightly to his left to angle a thoughtful look at his cousin. "I came about it when I called upon the nymph. She expressed her concerns on your decision to retain your distance on the surface given the matter at hand is not yet resolved. It is admittedly a valid concern I also happen to share."

There was a short pause as Itachi processed this information. How had the page ended up with the nymph? Why did she hold it, and why had she chosen to show it to Shisui? Such matters were neither of their concerns, surely.

"There is no cause for concern," he supplied at length. "The situation is being monitored."

"You have restored your sentry, then?" Shisui questioned.

Itachi tilted his head slightly to signal affirmation, and his cousin nodded.

"That is good, and wise. We do not yet know what we are dealing with, and as well-suited to the role of guard as Slayte is, she is understandably also anxious." There was another brief pause, before Shisui ventured, "You know I keep no secrets from you, Itachi. I visited the nymph Slayte wishing to gain a deeper insight into the situation and developments, so as to monitor them better in your absence. But she is not the only one I called upon."

Itachi was silent, immediately understanding the implications of his words. He waited for Shisui to elaborate further.

"I have been to see Elissa, and she is understandably quite distressed by everything that has transpired around her. I saw the shadow markings on her back. She must have been gravely injured, indeed, for you to resort to using the dark arts to heal her. I confess I had no idea that so much had occurred over the time I spent away from matters, and wish that you had shared it with me. Why did you not?"

Itachi did not reply, prompting Shisui to release a light sigh.

"I suppose I am partly to blame for this unfortunate state of affairs. After all, it was under my counsel that we worked to earn her trust. I did not intend, however, for such pain to afflict her."

Itachi said nothing to this.

Shisui turned his eyes back up to the stars pensively. "Mortals… are not so fond of the unknown. They seek logic and reason to explain situations, as is their nature. Elissa has seen a great deal. She spoke of your Sharingan, of things that her mind cannot place meaning to. You are wise, Itachi, far beyond your years and rare it is that I have ever questioned your judgement. But I question it now." He turned his gaze back onto his silent kin. Itachi sat as still as a statue carved of marble, staring intently ahead at the forest surrounding the hidden entrance to the Underworld.

"What reason have you to withhold the truth from her? She desires clarity, nothing more. Given the state of affairs-"

"She is a mortal." Itachi interrupted him curtly. "Our paths should not at all have crossed before death."

"That may be so, but events have meant that your paths  _ have  _ crossed, and now she has seen too much, has she not? You know more than anyone by virtue of your role that mortal lives are not to be toyed with. That each existence is precious. She happened upon a feline who is one of my aunt's familiars and who chose, against all reason and rule, to forge a blood contract with a human. Elissa's closest friend is an Underworld nymph. She is marked now with shadows by your own hand. Indeed she is tangled in all things relating to our realm. Has she not the right to know?"

Again, his cousin was silent. Finally, he supplied, "It would bode not well. She is to return to her mortal existence."

"And how can we expect her to do such a thing? Humans are not so autonomous with emotions that spiral beyond their control. You expect her to forget the meetings, to move on with her life. Indeed she appears to be, for all intents and purposes - but I fear, not for the better." Shisui frowned behind his mask. "Just last night I paid a visit to Vetty, to find her in quite the deplorable, inebriated state. In the company of a fair-haired mortal, no less, who was about to prey on her virtue."

He noted the slight shift in his cousin's posture that belied the tension in his body. It was telling, to one who knew him so well.

"I sent them both to sleep, to spare her feelings and to deny his. But it was apparent to me that she is not herself, Itachi. Your actions, though well intended, I fear have caused more harm than good. She will not forget what has befallen her, and with the risk of further attacks, continuing to withhold information she has the right to know will be detrimental to her well-being. Elissa does not even know she is being targeted. If she were enlightened, would she not be better prepared to be caught less unawares?"

"Enough," Itachi murmured, his patience on the matter rapidly splintering. Angelissa already weighed heavily enough on his thoughts without Shisui trying to talk him out of a decision he had already cemented in stone. For the greater good, he reminded himself. Angelissa could not possibly accept their world. She, who cursed and feared death and the afterlife more than any other mortal he had happened upon. When the very hint of death set her at such unease. How could Shisui expect him to reveal the truth to her? To tell her the true identity of the ones who had been watching over her, almost from the moment they had met? To speak to her of a realm that she ought not to know about - until death? How could Shisui expect him to cause her even further distress?

And even if she  _ did,  _ by some unexpected miracle, believe what she was told, and accepted it - what then? Was it not a gross interference on his part, beyond the scopes of his function, to infringe further upon her life? To drag her further into the darkness and shadows of his world? It was a lightless place. It was no place for a living mortal. She would despise it, for all humans craved the sunlight, the breeze, the trees and the grass and the sand and the earth. And Angelissa thrived in all those things.

Death had no role to play in any mortal's life, until it came to its time's end. His view on that remained unchanged.

"Are you protecting her?" Shisui then said quietly, gravely. "Or yourself, cousin?"

Itachi closed his eyes briefly, wrestling to remain patient. This was his dearest kin, he reminded himself, even as he grappled with the tumultuous storm of his inner emotions.

"You would not have written such a poem in a thousand millenia were it not meant from the heart. You would not shut me out as you have were you not trying to escape from something in your mind. I suspect you fear that she will turn from you. That she will shun our realm and all that we are." Itachi opened his eyes to find Shisui had risen and was now standing beside him. "But what if the opposite is true? What if she can accept it? What if an explanation is all she needs, Itachi? Would you cast aside a chance at knowing, by deciding what you believe is best for her? By making assumptions? Clearly it is not the best, for her to be acting in a manner so reckless. Humans are not as predictable as we think."

"Shisui," Itachi began steadily, meaning to silence him on the matter once and for all - but Shisui was continuing adamantly on.

"Let us propose a little wager. A deal, of sorts. You tell Elissa the truth. If she accepts it - then all is well. And if she does not, if the news is more than she can bear, then I will erase all memories of you and I and every supernatural calamity that has befallen her since the day Vetty came into her life. We will speak no more of it." He paused, and laid a hand on Itachi's shoulder. "What say you to that, cousin?"

Erase her memories? Was that not cruelly toying with her mind? Itachi did not know why the thought of it made him feel so uneasy. Surely though, it was a fair and logical solution? If Angelissa forgot all about them - then her emotional strife would come to an end, at least, would it not? Her conflict with Slayte, her distress and suffering due to his own actions. She would be restored to the girl she had been before they had met, ignorant as a human should be of Underworld matters and the unknown.

Until the next attack upon her life. What then? They had to resolve the matter, once and for all. That was the priority. And it also did not solve the issue of Vetty's contract with the girl.

"I am able to write any reality I see fit," Shisui reminded him, as if reading his inner misgivings directly. "So that even if she were to see anything beyond the ordinary, she would immediately forget it. The memory loss can be temporary or permanent, as I will it. You have my word that I will do this, and relieve her suffering if it is too much for her to bear - but only if you first attempt to convey to her the truth in earnest. Is she not deserving of even that chance…? Perhaps she is deserving of so much more. After all, that poem was penned to her by the most remarkable person I know."

Squeezing his cousin's shoulder affectionately, Shisui then stepped away and entered the mouth of the Underworld, leaving a troubled Itachi to ponder on his words behind him.

* * *

Levi sat at the service counter of the empty tea shop. They were closing in just a few minutes and had managed to avoid any last-minute customers so far. It had been a surprisingly quiet Monday afternoon, but Levi did not mind. Business had been booming for the most part, lately. They could afford a few quiet days. Maybe people didn't feel like treating themselves on a Monday in the middle of the month. It didn't matter. They would make up for it on Saturday.

He skimmed over the headlines of the newspaper as he brought the teacup to his lips. Taking a sip, he savored the flavor of the earl grey tea that Slayte had made him. She tended to let it steep a little longer than was ideal, but he had grown fond of the taste.

"I see you haven't changed your strange way of drinking," a feminine voice chirped.

Levi lifted cloudy-grey eyes to the open front door over the brim of his teacup. There stood a familiar young girl. No, she was clearly a young woman now. Her unruly red hair had been tamed somewhat but still hung in loose pigtails over her shoulders. She had grown taller, he supposed, since he had seen her last. Her round face had tapered down a bit, but still looked as childish as ever to him. She stood in the doorway in dark-brown leather Doc Martens and a long, beige Burberry trench coat. A far cry from the rags she used to wear.

"What are you, a detective?" he scoffed, turning back to his newspaper.

She broke into a grin and rushed forward. "How can you tell?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. So, the cliché trench coat had been intentional. "Call it a hunch."

Levi replaced his teacup on the counter. "What are you doing here?"

"Is that how you greet an old friend, big bro?" she complained with a pout. "You can at least say hello."

Levi glanced toward the staircase. Slayte had gone upstairs to do some dusting, since they weren't busy, but she would doubtless return shortly to help him close up shop. He had seen her glare off more than one friendly young woman for advances real or imagined. He had no doubt as to how Slayte would see the situation and had no inclination to deal with a jealous Slayte at the moment. Not to mention the fact that he would just as soon not have her involved with anyone from his past at all.

"I'll be sure to say goodbye properly, Isabel. I'll ask you again. Why are you here?"

"Tch," she frowned at him, reaching into her cross-body leather satchel. "Always such a meanie."

She waved a manila envelope in front of him, "I thought you wanted this."

The results of the background check.

"You could have sent it by mail, that's what I gave you lot the address for," Levi monotoned, his grey eyes expressionless as he set down the newspaper.

"Well, I was in the area and thought I'd drop by. None of us has seen you in ages," she continued petulantly.

He held out his hand expectantly, "If I wanted to see you, I'd call."

"But you never do!" she lamented, placing the envelope in his hand.

"That's because I didn't want to see you," he answered offhandedly, his attention on the envelope as he flipped it over in his hands.

Isabel gaped at the unfeeling response, and Levi continued, "Thanks for this, anyway. You working for the big man now, I take it?"

She crossed her arms over her chest with an indignant huff, "Of course! Did you think I'd always stay in the same place?" Unable to feign anger with him, she relaxed and leaned over the counter. "You know, you could have really made a name for yourself if you would have just joined us."

He raised expressionless, lidded grey eyes towards her. "You mean like Farlan?"

She sucked in a breath and the hurt that flashed across her bright green eyes was unmistakable.

"I'm just fine with the name I have, thanks but no thanks," Levi dismissed, turning back to the envelope.

"Blunt as ever," Isabel frowned as she turned to cross her arms and lean her back against the counter. Her eyes scanned the tea shop as Levi undid the fastener on the back of the envelope. "You're no fun," she complained, before adding, "Where's your girl?"

Levi froze. "Girl?"

Isabel indicated towards the shoes lined neatly under the wardrobe, "Heels by the door," she scoffed, "I don't think they're yours." She pointed towards the coat hanging on the hook and continued, "Also, that may be a leather jacket but it's still women's wear, right?"

She glanced over her shoulder at him for confirmation and Levi frowned, the envelope in his hands all but forgotten. "Keep your mouth shut about it."

"Oh, you know me," Isabel grinned, mischief sparking in her eyes, "I'll spread the word."

"Oi," Levi countered, a warning in his tone, "I'm serious."

"Why?" she rolled her eyes, "Some people would be ecstatic to know."

"There's no point getting her mixed up in all of this," Levi determined, pulling the file out of the envelope.

Isabel watched her old friend - his guarded posture, his defensive language. Who was this strange girl that had wormed her way into his life where he didn't allow anyone, not even his oldest friends? Levi had always been her big bro, and she had never been one to deny him for no reason, always hoping to earn his praise. "Fair enough," she relented finally, "But what's in it for me if I keep your secret?"

Levi flipped open the file without so much as looking at her, "In exchange, I'll give you the wise advice of getting out of here before she sees you."

Isabel laughed at that, "Why? She the jealous type?"

"You have no idea."

"Good," Isabel grinned, "Would be disappointing if she loved you in a half-assed sort of way."

"She doesn't do anything by halves, that's for sure," Levi muttered, flipping a page.

The sound of approaching footsteps reached their ears and Levi lifted his head to glance at the staircase. Isabel followed his gaze. Was he seriously concerned about his girlfriend's jealousy? It was cute, but also… annoying.

He turned back towards Isabel with a frown, "Now get lost, will you?"

She couldn't quite explain what came over her. Was it that her tough-as-nails, cold mentor and friend seemed to be afraid of his girlfriend? Was it that he had clearly prioritized this new girl over herself and his past? Was it that she had not received a proper greeting or a proper goodbye? Was it that he had clearly moved on with his life without them? A perfect opportunity to get back at him had presented itself and she wouldn't be Isabel if she didn't take it.

"Oi," Levi warned, seeing her mischievous grin.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs and came to a halt just as Isabel leaned over the counter and pressed her lips to Levi's cheek in a noisy kiss. He turned his head to glare at her, and she smirked in return, whispering, "You can't forbid me  _ everything,  _ big bro."

She spun away from the counter, "It was nice seeing you, Levi." She smiled at the woman on the stairs. She wasn't as pretty as Isabel had thought she might be. For her bro, she had expected something of a blonde bombshell, stunning and sensual from head to toe. What she found instead was a tall, raven-haired young woman, with arrogant, elegant features, willowy in build, with dark brown eyes that flashed dangerously like coal. Oh, yes, Isabel thought, she was definitely the jealous type.

"Bye, miss, nice to meet you!" she waved cheerfully at Levi's girlfriend and marched confidently right back out the front door, letting it swing shut, pleased with herself at the bomb she was sure she had set off behind her. Served him right for being so cold. Served him right for moving on.

Slayte stood at the last step, tugging out the handkerchief she had bound around her hair while dusting, her eyes fixed unseeingly on the front door. What had she just seen? Who was that girl? The image of her hand on Levi's forearm, her lips pressed to his face burned in her eyes. She felt physically sick. She glared at the door, but the object of her anger had already escaped, and, for lack of a better target, she turned towards Levi instead. She found him watching her expectantly through hooded grey eyes.

"Who was that?" Slayte demanded, struggling – and failing – to remain calm.

"No one," Levi dismissed, holding her gaze. Slayte tended to be unpredictable in her wild emotions but thus far, her intense jealousy had only ever been directed towards other women. She usually knew that he was standoffish by nature and not interested in their advances.

"So, just anyone is allowed to touch you now?" She crossed her arms angrily.

Levi held up the file, hoping to distract her, "Here. Results of the background check."

Slayte's mouth fell open, "You called  _ her _ for the background check?"

"No, she was just here to drop it off."

"Why?" Slayte wanted to know, "Who is she? An ex?"

Levi rolled his eyes, tired of this already, "Slayte, anyone with eyes in their head can see that there isn't, and never was, anything between me and Isabel."

"First-name basis, I see," Slayte mused with a glare. There  _ was _ something between them. A degree of familiarity Slayte had never seen Levi entertain with anyone else. She was well-off it seemed. She was confident, cheerful, pretty, and something else, something Slayte would never be. "Why wouldn't there be something between you? She's cute."

"She's just not my type," Levi dismissed, turning back to Cain's file as he realized there would be no winning with Slayte.

"What  _ is  _ your type, then?" Slayte did not even know what she was saying, her mouth seemed to be running on autopilot. She had never seen another woman get so close to Levi. Had always assumed that the right to touch him, to tease him, belonged exclusively to herself. Seeing the ray of sunshine that had pranced into their home, touched and kissed him without being warned off, without him using his blunt savagery to put distance between them… It made her insides turn with an ugly sensation. Cheerful and cute. Maybe that was what Levi needed, not more dark insanity like herself. Maybe Levi  _ liked  _ girls like that. Maybe he wished  _ she  _ was a girl like that. She wanted to hurt someone. She wanted to run away.

"Apparently, clueless crazies I pick up off the street," Levi raised a brow at her, recognizing that she was positively being eaten up by jealousy but clueless as to how to put her at ease. What did she expect from him? Some sort of reassurance? Didn't she know by now, that she was the only woman whose presence he tolerated?

Slayte flinched, hurt, "Clueless… crazies?"

"Slayte," Levi sighed, rising from his seat, "That was nothing. She's an old friend that was trying to get under my skin, is all. Don't make this a big deal."

"Oh, yeah," she hissed, "I saw that. If some guy from my past just showed up and kissed me, would  _ you  _ be okay with it?!"

"Don't make me drag your  _ master  _ into this," Levi shot back, the word positively dripping with venom.

"There is absolutely nothing of a romantic nature between me and him! How can you compare that?!"

"Right, he only owns your body and soul," Levi deadpanned.

"That's all!" Slayte shouted, not seeing the problem.

Levi ran a hand through his hair with a sigh. Slayte could be frustrating sometimes, and this was clearly going to be one of those days.

"Let's just drop it, okay? We're not getting anywhere like this. Your results are here, come have a look." He gestured towards the file on the counter.

Slayte felt tears stinging her eyes. Why was he brushing this off? Why couldn't he just apologize? Or say that the girl was wrong to kiss him? Why was he defending her? Why couldn't he tell her, just once, in words, that she mattered to him? That she didn't need to worry? That he loved her?

She couldn't take this. She couldn't deal with this. She was going to say things she would regret. She was positively burning up with anger, and nothing good ever came out of giving free rein to her emotions. She turned on her heel, ready to escape upstairs until she could get a better handle on her feelings, until she could face him calmly. She gripped the railing and took a single step, before pausing. Why did she have to run away? He was the one in the wrong. She was fine with most everything but one thing, she refused to tolerate. If he didn't understand, she would make him understand.

"Oi," Levi called after her retreating back, "Stop overreacting and come back here."

Something snapped inside of her, and she directed a withering glare at him over her shoulder. She stepped down the two stairs, and marched towards him with long, purposeful strides.

"Overreacting?" she hissed and reached out to take a hold of his collar with both hands, drawing him in close. "You listen to me, Levi Ackerman. Either I'm your girlfriend or I'm not. If you can't tell me you love me, if you can't tell me I matter. If words like that are poison to you, then you'd better make damn sure that at least no other woman gets to touch you the way I do."

Levi's cool, unreadable grey eyes met her own burning, cinnamon-brown irises. When had she ever gotten angry with him? He was scarcely hearing what she was saying, as his body reacted to her fury in an unexpected way. Something about the way she was gripping his collar, something about her angry demands made him want to pull her in and do things to her. Or better yet, have her do things to him.

She shoved him backwards and he landed less-than-elegantly in the swivel chair that he had abandoned moments ago. He looked up at her in surprise, his throat had gone dry. Was she  _ trying _ to turn him on?

She stood over him with one hand on her hip, wrath still positively radiating from her form as she pointed at him accusingly. "And if she's a  _ friend  _ or someone who  _ means something  _ to you, then be even more vigilant, because if I catch another woman laying her hands on you, I swear to the gods, I will break every bone in her fingers."

"Yeah?" Levi challenged, his voice hoarse with desire, his eyes darkening with lust, "Maybe you just need to do a better job marking your territory."

She blinked at him before narrowing her eyes. Wordlessly accepting the challenge, she dove at him. The chair rolled backwards until it came to a crash against the counter. Resting a knee on the seat of the chair between his legs, her hands found purchase in his hair and she pulled his head back roughly as she brought her lips crashing down against his own. Consuming and angry, she worked her mouth on his, her teeth and tongue claiming his mouth so possessively he could not even think to take control of the kiss. He brought his hands up to cup her bottom, tugging her closer until she brought her other knee up onto the chair as well, hovering over him.

All too soon, she broke off the kiss, dragging her hot mouth down his jawline, at the soft skin underneath his jaw, working her way down his neck, sucking and biting with abandon, leaving angry, bruising marks everywhere her mouth touched. She was quite literally, Levi realized, marking her territory. His hands slid up and under her loose white T-shirt, and he turned his head to the side to grant her better access. As he did so, his eyes fell on the file lying innocently on the counter. He knew Slayte. He knew she would want to read it first and foremost.

"Slayte, babe," he murmured, rubbing her back to gain her attention. It was the term of endearment, more than anything else, that had her suddenly drawing back to look down into his resigned grey irises. "As much as I'm enjoying this," he nodded towards the file on the counter, "the background check. You'll want to read it."

Slayte dragged her gaze from his intoxicating grey eyes to the file on the counter with the title " _ Dr. med. Cain Lockwood" _ . It contained, hopefully, clues as to the infuriating mortal's true identity and, by extension, his role in Elissa's life. Another glance at Levi revealed that he fully expected her to climb off his lap and go for the file first.

Why?

Had she treated him so poorly, that he believed these endeavors, her assignment, her friendship with Elissa had a distinct priority over him? Was the file truly so urgent? Did it matter if she read its contents now or in a few hours? She remembered suddenly, how many times she had left Levi behind to chase after Elissa. How she had always simply expected him to understand that her friendship was important to her. How many times had she simply disappeared, in every sense of the word, seeking to protect her dear friend? How often had he made her tea that had gone cold as she ran out on him? Did he expect her to now, again, drop everything and devour the contents of that file for Elissa's sake? Was that why he had that resigned expression in his eyes?

_ Stay the fuck out of my life… Don't ever talk to me again… _

Whatever Cain turned out to be, he was a mortal. And Elissa had chosen him.

"It can wait," Slayte dismissed evenly, bringing her lips back to his neck as she continued marking her way down his throat. She grasped at his collared shirt and tore it open, sending buttons flying in every direction. Levi hissed at the mess and at his ruined shirt. "Slayte –" he reprimanded, but she cut him off.

"Shut up." She ran her hands over the muscles of his broad chest, her dark eyes drinking him in, her lips still set in a harsh line, and her touch possessive. "Stop interrupting me."

And then, her mouth was working its way down his chest, and then, he couldn't keep a straight thought in his head.

* * *

Levi stepped into the bedroom, a large, white towel wrapped around his waist as he towel-dried his hair. Slayte sat cross-legged on the plaid green comforter, wrapped in a fluffy, white bathrobe. She had taken the file apart and had the pages spread out before her. She supported her chin with one hand, her elbow resting on her knee as she sifted through the information with the other, lifting one page after another to her eyes, forming piles according to some system that was lost on him.

Levi glanced at Slayte before tossing the towel over his shoulder and approaching the dresser. "We still heading out after this?" he asked her, deciding on appropriate attire.

"If we go shopping now, I don't have to go tomorrow," she mumbled absentmindedly, clicking her tongue in disapproval as she placed the page in her hand on the stack of papers farthest from her. If Slayte didn't have to leave in the morning, she wouldn't be slipping out of bed at the crack of dawn.

He glanced at his reflection. Angry love bites were scattered all over his body. Ordinarily, he didn't approve of marks of any kind on his skin, but Slayte had been in a very singular mood and he had allowed himself to be carried along by her emotions. It would fade with time, anyway.

"The National Crime Agency?" Slayte asked, referring to the address on the envelope.

"Depending on what you want, you should know who to ask," he answered automatically, as he scanned the clothing in the drawer. He used to have a beige, knit turtleneck in there somewhere, didn't he?

"Cambridge…" Slayte mused aloud, tapping her forehead as if trying to jolt her memory. "Where have I heard that name before?"

Pulling the turtleneck out of the drawer, he deadpanned, "One of the most prestigious universities in the country, Slayte. Did you grow up under a rock?"

"Oh, so he actually  _ is  _ a doctor." She sounded disappointed. "Look at this scoundrel. The police have caught him loads of times. Doing drugs, graffiti, and all the same kind of trouble he keeps dragging Elissa into, but they always dropped the charges."

"Money talks," Levi dismissed, shutting the drawer as he began getting dressed.

"It  _ shouldn't."  _ Slayte was indignant. "He will meet a terrible end."

She sifted through more pages as Levi pulled on a pair of black jeans. "There should be something here, but I can't find it. What am I missing?" She scowled in frustration.

"There isn't," Levi dismissed, throwing his towel onto the bed. "He's clean."

"Impossible," Slayte denied vehemently.

Levi crossed over to the bed, turtleneck in hand. "Look," he began, picking up a page, "They even talked to his old college friends. He grew up with the Lockwoods, got a legitimate medical degree, passing with flying colors, and moved here to work as a doctor. Whatever you're looking for, it isn't here."

"Wait -" Slayte took the page out of his hands, "Look at this, this Joe Hardin guy, he says Cain was really looking forward to working at Cambridge University Hospital. So, why didn't he go?"

Levi glanced over her shoulder at the writing she indicated, "Beats me, but it happens. Elissa did the same thing, didn't she? Moved out of town and started over?"

"Elissa's different," Slayte frowned, "She didn't have her life all set up like Cain clearly did. Who turns down a job like that to move out to Canterbury?"

"Do you think…" she looked up from her papers to turn concerned eyes to him, "Do you think he came out here  _ because  _ of Elissa?"

"Don't let your imagination run away with you, stupid." Levi frowned, "This isn't some thriller novel. We'll just have to accept that he's what he claims to be."

"No," Slayte protested, picking up another pile, "There's something we're missing, I just know it."

Levi took the stack of papers smoothly out of her hands, "Enough is enough, Slayte. There's nothing there. It's time to move on with our lives." He reached out for a long strand of her wet, black hair. "Are you going to dry your hair or not? Stores are closing soon."

She frowned unhappily, "Right."

"Good girl," he patted her head and handed her the files back as he rose to finish getting dressed.

She collected the scattered papers glumly until her eye caught on a minor detail. "Hey," she laughed, holding up the page, "Looks like we can kill him with a pecan pie."

Levi tugged the turtleneck over his head, and Slayte's laugh died on her lips as she saw the state of his body. He was positively  _ covered  _ with love-bites. Had  _ she  _ done that? What had come over her? Her face burned with embarrassment to the tips of her ears.

"Noted," Levi commented offhandedly, as he reached for the hairbrush. "Why aren't you getting ready?" he scolded, seeing she had yet to move.

"On it!" Slayte jumped, rushing to the closet to hide her flushed face. Levi angled his head at her retreating back. He recognized that tone of voice and that posture. Had the shameless way she had ravaged him less than an hour ago  _ just  _ hit home? A smirk tugged at his lips.

"You know, there are other, more subtle ways to repel unwanted attention if you're so jealous," Levi teased her, pocketing his wallet as she pulled clothing from the closet.

"Yeah?" she replied, feigning nonchalance as she struggled to control her nerves.

Levi turned away and gathered the wet towels to dump them in the laundry. "We could always get married, you know."

Slayte froze as surely as if she had stared into Medusa's yellowed gaze with the very eyes of her soul. Her legs felt leaden and her heart refused to pump blood through her body. She turned with great difficulty towards Levi, who stared back at her expressionlessly through cool grey eyes. He lifted the fingers of his left hand, indicating what he meant. "I don't think much of marriage, but it's practical, in our case."

Slayte's lower lip trembled, and she wished she could somehow reverse time and make him take back those words. She knew Levi well enough to know not to be deceived by how casually he made the announcement.

"There are financial advantages, too. Taxes and the like."

It was the same nonchalant manner in which he had asked her if they weren't more than just friends. The same careless manner in which he had asked her if she wanted to sleep with him. She knew precisely what would happen if she agreed. She would likely find herself inside of a courthouse with him in less than a week. Decisions were made and carried out without great aplomb or dramatics. She loved that about him. She hated that about him. It meant he could upend the world over her head like it was nothing.

"Levi, I - I…"

Did she have any right? Any right at all? To promise him a future? What in Tartarus had she been doing with him all this time? Marriage? They could never have a life like that! Children, buying a house, growing old together…? Any child of hers would be bound to the underworld as surely as she herself was. She would never age a day, it was a wonder, in itself, that that fact had escaped his notice thus far and most of all…

_ Til death do us part…. _

How many times had she heard those words, in films, or read them in books? But she had no right to make such a promise. Thousands upon thousands of years she would be forced to live after his death. However much she desired it, she would never be allowed to die with him. She had no future to offer him. Owned nothing that she could promise him. She had never been looking at the long-term with him. Had always taken this relationship one day at a time, with the thought of staying by his side for however long it lasts.

And above all else… she thought of Mrs. Maygold, her confessions, her forgiveness, she thought of the myriad of nameless faces she had slowly been working on paying back all while Levi was none the wiser, thinking it wouldn't matter anyway when they inevitably separated. He needed never know. But if he  _ did  _ know… if he learned what she had been up to, digging into his past, attempting to right what society considered his wrongdoings… her heart broke at the mere thought. To Levi, she knew, that would be nothing short of betrayal. Perhaps worse, even, than if she had given her body to another.

He was watching her impassively, his grey eyes revealing nothing of his thoughts. He wasn't on one knee, and there was no ring, but Levi never said anything he did not mean and she would be a fool if she failed to take this seriously. Her eyes darted around the room for somewhere to hide, somewhere to run away. She felt tears stinging her eyes. What had she done all this time? She had only been deceiving him from the very first day, and here he was, ready to marry her.

When she glanced back towards him, he was standing right in front of her, veiled concern hidden in those grey irises. He lifted a hand to her cheek and brushed his thumb over her lips, causing her to breathe deeply and close her mouth. She hadn't realized she'd been hyperventilating. He tucked her hair behind her ear with his free hand, his warm palm never leaving her face. "It doesn't have to be a big deal. Just think about it."

She pressed her lips together, not trusting herself to speak, and nodded.

"Be ready in ten minutes," he nodded at the clock, indicating time was running out. "Let's pick up some pecans."

* * *

Elissa twisted the leather strap of her handbag nervously, watching as people dressed in formal black clothing crossed the street, making their way over to the cemetery. She bit her lower lip, trying to keep her hands fidgeting in a desperate attempt to ignore the way they trembled in her lap.

For the hundredth time, she reminded herself why she was there. It was an important day for her friend, Cami; the burial ceremony and service of a man she had known since childhood, who had been a close friend of Cami's family. Cami had called Elissa a week earlier, just after Elissa had lost her job, in floods of tears over the phone, because the death had been sudden and unexpected. Elissa had felt the same, sick, sinking feeling in her gut every time she heard of death touching anyone she knew, and though it caused her a great deal of personal anxiety, had reassured her friend that she would be available to support Cami by attending the speedily arranged funeral.

Inside her chest, her heart was racing. She felt nauseous. Gripped with a suffocating sense of dread, her stomach forming tight knots, her palms cold and clammy. She had arrived early, knowing this would be precisely her body's reaction, as it always had been for as long as she could remember. Almost forty minutes later, she still hadn't mustered the courage to step out of her car.

_ I feel like I'm going to throw up,  _ she thought to herself in dismay.

She tried to steady her breathing, urging herself to calm down. This wasn't about her.

_ Get it together, _ she urged herself desperately.  _ Cami's waiting. She needs you. Just move! _

Elissa swallowed. She could do it. It was only for an hour. Still her legs remained frozen with anxiety, feeling like dead weights. She knew why she found it so difficult to move. Every single funeral she had attended since the loss of her sister and other relatives had brought the trauma rushing back to her, reminding her of how much she despised death, how unfair and wicked and heartless it was, how much she wished it didn't tear the hearts of the living to shreds.

Tears stung at her eyes. This funeral wasn't for one of her own, and yet it hurt no less to see the sorrow of death upon the faces of strangers. She understood, all too well, how it felt to lose precious people.

Her phone rang. Elissa glanced down, gulping at Cami's name on the caller ID screen. With shaking hands, she answered the phone.

"Elissa?" Cami's voice, thick with tears, spoke into her ear. "Where are you? The ceremony's starting in fifteen minutes."

"I-I just parked," Elissa stammered, hating herself for the white-lie she was forced to tell to hide her cowardice. "I'll be right there."

"Okay. Please hurry. Thanks." Cami answered, and hung up.

Elissa looked at her reflection in the rearview mirror. Dabbing at her eyes with a tissue, she inhaled shakily, before slowly releasing her breath. Heart pounding, she finally shifted and forced herself, with great difficulty, to exit her car.

Twenty-five minutes later, Elissa stood beside Cami, a comforting arm wrapped around her sniffling friend's shoulders. Her eyes fixed solemnly on the coffin that was being lowered into the ground. A throng of people stood around the grave, watching the ceremony, blowing their noses into handkerchiefs and consoling one another.

All of Elissa's worries seemed insignificant as she was reminded, all too acutely, of the finality of death, of its permanence, of how it closed in on every human, of how it did not discriminate or care for the pain it left behind. She swallowed thickly as Cami sobbed tearfully against her shoulder, unable to offer her friend anything but silent comfort. Tears stung at her eyes, as she was reminded once more of the family she had lost, too. Of her paternal grandfather, grandmother, cousin, aunt and her sister. Snatched so cruelly by death, each one with little warning. And though their souls may have gone on to rest in peace, their parting had left devastation on their loved ones left behind.

It wasn't fair. It wasn't just.

' _ All that lives must die.' _

Wise, world-weary words spoken to her months prior suddenly drifted through her mind, and the tears in Elissa's eyes thickened. Itachi was the last person she wanted to think about. Ever since she'd seen him again outside the club, she had been tormented, confused by his appearance and his words, hating him for them, and hating herself for how much power he still evidently held over her to compel her to listen to his opinion, as if she should heed it, as if she should care for it. She took in a slow, shaky breath, banishing him once again from her mind, a phantom who always lingered, always made her doubt.

Her eyes dejectedly scanned the crowd of distraught people, all dressed in black, weeping silently together over a man who had clearly been dearly loved in life. Her gaze then lowered back onto the coffin, watching as it was carefully lowered into the ground. Her heart skipped several beats. This was the bit she hated most. The covering of earth over the casket. Blocking out all light, all access to the living world as the corpse was left to decay and rot underground.

She could feel her body starting to tremble again as a cold chill seized her, wholly unrelated to the light, autumnal breeze blowing around them. She held fast to Cami, who was sobbing hard against her, and the sounds of crying permeated in Elissa's ears. Suddenly, she couldn't tear her eyes away from the grave, from the dirt that was being shovelled into it. Her mind was dragged back to the moment when she'd watched her sister's burial. Her mother's heartbroken cries. Her father's ugly sobs. The last time she had seen Gabriel cry. A tiny, four year old Castiel holding onto his only remaining sister's waist, huddled close against her as Cami was now.

Her vision seemed to tunnel in on the open grave, and everything else seemed to fade away around her. She suddenly felt disjointed, as if she were in a dream-like state. As she stared into the pit, she thought she could hear voices. She thought she could make out shadowy hands, worming their way out of the soil, as if they sought to reach up for her. Creeping towards her, inviting her closer.

_ Join us. _

_ We've missed you so much... _

Death was around the corner. Always one step behind her. It would take just a moment for it to reach out and snag her. To sever her own existence. Always it lingered. Always it was there, reminding her that it was superior to life, no matter how hard Elissa fought and raged against it. It was the end to all stories, inescapable, ruthless.

_ Soon it'll be your turn…  _ the grave whispered to her.  _ To come underground to us… _

Her breaths grew quicker, escaping her lips in shallow puffs as her entire body began to prickle with cold. She felt like the world was spinning around her. Like an invisible force was compelling her forward, compelling her to fall into that grave, where the earth would then be shovelled over her, burying her alive, all light and life lost to her forever, her greatest fear and nightmare realised.

"N-no…" Someone whimpered. With a start, Elissa realised that the word had fallen from her own lips. She jolted upright, impossibly tense, horrified that she might have been overheard. But everyone around her was too caught up in their own grief. She swallowed, trying to compose herself, hugging Cami tighter in an attempt to disguise her own violent shivering.

_ You're fine _ , she attempted to calm herself.  _ You're imagining things. You're not going to be next. There are no shadowy hands trying to grab you into that grave. You're fine. You're fine. You're- _

The sudden cawing of a bird caused her heart to jump into her throat, startling her. She blinked, dazed, and finally succeeded in directing her gaze back up to the bleak grey sky. A crow flapped its glossy black wings overhead, soaring through the air. She watched its flight path for a moment as her ears tuned back into the service of remembrance that was going on in front of them, before her eyes fell idly to the trees littered about the cemetery, inspecting them absent-mindedly.

Elissa stiffened suddenly, staring in disbelief as she spotted two tall figures wrapped in flowing black cloaks standing under a tree in the far distance. Her heart immediately lodged into her throat. She blinked rapidly. It couldn't possibly be. She strained her head, trying to get a better look, when someone stepped in front of her, blocking her view. She tip-toed up, trying to see - only to find nothing but emptiness under the tree when she looked again.

_ I'm losing it _ , she told herself, rubbing at the grieving Cami's arm comfortingly as her friend cried harder. Elissa willed her thundering heart to settle. There was nobody under that tree. She didn't know why she had thought she had seen Itachi and Shisui there. Clearly her mind was playing tricks on her, causing her to imagine things that were not there at all. A result of all the stress she'd been under, no doubt. It could not possibly have been them.

They'd have no business attending a funeral, after all.

An hour later, after Cami had thanked her and departed with her family, Elissa sat sullenly alone in her car, fighting back tears, trying to restore a steady rhythm to her breathing and heartbeat. Anxiety clung to her body, refusing to shift. She inhaled then exhaled slowly, telling herself that she was safe, that she was fine, that it was all over.

Still the image of the open grave haunted her. The shadowy hands she had imagined she'd seen, calling to her, beckoning her into an earthy tomb. Reminding her of the fragility of life, of all those dear to her she had lost to death's merciless clutches.

She gripped onto her steering wheel tightly to keep the lingering trembles afflicting her arms at bay. The car had been well serviced following its initial breakdown, and though it lacked the luxury of the vehicle Cain had lended to her that Elissa had long since returned to him, it was small, it was familiar, and it was her own.

She sighed deeply, leaning her head back against the head-rest. The pain of the funeral had brought back too many memories of watching so many other burials before. Elissa felt drained. Suddenly frighteningly alone and insignificant in a world that was moving far too quickly around her, faster than she could ever hope to catch up. It seemed like she was always trying her best to walk in a straight line - but her paths always seemed to end up derailing lately. Whether they terminated through her own actions, or those of others, nothing was stable around her anymore, and she felt like she had nothing to cling onto. She's lost her job. She'd lost her best, closest friend. She was feeling like…

It hit her like lightning. Exactly as Itachi had said. She felt like she was losing  _ herself. _

"Damn it," she whispered, closing her eyes, willing herself to forget the words, hating how accurate they were, how precariously close to home they struck. How could he have possibly made such an astute observation about her state of mind, when they had been apart for so long? How could he have possibly known and read her turmoil with such frightening ease? Why had he appeared to her at all? Why? When he had made it plain she was nothing, not even someone worth his friendship?

Her phone rang. She opened her tear-rimmed eyes and glanced at it - only to sigh. Cain again.

"Hey," she said dully, as she answered the call.

"Darling. Are you finished?"

"Yeah," she replied.

"Great. How about a movie tonight?"

"I'm not feeling it," Elissa rubbed at her eyes tiredly. Cain had been a regular, comforting presence since she'd lost her job, always doing his best to lift her spirits, but right then she just wanted to be alone.

"What's the matter?" he questioned, detecting the sadness in her tone.

"I just…" She hesitated, desperate to confide in someone. Someone who understood. She felt a deep ache within her chest. That had been Slayte, once. Slayte had always listened to her whenever Elissa had needed comforting following funerals. Slayte had always understood, and been so perceptive about death. She'd never rushed Elissa, always listened patiently to her and reassured her, hugging her until Elissa calmed down and no longer felt like she was on the verge of breaking apart.

Elissa swallowed thickly, fighting back the fresh tears of misery that blurred her vision. Slayte was no longer an option to her. If she had been mad at Slayte's behaviour and lies before the nightclub, her discovery of Slayte and Levi following her reminded Elissa all over again why she couldn't forgive and forget.

"Going to funerals brings back bad memories."

"Oh, of course," he agreed on the other side of the line. Elissa had only briefly told him that she'd lost a sister in the past. She hadn't gone into too much detail about it. "Besides, Cami might still need me. She was in a really bad state." She sighed heavily. "I hate it. I hate how sad death makes everyone."

"It sucks for sure," Cain drawled. "But don't overthink it, darling. It's better to focus on living and making the most of life, than dwelling on its end. Live life to the fullest and go out with a bang. That's what I say."

Elissa opened her mouth to respond - only to frown and close it again. She could tell that he didn't relate at all, and was in a hurry to steer the conversation in a different direction. She swallowed thickly. She couldn't really expect him to understand. He hadn't lost anyone particularly close to him - and she hadn't exactly been very lively company over the last week. He'd been supportive and patient, and they'd shared a relatively quiet week since the nightclub incident - but she could tell that he was itching to go back to having more fun again.

Was she?  _ Could _ she? As she finally persuaded him to a quiet night in as opposed to spending it outside, Elissa found herself beginning to wonder.

* * *

Later that night, after Cain had left for the evening, Elissa packed away the remaining snacks they'd not eaten while watching their movie together and decided to take her laptop out to help her process the day's events and her thoughts. Despite Cain's company, she had been unable to remove the image of the funeral out of her head, and had spent the whole evening feeling a lingering, prickling sense of unease. It had been that unpleasant sensation of anxiety that had led to her decision to try and pick up her writing again, in a desperate attempt to divert her over-burdened thoughts.

She sat up in bed in her dark bedroom, staring hopelessly at her blank word-document screen. Writing had always been her salvation in the past. It had helped to take her mind off things, a welcome distraction whenever she felt overwhelmed and overstressed, like the world was spinning beyond her control. It was her creative outlet, her passion. What she hoped to one day make her craft by profession, to cultivate a career for herself as a recognised, respected writer in her own right.

She scrolled through the previous pages of writing, and glanced down at her notebook, trying to remember where she had left off from and what plot points she needed to work on next. She had been working on her story for a long time, but had never taken such a long break from it. Her eyes trailed over the notes in frustration, as if they were written in another language entirely. Why couldn't she continue? Where had her inspiration gone? This was her passion. This was what she wanted to publish and present to the world. So what was the matter with her?

Her hands moved to her keyboard, and she willed herself to write. She typed a sentence. Then another. Frowned. Backspaced. Replaced words she didn't like - before deleting the short paragraph in dissatisfaction entirely.

Was it just writer's block? She could overcome it, surely? She'd had a lot to deal with, lately, after all. Near-death experiences. Supernatural occurrences for which she had no explanations. Emotionally taxing events. That was enough to exhaust anyone's inspiration, wasn't it?

Or had she simply lost her spark entirely? Her passion for her story and writing? Had it fizzled out for good? Elissa stared at the page in distress, sinking her teeth into her lower lip in dismay. She didn't want to give up on her story. She didn't want to give up on her dream of bringing joy to readers of all ages across the world, the same joy she had found in reading wonderful stories growing up.

" _ Don't abandon your story. I should like to read it, when it is complete." _

Elissa's eyes burned and she swallowed down the bitter taste in her mouth.  _ Liar,  _ she thought to herself angrily, recalling the words he had spoken encouragingly to her in what at that moment seemed to her to be a lifetime ago. Itachi had been nothing but a rotten, deceiving liar all along, masquerading as someone kind and gentle, someone who understood, who held all the reassurances and had all the answers. She wished she could tear him out of her mind with the same permanence and ease with which she had ripped out the page containing his stupid, beautiful handwriting.

Vetty snuggled against her side contentedly. Elissa stroked her fur affectionately, and ran her other hand tiredly through her hair, stifling a yawn. She then rubbed at her eyes and turned her face to the balcony doors, staring out at the clear, dark sky. It was obvious to her that this would be another fruitless night. With a heavy, unhappy sigh, she closed the laptop, defeated, and made her way to the balcony. Shrugging on a cardigan, she opened the doors and stepped outside, inhaling the crisp night air.

Resting her arms on the railings, she stared out at the street far below contemplatively. It was empty at this late hour, and almost all the lights in the buildings were out. It seemed that everyone was fast asleep. As they should be. Everyone but her.

Elissa turned her eyes to the sky, following the pretty scattering of twinkling stars that shone in the celestial heavens high above her. Oh, to be a star, she thought wistfully. Beautiful and brilliant, and unattainable. Glowing radiantly for all to see. Sheltered from the world and all its troubles. How glorious it would be, to reside safely there in the sky.

Safe… and alone. She felt it all too acutely right then. How lonely she was in a world that she struggled to find her place in, a world that kept on moving, relentlessly, carrying her along like a rushing tide that she could not fight against.

The sound of ruffling wings drew her attention to her right. A crow rested upon the handrail, tilting its head quizzically at her. Elissa stared at it in surprise. Was it the same one that had visited her balcony before? She'd seen another in the cemetery earlier that day, too. She felt comforted, somehow, by its presence.

Being careful not to startle it, Elissa moved toward it and held out her hand - only to freeze when the crow cawed and hopped back out her reach. She held her breath, watching it closely for a second - before an idea came to her.

"Hey little guy," she said softly. "Are you hungry? If you wait here, I could get you a snack."

The crow ruffled its wings and cawed again. Elissa lifted a finger, interpreting this to be an encouraging sign. "Wait right there, I'll be right back!" Then she turned away and hurried back inside her apartment.

* * *

He alighted gracefully atop the sloping roof-top, spotting his faithful summon stationed vigilantly on the balcony railing below. Immediately the crow cawed, acknowledging his presence. He intended to stay for just a brief moment, long enough to confirm all was well before continuing along his way to complete his duties for the night

The balcony doors of Angelissa's private quarters were open, but the lamps within were dimmed, giving him pause. Had she fallen asleep, forgetting to close the doors before bed? No, he realised, as he sensed movement a few seconds later, and Angelissa herself appeared on the balcony, holding something in the palm of her right hand.

Silently, he lowered himself to perch on the roof-top, watching curiously as she stepped toward the bird. It cawed and hopped away from her, clearly flighty and wary of accepting whatever it was that was being offered to it. As it had been trained to do. Behind his mask, Itachi raised a sardonic eyebrow at his summon's petulance.

' _ Stay',  _ he telepathically commanded it, and immediately the crow stilled, allowing the young woman to approach it without a fuss.

"Here you go," Elissa offered kindly, holding out her hand, containing fine crumbs of bread. "Don't be afraid. It's just bread."

The crow tilted its head, listening intently for any further instructions from its watching Master looming above them, unseen by the mortal girl on the balcony.

' _ Take',  _ Itachi ordered, resting his right elbow leisurely on his knee as he observed the interaction with keen interest. This was more reminiscent of the girl he had come to know by the river. Nothing like the tormented, inebriated state he had seen her in last.

The crow slowly lowered its head and pecked from the provisions in Angelissa's hand, and stayed obediently put as she lifted her other hand to stroke its feathers gently, carefully, allowing her to pet it at its Master's firm instruction.

"You're a beautiful creature," she whispered to it appreciatively. Somehow the moment gave her a sense of inner peace, a pleasant stillness she had not felt for a while.

And so the crow remained, until the last of the bread-crumbs had been eaten, and Elissa delighted in the experience, oblivious to the intent, dark eyes that watched her pensively in the moonlight above her.

* * *

**A/N:** Please review! See you next time.


	29. Part XXVIII: Catatonia

* * *

**Part XXVIII: Catatonia**

* * *

"Ugh," Elissa groaned, throwing her hands up into the air in exasperation as she read another unsuccessful email response following her submission of a job application. "Everybody's saying I don't have enough work experience. Well, how am I meant to have enough experience if nobody will  _ hire _ me?"

Cain glanced up from the pile of papers he was sorting through in her living room beside her, and peered at her laptop screen. He pulled a disapproving scowl.

"Bah. Experience. So overrated in the workplace, darling. Everyone knows you work your way up in any job. Nobody goes into any profession as a know-it-all. Everybody has absolutely no idea what they're doing on their first day."

"Right," Elissa agreed, running her fingers stressfully through her hair. "Everyone is asking for a minimum of five years of experience as an editor. It's not fair. You know what the problem is?" She looked at him, clear displeasure dancing across her eyes. "Companies don't want to give young people a chance. They feel threatened by them. Just like my jerk of a last boss, who was always trying to belittle me and make me second guess myself. I can't stand people who are prejudiced like that."

Cain smirked. "So passionate. I like the fire in your eyes, darling," he admired.

"You'd better not be mocking me," Elissa glared at him.

"I wouldn't dare," he held up his hands. "Burn the corporate world down. I'll even hand you the matches."

"It isn't fair," Elissa huffed. "I've been applying for almost two weeks and have nothing to show for it. It's stressing me out. My last company is pretty well known in the industry, too. I just don't get what I'm doing wrong." She covered her face with her hands in despair. "I'll never get hired at this rate," she complained. She had enough money from her last pay cheque to carry her along for another few weeks, but had no idea what she would do beyond that if she didn't get a job.

"Hmm," Cain tapped the pen in his hand against his chin thoughtfully. "Send me your CV. I know someone who works in recruitment that can look it over and spice it up for you. Sometimes it can just be something as simple as making it look more eye-catching."

Elissa peered at him between the gaps in her fingers. "Really?" she said hopefully. Lowering her hands, her expression lit up. "You can do that?"

"Absolutely," he nodded. "He has lots of contacts, too, so I could even get him to distribute it on your behalf. I'm sure editors are in demand everywhere, darling."

"That'd be amazing. Thanks so much!"

He grinned and then leaned forward, beckoning her in close.

"Thank me here," he said teasingly, tapping an index finger flirtatiously to his lips.

Elissa blinked, and felt her face flush, her eyebrows drawing together in uncertainty. Why was she so embarrassed? They had been taking things slowly since the alcohol-fuelled, steamy kisses they'd shared at the nightclub, and Cain hadn't done anything disrespectful since then. If anything, he'd been desperate to smooth over any lingering irritation she'd had over the drugs incident and made an extra effort to be considerate.

Elissa had set boundaries and made it clear that she didn't want to rush things, and beyond his usual flirting, he'd obliged, content to hold her hand or simply to offer her hugs. Kisses, however, had remained occasional between them. Firstly because Elissa wasn't sure  _ what  _ she felt for him, and whether it was something she wanted to pursue and fully commit to - and also because she was too afraid of tempting anything more that she wasn't yet ready to take the next step toward. She knew what mindless acts of passion kisses could lead to and wondered whether she would ever be that comfortable with Cain, whether she wanted him to be her first in that way. First kisses were another matter to first lovers entirely. Elissa didn't trust herself to get drunk with him around anymore, not when their return to her apartment had almost led to them drunkenly sleeping together.

She leaned in - and pressed a quick peck to his cheek instead.

Cain sputtered in protest. "You missed the mark."

"I didn't," Elissa folded her arms with finality. "This can be your way of making up for the narcotics incident at the club. Isn't that a great idea?" She smiled, a deceptively sweet sight.

He stared at her in surprise. She stared steadily back, arching an eyebrow as if to dare him to argue with her or protest any further.

"So feisty," he murmured. "So exhilarating. How you torment me, sweet Elissa."

She rolled her eyes. "You're so dramatic."

"I know." A smirk danced upon his lips. "But very well. Leave it to me." He pushed a strand of hair affectionately behind her ear. "We'll get you a new job in no time, darling."

"I do appreciate the help."

His eyes met hers. "Anything for you," he replied softly.

Elissa felt her heart unexpectedly skip in her chest. His gaze was so intense. Almost  _ too _ intense. She looked away, suddenly feeling oddly uncomfortable - though she could not for the life of her fathom why.

She cleared her throat to dispel the awkwardness of the moment. "Let me send it to you now, okay?"

"Sure. Then I think we've spent enough time on boring paperwork. Let's go out for a drink after you're finished, what do you say?"

Elissa nodded, more than eager to get outdoors for the evening.

* * *

Thirty-five minutes later, she followed Cain along routes unfamiliar to her. Night had fallen and the autumnal streets were damp with the smell of rain, but to Elissa's relief it didn't appear that anymore would fall for the evening. She linked her arm through Cain's, wrapped up snugly in a thick, oversized navy-blue hoodie top and black, ripped skinny jeans, walking comfortably in her flat black ankle boots. In her free hand, she held a green glass bottle of chilled beer. She and Cain had stopped by a local shop to pick up a few drinks, and he'd told her there was a cool place nearby where he could teach her how to skateboard. They'd then stopped by his place to pick up his skateboard before heading out together on foot.

He had the skateboard tucked snugly under his right arm and they chatted away together as they walked down a narrow alley. As they reached its end and stepped out, Elissa saw that it had led them to a large, concrete, warehouse building that was under construction.

"How did you even find this place?" She asked. "I'm starting to think you know more about this town than I do!"

He chuckled. "On your recommendations, darling. I like to explore and find hidden gems like this." He gestured with his head, covered with a black hoodie, to the large industrial building ahead of them. Its walls were littered with graffiti and scaffolding supported the structure, indicating that work was still going on.

"What is this?" Elissa blinked up at it curiously.

"Just a hangout spot where local kids skate. I think it's abandoned. Must be, because nobody ever checks in on the punks hanging out around here, or so I've been told."

"Is it safe?" Elissa asked nervously, hesitating as she eyed the building work and multiple warning signs that stated only authorised personnel were allowed on site. She had a brief, fleeting thought that she ought not to enter. But Cain placed an arm around her shoulders reassuringly.

"I'm sure it's fine," he assured her soothingly. "The construction seems to be mostly on the outside, and a boy I met here the other day told me this renovation work has been going on forever. An abandoned project the council forgot about. I've been here plenty of times before, and everything looks sturdy enough."

They entered through a rectangular opening in the wall, where a door ought to have been, and Elissa found herself in a huge empty space, held up by concrete pillars. There were gaps where the windows ought to have been, allowing a cold draught to blow in from outside. Litter was strewn all over the ground - food wrappers, drink cans and, to Elissa's alarm, some broken syringes - and some industrial looking metal barrels dotted the area.

"Cain," she said warningly. "People do drugs here?"

"Not on this floor," he reassured her. "Don't worry. I've not forgotten. The squatters don't hang out here. They're further up inside the building. Relax, darling, there'll be no trouble. All will be well."

Elissa frowned and rubbed at her arms uncomfortably. Some metal beams were scattered on the ground that she could see teenagers were skating over, and other young people sat around, chatting or smoking. There was a gentle, concrete slope in the ground, which was perfect for skateboarding down. Elissa then glanced up at the high ceiling, to see criss-crossing, metal scaffolding bars high above them, supporting some wooden beams. She followed Cain and they took a seat against the far wall, where he opened their bottles for them, and they watched as people practiced their skate-boarding skills.

"My balance sucks," Elissa confided. "You'll be tearing your hair out after five minutes trying to teach me this."

He laughed as he took a sip of his beer. "I had two left feet when I started out, too. You'll get the hang of it soon."

"You have more confidence in my balance than I do."

"You have a good teacher," he winked.

Elissa took a gulp of her refreshing beverage and it wasn't long before she felt the familiar warmth of alcohol entering her blood-stream, helping to soothe her nerves. They then left their bottles against the wall and walked up to one of the beams. Cain set his skateboard down - decorated with a flaming, hellish skull, Elissa noted with interest - and then backed it up confidently, before pushing himself forward. She gasped as he jumped up into the air, and landed on the beam, grazing over its edge with perfect balance until he reached the end, hopping off with effortless grace.

"Okay, that was super cool," she exclaimed.

He gave her a flamboyant bow. "Why, thank you. I almost broke my ankle three times getting this blasted trick right."

"Who taught you?" she questioned, watching as he pulled another impressive move over the beam.

He came to an abrupt halt beside her. "I taught myself," he replied. "I told you darling. Life is for living. Best way to learn a new trick is to teach yourself one."

"But the technique," she stared at him in astonishment. "You must have gotten some guidance or something."

"I watched videos," he chuckled. "Honestly, that was it. All trial and error. And now I'm such a professional, I can teach you." He set the skateboard by her feet. "On you go."

Elissa set her foot testingly on it, biting her lower lip. It couldn't be much different to rollerblading, she reasoned. She'd loved to rollerblade down the streets with her sister and brothers as a child, and to ice-skate on ice-rinks - but when Evangeline had died, Elissa had stashed all her skates away, never finding it in her heart to take them out again, because that had been  _ their _ special activity together, holding hands and whizzing down the roads at lightning speed without a care in the world.

Then Evie had left her behind, and Elissa had been forced to grow up far too quickly. This was, she realised, the closest she had come to rollerblading again since then.

"Just try to push it along slowly to begin with," Cain guided.

Elissa did so, wobbling precariously. Cain stepped along beside her, arms out, ready to catch her if she lost her balance. She soon began to glide slowly along, growing bolder and more confident, spreading her arms out for balance - until she suddenly went too fast and lost her footing and control of her movements, toppling gracelessly backward.

"Wh-whoa! Cain!"

Strong arms caught her, steadying her as the skateboard went flying on ahead, crashing into a concrete pillar.

"I've got you," he reassured her.

Elissa gulped. "Thanks," she said shakily as she took her weight back. "I guess I got a bit ahead of myself."

Riotous laughter filled the air.

"Hey man," a voice called out snarkily. "Your girlfriend sucks. This ain't no place for newbies."

Elissa turned her head, to find a group of five teenagers. All boys. They were crouched against the wall opposite them, with their own skateboards, and had clearly been watching Elissa's attempts.

Cain straightened up. "No?" he raised an eyebrow, unconcerned. "It's a place for children then, perhaps."

One of the boys immediately sprung up to his feet. He had piercings on his eyebrows and brown hair that was tightly pulled back in a short ponytail. He was tall, but relatively skinny in build. "What the hell did you just say to me?" he sneered.

"Cain," Elissa said quietly. "They're just kids. Leave it."

"I won't let anyone insult you, kids or not," Cain answered.

"Seriously, just forget it," Elissa reached out and tugged on the sleeve of his top. "We can move elsewhere-"

"Hey," the boy interrupted rudely. "Shut it, bitch. I'm talking to your smart-assed boyfriend."

Elissa stiffened, and her head whipped back around to glare at the boy. How old was he? She noted alcohol and cigarette packets resting on the ground beside his friends. Certainly not old enough to be drinking and smoking so much, surely?

She'd been perfectly fine with ignoring their immature, juvenile behaviour. After all, her youngest brother Castiel was sixteen, and she knew how rowdy boys could be at that age, believing themselves to be invincible and all-knowing. But the moment the boy had chosen to display a marked lack of respect and manners for his elders, that had changed.

"Excuse me? What did you just call me?" she demanded.

"You deaf? Lemmie spell it." The smirking boy drew closer, throwing away his cigarette, and his friends rose to join him, like a pack of wolves out on the hunt together, rallying around their leader. One of them hesitated at the back.

"Ben," another of the boys called to the one who lingered behind. Ben, skinny with messy blonde hair and brown eyes, slowly got to his feet and followed them.

"B-I-T-C-H." The leader of the group squared his shoulders like a proud peacock making a public display of bravado. "Heard me now?"

His friends laughed, cheering him on.

"Wow," Elissa retorted. Maybe it was the alcohol that was making her feel fearless - or knowing that Cain was right behind her. Either way, she wasn't going to let a scrawny kid barely out of high-school talk to her in that way. "I'm surprised you know how to spell. How old are you? Fourteen? Still at high school?"

Cain chuckled. "They must be twelve. Trying to be grown ups with all that cheap beer and their cute little first tattoos."

"No class," Elissa agreed, eyeing them up with pity.

"I doubt they even attend  _ any _ class," Cain supplied, and they both snickered at that.

"The fuck you think you are?" Another of the boys with curly brown hair stepped forward. "We're not kids."

"Clearly you are," Elissa folded her arms. "Picking on people who are just here to have a good time. Your parents would be so proud."

"Bitch!" Another of the boys, with a shaved head spat out. "Shut your stupid mouth!"

"Why?" Elissa jeered back. "You think it's alright for you to insult me but not the other way around? Don't dish it out if you can't take it, you brainless little punks."

Cain chuckled, casting an admiring glance at Elissa. "Oooh, isn't she fierce."

"You call us that again," the leader began threateningly.

"Kiddo," Cain drawled, interrupting him in a bored tone. "I'm a qualified doctor and I lift double your weight at the gym. Kindly do sit down and mind your own business."

"Yeah? Come on then," he puffed out his chest. "Put your words where your fucking mouth is."

Cain rolled his eyes. "You mean you would like me to put my fist where  _ your  _ mouth is?"

"Try it, you fucking twat," the leader snarled.

Cain's eyes narrowed. Then he stepped around Elissa.

"Cain!" she warned.

"Don't worry," he winked back at her. "They're not going to leave us alone in peace until I rub their faces in the dirt. I'll go easy on them."

"Get him, Liam," one of the other boys urged the boy at the front.

"Bring it, piece of shit," the leader Liam sneered, and without any further invitation swung an angry fist at him. Cain immediately ducked low and elbowed him in the ribs, in a spot that left the boy winded.

"F-fuck!" He snarled, but recovered and lunged once more at Cain. Two of his friends jumped forward to help him. Cain punched one, kicked the other and sent the third sprawling onto his back.

"Are we quite done with playtime?" he sighed. "I really just want to get back to teaching my girlfriend how to skate."

"You son of a bitch-" The floored, ginger-haired boy spat.

"Ben!" The leader shouted. "Get your ass over here!"

Ben tensed and ran forward toward Cain, swinging clumsily with a fist. Cain grabbed him by his jacket and shoved him easily to the ground as the others got back to their feet, huddling together as if to regroup. One of the boys already had a bruise to his cheek, and another had a bloodied lip.

"Are we done?" Cain extended his hands. "Because I'd really like to-"

Liam charged at him with an angry shout. Cain caught his ankle and jerked up, sending him sprawling onto his back.

"You piece of shit!" Liam cursed, enraged. "I'll rip your fucking head off! You're dead, bastard! You're fucking dead!" He turned to glance back at his friends over his shoulder. "The fuck are you all just standing there for? Get him! Get his girlfriend!"

His friends spread out, trying to circle them. Ben once again hesitated, looking uncomfortable as he briefly met Elissa's gaze.

Cain merely laughed. "You're all so pathetic," he chuckled.

"You son of a bitch!" Liam's chest heaved, and his reddened face contorted with rage as he pulled himself back up to his knees, preparing to lunge once more like a feral animal.

A creaking sound, followed by a loud snap suddenly filled the air. Elissa blinked in confusion, and the boys all paused in turn, looking around them for the source of the strange noise. Her gaze then darted upwards toward the ceiling above them, widening in horrified disbelief. A beam had broken off from the scaffolding - and was heading straight toward the foul-mouthed Liam, who was still crouched on the floor. A mere child, no older than fifteen, she thought. Barely older than her sister had been when death had claimed her.

Elissa forgot then all about his unpleasantness. She forgot all about the fact that they were caught in an altercation with a boy who lacked dignity and respect. Such thoughts all flew from her head. Without thinking, her legs propelled her forward, her instinct to shield and protect life from death overriding all logical reasoning in her mind. If she could reach him fast enough, she could save them both.

"Look out!" she screamed in warning to the boy. He blinked, looking up at her in startled confusion.

"What the fuck?" His eyebrows furrowed together, before he heard the loud whooshing sound of something falling at great speed and finally realised what was happening, his eyes widening in terror as he looked up, frozen in place, too shocked to move.

"Liam, watch out!" One of his friends yelled out fearfully.

"Elissa, no! Stop!" Cain's voice shouted in alarm behind her.

Elissa sprinted to the boy, heart pounding, reaching him just before the wooden beam could crush him, and shoved him roughly out the way. He went flying onto the ground, stunned, grazing his elbow against concrete. But she didn't have enough time to save herself. Pain immediately exploded along her back and right side as the beam crashed onto her instead, the force of impact tearing the air straight out of her lungs. Elissa's mouth opened in a silent scream of agony as she was knocked violently forward. Her forehead then slammed against concrete and everything immediately faded away to black.

* * *

Levi's steps coming down the stairs were familiar to her - sure-footed, measured, even. She would recognize them anywhere. This morning, his steps seemed light, almost as if there was a spring in them. She wondered if something good had happened. It would be nice, she thought, to see him smiling, at least once before it all came to an end.

She had lost Elissa. Whose fault that was, she didn't know. Was it her own? For not defying Thanatos and giving Elissa the answers she so craved? Was it Elissa's, for not trusting her enough, and allowing herself to fall prey to the wiles of a man like Cain? Or was it Thanatos himself, who commanded over the situation without truly being involved enough to understand the implications of his decisions? At the end of the day, it didn't matter. Elissa was lost to her, and Slayte, herself, was lost in turn.

How much longer did she have until she lost Levi as well? It was only a matter of time. In retrospect, she mused, perhaps she had gone about everything the wrong way to begin with. From the moment she had arrived here, hadn't she considered him to be some sort of lesser being - a mortal? Someone who couldn't possibly grasp the complexities of her realm? And so, she had lied to him, time and time again. When he had expressed interest in changing the nature of their relationship, she had allowed herself to be swayed by the intensity of her desire for him, by the depth of her admiration for him. She had never once considered the possibility that their pasts would indeed play a role in determining their future. Never thought there would even be a future to consider. She realized that now.

_ Marriage. _

That word, out of Levi's mouth no less, shook her to the core. She had built their relationship on her own falsehoods and although she didn't think he believed everything she said, she had never thought he would willingly build his castle on the clouds of her fallacies. Yet, here he was, saying he didn't care. She could close her eyes and pretend everything was normal, pretend  _ she  _ was normal, as she had been doing thus far, and marry him. A marriage that would be no less a lie than every other she had told him, or tell him the truth and risk losing everything. No, it wasn't a matter of risk. It was a surety, just as the night would doubtless follow on the day.

The truth about what she was, where she came from, was one thing. The matter of her interference in his affairs was another entirely. She knew he was even more defensive of his past than she was of hers. It was a certainty that he would separate from her, if her betrayal came to light. And yet, she had no choice but to be forthcoming. Anything else was unfair to him. It was unfair to have given him this illusion of a relationship to begin with.

Her heart was already broken from losing Elissa, if she was going to lose him as well, it would be for the best to get it over with now, when she was already at her lowest point. What would remain of her existence, without him? She didn't know. TBoth he and Elissa were going to die one day, anyway. She would simply begin her period of solitude, for however many millennia it lasted, earlier than she had expected.

"You look constipated," Levi commented, passing by her where she sat at the service counter, and plucking a clementine from the bowl of fruit. There was a humorous undertone to his sarcasm, and Slayte looked up at him, surprised to see that he was, as she had suspected, in a good mood.

"That stupid expression," he continued, waving the clementine in her general direction, "like someone died, or like Elissa broke a nail. Probably the same thing to you." He peeled the fruit and, seeing that she did not answer, lifted grey eyes towards her, "What? Too soon?"

She shook her head, indicating that his comment did not bother her and murmured, "Good morning."

He did not answer, as was often the case with small talk and pleasantries and leaned against the counter to get a better look at her. "Is this some new habit of yours? Coming down early in the morning to have a little breakdown? What the hell is wrong with you today?"

"I'm fine," she reassured him, averting her eyes.

There she was again. Finding something or other to weigh her down on a perfectly fine day. He'd have it out of her soon enough. Good things had been happening lately. He had spoken to Erwin, who was clearly doing well, even if Levi had refused to provide his aid. Isabel was still alive, and although he could not truly look her in the eye, although it was difficult to see her or deal with her, knowing Farlan would never again be a part of their lives, it was good to know that she had pulled ahead in life. She had never been book smart, but she had a keen instinct and it was satisfying to know that she was being given the opportunity to put it to good use.

And then there was Slayte. His mind was filled with memories of the previous night. Levi had never been particularly well-spoken, and how difficult it was to find the right words seemed to be directly proportionate to how important it was for him to be articulate. Especially with Slayte, words seemed to fail him.

What was it that women even wanted to hear? Clichés like in the movies? Words that had been spit out, lapped up, and spit out again and again for ages? Regurgitated so often that they must have lost all meaning by now? It wasn't the first time he had come up against this issue. He still had a scar on the side of his head from when an ex-girlfriend had chucked a plate at him. What had she called him? An unfeeling statue? A heartless piece of shit? Something along those lines.

Slayte never seemed to mind that he had no words to offer her. It wasn't that he didn't care. It was more like words hadn't been invented to describe what he felt for her. He tried to convey it to her, when possible, through his touch. He hoped for her to understand. He thought she did. That was why he recognized, perhaps better than anyone else, wandering hands that said, " _ Don't ever leave me," _ kisses that said, " _ You're mine," _ and an embrace that said, " _ I'll die without you." _ And to have been on the receiving end of that? From Slayte, no less, who still blushed whenever he chanced upon her in any state of undress? Was it any wonder he was in a good mood?

He peeled off a section of the mandarin and popped it into his mouth, chewing slowly as he observed her thoughtfully, trying to discern what was going on in her mind. He broke off half of the orange and handed it to her wordlessly before moving to the attached kitchen.

"If this is about what I said yesterday, forget about it. I didn't think it would stress you out this much."

"That- that's not it. Levi," she called after him, "Please don't go, I need to talk to you."

He paused in the doorway and looked back at her. "Make it quick, we have less than an hour until opening."

The added time pressure only increased her nerves and her tongue seemed to be tied in knots, "I, I just…"

He leaned against the doorframe and made short work of the mandarin as he watched her through half-lidded eyes. What was the matter with her again, all of a sudden?

"Oi, we haven't got all day. Out with it."

She took a deep breath and looked at him, trying to engrave the image into her mind's eye. The raven locks framing his face, falling over his forehead, the cool grey eyes that seemed to pierce right through her, the affection hidden deep within them. His posture as he leaned against the doorframe, at ease, relaxed with her. Everything about him emanated an inherent trust, one they had built up over the past few years. One that she was about to destroy, irreparably.

"Even if marriage isn't a big deal to you. It is to me."

He scoffed, "People make it out to be a bigger deal than it is. Look at us," he gestured at the tea shop in general, "We're as good as married already. What do you think would change apart from a pair of rings and a tax cut?"

He pushed away from the wall, ready to head into the kitchen. "But like I said, don't worry about it. It doesn't matter."

"It  _ does  _ matter." She insisted, so forcefully that he stopped in his tracks and looked back at her. "How can you be willing to marry me, Levi? There's so much you don't know about me."

"And whose fault is that?" He returned her gaze evenly. Why were her words spoken like an accusation?

"Are you out of your mind?" she squeezed her eyes shut and turned her face away, as if her words were physically hurting her. "You don't know the things I've done."

"That goes both ways. We know that. We've known that for the past five years. Why is this suddenly an issue?" He was torn between crossing over and comforting her and staying firmly where he was. She was being odd, even for Slayte.

"You don't know what I've done  _ to you," _ she clarified, lifting her head wearily as she turned lifeless eyes to him. Resigned eyes. Eyes that were ready to lose everything.

His body tensed, a reaction he recognized. An intuition - a sixth sense - his way of knowing when someone was about to throw a punch.

"I know about the Maygolds."

"What the hell are Ma-" He cut himself off as he suddenly realized, with painful clarity, that he  _ did _ know not what, but who the Maygolds were.

His mind blanked.

Who was the girl sitting in front of him, looking at him with those strange, dark eyes? It couldn't be Slayte. Slayte trusted him as much as he trusted her. Slayte would never go behind his back. He was everything to Slayte. She practically worshipped the ground he walked on. Her lips were moving, but only a hollow buzz echoed in his ears. What was she saying?

The world was fading away, spinning, losing meaning. He needed to focus on something. The Maygolds. Blood. So much blood. All over his hands. The face that stared lifelessly up at him, older, bigger, stronger than him… Now younger, weaker, only a child. He would have stopped stabbing the knife into his chest if he knew that he was already dead. He had cut up his own hand, too. It wasn't easy to plunge a knife into solid muscle. How could he have known that he was dead? That it was time to stop? It was his first time.

"What the hell, Slayte?" His voice sounded distant to him, as if someone else had spoken, and her name burned on his tongue.

"I met with her, Mrs. Maygold."

"Which one?" Why was he even asking? What did it matter?

"The grandmother."

"You were volunteering in the nursing home." The wheels of his mind were turning, connecting the pieces sluggishly, as if through a thick fog. So, those mornings that he was waiting for her...

"Yes." She watched him carefully, her heart pounding in her chest painfully, as if seeking to punish her for her faithlessness. What was he thinking? His expression was closed off to her.

"So, that's how it is." His voice was low and quiet as he turned away from her, his eyes blank and his movements automated, listless.

She recognized that expression. Recognized it from his nightmares. From terrible nights where she awoke from his trembling, to find him covered in sweat. Gripped by the terrifying visions he saw, he neither cried out, nor spoke, but his brow furrowed and his jaw clenched. And when she woke him, as gently as she was able, he opened his eyes to look at her with eyes unseeing. Eyes seeking out the grave. Eyes lifeless and blank. The eyes of a dead man walking.

She flew from her seat, wishing she had never come to a stop in front of his tea shop all those years ago. Wishing she had had the strength to go on through the rain. Wishing she had stayed in the underworld. Wishing she had done anything, everything, rather than hurt him this way. Her fingers caught desperately on his sleeve and he stopped midstep, not quite placing what had brought him to a stop.

"Levi, please," she begged, clinging to his arm, "Yell at me. Hurt me. Do anything, but don't shut me out this way. I've hurt you. Let it out, please. There's no more room in your heart for this. Let it out. Give it back to me."

He angled his head to consider his arm and, seeing her hand there, stared at it as if it were some foreign object. As if he couldn't understand how it had gotten there.

He detached her hand without looking at her, "I need some space."

"No!" she reached out again, and tugged on his arm, forcing him to turn around and face her. Helplessly, she reached up and cupped his face, "Look at me, Levi. Please don't go there. It will be okay. It's me, I was wrong. Be angry with me."

She peered up helplessly into his grey eyes, so distant he might have been miles away. His irises like broken mirrors, looking at her, but not seeing her.

"Why?" It was a single word, but the first that seemed to come from a conscious state of connection between himself and what he was feeling. "Why did you do it?"

"I… I needed to know."

He reached up and took hold of her wrists, dragging her hands away from his face. "What did you want to know? How many died by these hands? Did you think I was going to kill you, too? Did you want to know if it was safe?"

His grip on her wrists was harsh and bruising as he stepped closer to her with each question, demanding answers in a voice that was measured and even, but finally, voicing his feelings. His grey eyes were narrowed and cold, but they were seeing her.

"No, I - that has nothing to do with it."

"Then what, Slayte? Always giving me a hard time on your shitty secrets, but you turn around and do this? What gives you the right?"

Slayte bit her lip, looking helplessly up at him. What reason could she possibly give? Hoping to avert a fate of eternal damnation? An unabating, fiery end that would consume every inch of the skin she had kissed and caressed? She would do anything to save him from that fate. She would hurt him again if she had to.

"I needed her to forgive you."

What? Had she gone around… asking forgiveness in his name? For things that didn't have a goddamn thing to do with her to begin with? Bowing her head to some shitty assholes who didn't have a clue? Because he was that much of a piece of trash in her eyes? Because she was ashamed of him?

"Fucking hell, Slayte," he ground out, staring at her in livid disbelief.

"I can't apologize," she whispered, meeting his smoky grey eyes with difficulty, "I can't stop doing it. I'm going to keep digging. Keep looking. That's what I've been doing. I'm not going to stop. So, you see…"

She heaved a shaky breath from the depths of her soul. She offered him a weak smile. His eyes had already revealed everything. It was over between them. This, he could not forgive. Even if he somehow forgave her, they could never be as they were. She had single-handedly ruined everything. Set fire to her own Elysium. Now, she would burn with it and writhe among the ashes.

"I guess, this is the end for us."

Levi released her as if stung and stepped back.

There was no point in telling him now, who she was, why she was doing this. Where she came from. If they were separating anyway, the least she could give him was the opportunity to live a normal life after her.

"You…" Levi looked at her with eyes she could not bear to see, eyes that did not recognize her. Eyes that said " _ Who are you?" _

"Don't make me say Elissa was right about you." The bitterness in his voice was poison in her veins.

It was as if someone had twisted a knife in her stomach. Slayte sucked in a breath and turned to him in surprise. "I… deserved that," she breathed. She turned away, ready to make her escape. It was time. Five years was nothing. Five years was a long time. She had outstayed her welcome.

But before she could so much as say another word, Levi stalked past her, tore his jacket off the hook and pulled open the front door. She gaped after him, confused by his actions.

He paused in the doorway, "I'm going out."

"Where to?"

"Anywhere that isn't here," he muttered before angling a cold look over his shoulder at her, "Don't do anything else stupid. You'll be here when I get back or I swear to God, you  _ will _ regret it." The demand was unfeeling and threatening and she could only stare at him, lips parted for words that refused to come.

He stepped outside into the harsh, autumn air and the door fell shut behind him. Slayte stared after him. Everything had been a lie. Her love had been a lie. She was a lie. She wished he had never met her. Then, he would not have run away from his own home. The castle he had built with his own hands, a haven from all the pain in the world. A place she had infiltrated to personally hand-deliver that pain to him.

She pressed a hand to her mouth, stifling a sob as she squeezed her eyes shut to hold the tears at bay. She sank back into the chair and lowered her head to the service counter, sobbing miserably, her shoulders shaking at the intensity of her grief. She wished he had forgotten her, wished he had stopped loving her, wished he had thrown her out, wished anything but the truth that she simply could not escape.

That she had been the one to hurt him.

"I'm sorry, miss. I thought you were open."

Slayte's tear-stained face shot up to see an elderly woman with a green fisherman's hat in the doorway.

"We are," she wiped at her tears with the back of her hand, "I'm sorry, I lost track of the time." She smiled desperately through her tears, "What can I get you, Ma'am?"

She had ruined everything, she wasn't going to cost him a day's revenue, too. She had to guard his castle until he returned.

"I…" the elder wrinkled her nose, trying to decide if she hadn't better just leave, "I was hoping for a chamomile tea and a slice of apple cake for the road."

"Of course!" Slayte agreed enthusiastically, trying to convey an aura of professionalism, "Coming right up."

She sniffled and pressed the back of her hand to her eyes, hoping her cool skin would bring down the swelling as she struggled to regain an appropriate, customer-service appearance. Grief and tears would have to wait. Levi's tea shop came first.

* * *

Slayte worked through the lunch hour, not wanting to be left alone with her thoughts. She smiled more enthusiastically, scrubbed the kitchen more forcefully, and put every ounce of her concentration to work, to ward off the memory of broken-mirrored irises, of a bruising touch, and an unforgiving voice.

By closing time, she was still not spent. She brought out the trash, mopped the floors, wiped down the machines, and cleaned out the refrigerator, but each time she glanced from the clock to the door it signalled more time had passed, but Levi had not reappeared. Shadows lengthened and night fell, but still, he did not return. She swept the entrance, lingering by the door, looking up and down the road, only to reenter the tea shop disappointed. She did not even want to consider the idea of heading up to bed without him.

She swallowed thickly, as memories of that morning flooded her mind unbidden. She was only delaying the inevitable. Would she wait for him to spell it out for her? It was clear what the next steps were.

She climbed the stairs and hauled out a small suitcase from the attached storage room. When she entered the bedroom, she marched straight to the closet, carefully avoiding looking at the bed at all, for fear the memories would weaken her resolve and reduce her anew to tears. She packed what clothing she thought she needed, her favorite two books of poetry, leaving the others behind with difficulty, and the necessary toiletries.

She left behind things that Levi had gifted her, unsure about whether or not those were still considered her belongings in all fairness. There were more such items than she had realized. Pens, notebooks, books, knick-knacks, articles of clothing. It seemed every time he went out he brought something with him that he left lying out inconspicuously for her. Little presents that found their intended recipient without a word of communication. It hurt to look at them now.

She shut the suitcase and zipped it closed before hauling it back down the stairs. He would surely return soon, and then, she would not make him wait. She would not make this hard on him. He deserved his peace.

A familiar tapping at the window caught her attention and panic robbed the breath from her lungs.  _ Elissa.  _ She raced to the window and, tearing it open, caught sight of the crow just beyond. Slayte reached out towards it before she had even consciously made the decision to do so, and, feeling the familiar vortex tug at her essence and transport her to the other side, prayed to whatever powers would listen, that she would find Elissa unharmed.

Slayte touched down onto concrete in a flurry of black crow feathers, her heart racing in her chest. Looking around, she found herself standing outside a building supported by scaffolding, its walls sprayed with messy graffiti. The crow cawed over her head and flew toward the building, indicating that she followed it inside.

A sense of trepidation gripped Slayte, turning her blood to ice. That the crow had teleported her here meant that somewhere nearby, Elissa was already in danger. Praying that she wasn't too late, she dashed forward, through the only opening leading inside that she could find, following after Thanatos's bird - only for her eyes to fall upon a crowd of people who had gathered around something - or someone - ahead.

_ No. No! _

Slayte's stomach lurched and she flew the remainder of the distance, pushing through the group to find a familiar blond-haired man leaning over the prone body of none other than Elissa. She was unconscious, lying on the ground, trapped beneath a heavy wooden beam. Slayte's mouth fell open in a silent cry of horror. Then a moment later she  _ was  _ screaming hysterically, the realisation that she was already too late, that this was nothing supernatural that she could defend and protect Elissa against, slamming into her, causing her heart to gallop wildly against her ribcage.

"Elissa!" she cried in dismay. She could see blood pooling on the concrete where her friend's head lay motionless. Her stomach formed tight coils of dread and she struggled to swallow down the rising nausea and panic in her throat. Elissa was so slight a thing. Her right arm was twisted at a frighteningly unnatural angle and her right leg appeared to be completely crushed beneath the weight of the beam. It was slanted over her spine, and Slayte couldn't tell whether that was broken, too. She didn't need to look for longer than ten seconds to know that the damage was bad. Dangerously so. "Oh gods! Elissa!"

In her mind, she immediately called out in fear to Thanatos, instinctively, without thought, nearly out of her wits with worry.

_ Lord Thanatos! Please! There's been an accident-! _

Cain blinked and glanced up at the sound of a familiar voice, his eyebrows drawing together in surprised confusion.

"Slayte?" He frowned, staring at her in disbelief. "Where in the blazes did you come from?" he began in bewilderment.

"You- you son of a bitch-!" Slayte shoved him violently aside, too incensed to mind her tongue before the standing group of children surrounding them.

"What are you doing?" Cain snapped. "I'm a doctor, I'm trying to help her-"

"She wouldn't have been hurt if you'd not brought her to a place like this!" Slayte's dark eyes blazed at him with fury. "Oh, Elissa!" She reached down and grasped her friend's left hand. It was cold. She had turned pale and was deathly still. Slayte then rounded on the group around them, who were staring down at the injured girl in silent shock. Young teenagers, she realised, not much older than sixteen at most.

"What are you doing, just standing there?" she berated. "Help me move this beam!"

"I wouldn't," Cain advised, scowling at her. "Not until the ambulance arrives. We could cause worse damage, especially if any piece of wood has broken off and pierced her body."

"What happened?" Slayte demanded, pushing aside the hair that had fallen into Elissa's face.

An uncomfortable silence filled the air.

"What happened?!" Slayte all but screamed at them.

One of the boys finally answered. "That beam just fell from up there. She… she took the hit for Liam…"

Slayte blinked, and noticed one of the boys who was shaking violently, presuming him to be Liam. Her head then whipped around and she cast another accusing glare at Cain, who blinked, taken aback by its ferocity.

She opened her mouth to censure him again, when the sound of an ambulance outside caused her to turn her focus back onto Elissa. She reached for her wrist and felt a pulse, but it was faint. Reaching out with her shadows, she struggled to try and solidify them against the injuries, blocking Elissa's many wounds from spilling forth even more of her precious life's blood.

"Let the professionals handle it," Cain cut in, as the sirens neared. Slayte felt white-hot anger flood her veins. There was no doubt as to who was responsible for Elissa's current state. Her shadows were not meant for first-aid but she kept them firmly in place as she turned slowly to the callous blond. Rising to her feet, she stalked slowly closer to him, her dark eyes flashing menacingly. He stepped backward for reasons he could not name.

Shadowed in the dark of night, Slayte stretched out a hand for Cain's throat. It was time to put an end to the accursed mortal. He had far outlived his use. Throw the carcass to Tartarus. Her fingers stopped inches from his throat. The surrounding shadows, however, extended and closed around his neck and Cain was gripped with fear as he felt a squeezing pressure, preventing him from drawing breath. Alarmed, his wide blue eyes met Slayte's merciless glare. He could not logically explain why he could not breathe when she was not so much as touching him.

No, that wasn't enough. She stretched out the shadows, and they crept up his face, closing around his eyes, blinding him. He opened his mouth to cry out, but his lungs failed to provide him with the oxygen to do so. She would tear them out. She had seen the way those lecherous eyes lingered all over Elissa. None of this would have happened if he hadn't laid eyes on her in the first place. She would tear out his eyes and when he lay screaming on the ground, there would be time enough to kill him still.

Suddenly, the wailing of the sirens grew in intensity and she heard car doors slamming. He could be dead by the time they arrived on the scene, couldn't he? She glanced over her shoulder and saw the teenagers looking on in horror. Tch.

She released the shadows from his eyes and he looked around wildly as sight returned to him. Stepping closer until only he could hear her, she murmured into his ear, "Take a good look at her, Cain."

Despite himself, his eyes were drawn towards Elissa. It was a terrible sight. Lying in a pool of her own blood, her limbs twisted at odd angles. Medically, he knew it was possible she might not even survive the moment they lifted the beam from her.

"Because that is how I'm going to kill you if there is so much as a scar left on her body after this." Slayte's voice was deceptively soft and she pulled away, casting one last, disgusted look over her shoulder at him before approaching the first responders arriving on the scene.

Suddenly, Cain found he could breathe again and he both coughed and gasped for air as he clutched at his throat. Slayte's fingers had never made contact. He knew that. So, what had just happened? Had he been so terrified of her, he couldn't even breathe? He had only ever encountered her in Elissa's presence or when her antisocial twat of a boyfriend kept her on a leash. Without either of them, Cain realized with a shudder, she was absolutely horrifying. Like something out of a nightmare. He didn't know how, but he had no doubt she fully intended to kill him only moments ago, and he had been helpless to do anything at all to stop her. Or had he imagined it? One thing was for certain, he had no intentions of being caught alone with her again.

The first responders were gathering around Elissa now and had called the teenagers over to lend their assistance in lifting the beam, as a second team stood by with bandages, ready to rush forward the minute the beam was cleared. Cain watched in a daze, as the group lifted the beam and, to his astonishment, there was a delay of a moment, a beat, that passed without any further blood loss before her blood spurted forth, to be instantly stemmed by the second team.

They carefully lifted Elissa onto a stretcher and carried her to the ambulance, Slayte close on their heels. Cain stepped forward, recognizing his place.

"Excuse me, gentlemen," he stepped past Slayte towards the ambulance, carefully giving her a wide berth as he climbed in without invitation. "My name is Cain Lockwood, I'm a doctor at Canterbury hospital." They hesitated, looking from him to Slayte.

"We can only take one extra person with us."

"I'm her boyfriend," Cain clarified further before turning narrowed blue eyes at Slayte, "I think we can agree it's for the best you're not the first person Elissa sees when she wakes up."

Slayte gritted her teeth. Was he seriously going to drag out this fight when Elissa's life hung in the balance?

"Take the prick," she directed, "He has work to do." She gave Cain a meaningful look, and the responders shut the ambulance doors. The siren sounded immediately and they tore down the road.

" _Lord Thanatos,"_ she willed towards him, knowing with certainty now, that he heard he _r, "She's been badly hurt. I can't follow immediately. You must_ _go to her."_ She turned and saw that the teenagers had fled the scene, leaving her alone there, with only a familiar silence ringing in her ears. " _Her life hangs in the balance and she is alone with that hound of a mortal I told you to take care of. And yet, you never heed my warnings!"_ When only stillness echoed back, she snapped. " _Dammit! Answer me! Or I'll grab the first mortal I find and drag you here with their death! Don't test me!"_

" _ Silence." _

Slayte gaped at the voice that rang clearly in her mind. She recognized it to be the voice of none other than Thanatos. Almost immediately, her surprise was replaced with anger, a command to be quiet was wholly unrelated to Elissa's wellbeing. How could he dismiss her this way when she had just informed him Elissa was close to dying?

" _I will not_ _be silent,"_ she seethed, " _You said you would guard her, and what happened? I need you to go there! Anything could happen! Listen to me for once you frustrating god of infuriating - "_

She fell silent suddenly, as the sound of a weak, but steady heartbeat filled her consciousness. She listened quietly. There could only be one heartbeat Thanatos would let her hear given the current situation and even without that, she felt, she would recognize the sound of her friend's heartbeat anywhere. She closed her eyes, comforted.

" _ Are you with her?" _

Silence, and then, " _ Yes." _

Slayte sighed in relief, feeling for the first time in longer than she could remember, that Elissa was in good hands. " _ Thank you." _

* * *

If you ignored its purpose, it was a beautiful place. The rolling, verdant grass of the hillside, dotted by smooth marble markers, and more bouquets of flowers than you were likely to see anywhere else, at one time. Regret lingered here, memories of loved ones lost, ill-founded hopes, and tentative conversations falling on ears long dead.

Levi picked his way through the many graves respectfully. He did not come here often, and now that he had, he wasn't sure where to find the grave he sought. His eyes passed over the names and dates as he walked. It was not a place that made him uncomfortable, but a place of truth. A place everyone came to, at least once, inevitably.

It was quiet here, and solemn. He could easily avoid others and their small talk. What he could not avoid, was the echo of Slayte's words ringing in his ears. She, herself, had been consumed with hurt by her confession and yet, he didn't have it in him to feel bad for her. No one had made her take those actions. No one had forced her hand. That had been her own choice. Not only to dig into his past, to secretly meet those involved, but also to keep it a secret from him.

He remembered his frustration those mornings she would disappear to volunteer at the Canterbury nursing home. He remembered staring at the clock, missing her, cursing her spontaneous decision to "give back to society". But it had all been a lie. He had never felt more a fool. In reality, she had gone to snoop around behind his back and for what?

Forgiveness.

He swallowed thickly and his stomach turned in disgust. He imagined it, despite himself. Slayte on her knees, pleading her case in her desperate, tearful manner, begging some arrogant, hardened old woman to forgive him for stabbing her shitty grandson to death. The asshole had been as good as a sieve by the time Levi was done with him. Was she out of her fucking mind? How did she come up with this shit? What had possessed her to get involved in his affairs? To go begging left and right in his name? The blood rushed to his head as he clenched his fists with renewed anger.

If she thought it was absolutely necessary, then why hadn't she opened her goddamn mouth to at least  _ talk  _ to him first? But no, from the very beginning, she had always kept her concerns and her decisions from him, because in her eyes... he closed his eyes with a frustrated sigh.

_ They're all children in my eyes. All of humanity, actually. _

He had been arrogant to think she thought of him any differently. Slayte had done just the same to him. Treating him as a child she could not trust with the truth. He had been nothing but patient with her but she did not see his patience as such. Had she been humoring him? Indulging him? Toying with him? Not a damn soul knew what truly went through her mind. Clearly, he didn't either, although he had once thought differently.

He used to believe he was the only one who understood her insanity, and that the same held true in reverse. How could he have so terribly misjudged the dynamic between them? What the hell even was he to her? To think he had been ready to marry her. He would have taken her next week if she had agreed. To the jewelers. To the courthouse. Get shit done and be done with it.

As it turned out, he now understood why she had freaked. Because he, fool that he was, had been ready to marry her and she, on the other hand, hadn't taken anything between them seriously. She had probably had one foot out the door this entire time, assuming it would fall apart sooner or later. Keeping her cards close to her chest.

When he reached the marble headstone that read  _ Farlan Church, 1993 - 2012 - in memory of his sacrifice -  _ he came to a stop, his eyes roaming over the elegant, engraved script. It was a bitter irony that his gravestone was finer than anything the man had ever owned in his life.

Levi stood before the grave, his hands tucked into his pockets, as he read and reread the words. He wondered if people came here just to see the names of their loved ones again, displayed somewhere as if they were still relevant.

He hadn't come here in years. And yet, Slayte had dredged up old memories long forgotten. He wondered if Farlan knew who had visited him. Whether or not he could sense that he was here now. What happened to the dead? Could he somehow hear Levi from the other side?

What had he and Farlan even been? Coworkers, if what they had done could be called work? Acquaintances? Friends? He had never been good at putting names to relationships, that was one of the many things Farlan would have done for him. Just as he had had no problem being the face of the business, doing the talking and any socializing that was required.

Even when it came to Isabel, sure, Levi had made the decision of taking her in, but Farlan had been the one to actually implement that decision. Making it clear that she belonged to their group now, paying off the opposition. Levi would only have stepped in if the enemy failed to respect the formalities. Grinding noses into the dust was what he did best, after all.

But what was Isabel to him? Or Farlan? Erwin? Slayte?

He frowned. She had wormed her way into his thoughts again. What was their relationship? He had known it was abnormal from the beginning. The way they skirted around their pasts. Swept issues under the rug when something they didn't want to talk about surfaced. But he had thought that was alright, an abnormal relationship for two equally abnormal people. Clearly, he had been the only one thinking along those lines.

"Oi," he muttered at the grave, "You would know, wouldn't you? You were always good at dealing with psychos." The wind whistled past his ears as he added, "Like me."

He remembered unruly ash blond hair, a confident grin, and grey eyes alight with some plan or other. It felt like just yesterday that he had walked in on the two of them, Isabel and Farlan, wrapped in each other's arms in the common room. They had clearly not been expecting him to return so soon. Farlan had been mortified and Isabel had screamed. They had only themselves to blame for not choosing a more private location.

The Maygolds.

What had that fuckers name been? He couldn't even remember. All he remembered was Isabel stumbling towards their hideout, blood dripping down her legs, trailing to the stone-paved road in rivulets, dried, bloody handprints visible on her thighs through her torn dress. He remembered Farlan's horrified face as Isabel tumbled into his arms. Saw something break in his old friend before everything burned red and he tore out of the hideout - his eyes narrowed, snatching up a knife as he went.

He remembered finding him, and that goddamn shitty laugh still haunted his ears, the words " _ fucking delicious little redhead _ " had robbed him of his senses. How old had he been? Fifteen? Was it fifteen years ago? The memory was as fresh as if it had just been yesterday. A bulky, older boy, two heads taller than him. Five others around him, and himself armed with nothing but a knife and a blinding rage.

When he came to, the Maygold boy was long dead. He had missed the moment when those wide blue eyes stopped seeing, when that gaping mouth stopped screaming. Missed the moment when he should have stopped. The moment the others ran away. The moment the police closed in.

Levi dragged a hand down his face wearily. He hadn't come here to lose himself in memories. He had hoped for some clarity.

Isabel hadn't wanted to be called to the courtroom, to be forced to admit to that crowd of upturned noses every shameful thing that had been done to her. His lawyer, a public defender, had been furious about that, but Levi had refused to budge. He remembered the asshole's family, looking at him as if he had grown a second head. Upper middle-class, he doubted they understood a thing their son had been up to.

And then, the shit that had come out of his lawyer's mouth, things about Levi's past he sure as hell had never told him. He had just wanted him to shut up. And he had, when Levi's hands were closed around his throat. In the end, they had tried him as an adult and locked him away for three years. That was when Erwin had first made his appearance. Offering him a deal that Levi had adamantly refused. Erwin had been insistent, visiting again and again over the three years Levi spent behind bars, hoping he would change his mind. He never did.

The first thing he did when he got out was to lay out Erwin's deal to Farlan and Isabel, sending them on their way to make lives for themselves on the other side. For himself, it was impossible. The loyalties that bound him to the underground could not be so easily dissolved. He grew colder, more ruthless, enough of his own had died for him to grow callous in taking the lives of others. The only way to survive was to kill first. He was never caught again.

But Farlan was. Moles were made examples of and Farlan was no exception. He should have lied low. Stuck to administrative work for Erwin, but no, he had opted to go back into the field - from the other side. To get them information. His body had been mangled beyond recognition. When Levi had found him, he could only hope that he was dead and not still living through those terrible injuries.

That was the body that lay buried underneath the earth. Not the Farlan with the disarming grin. The one burned and cut to pieces. That was the reality of life. Or at least, the reality of his life. It was kill or be killed. It was goodbyes. It was learning to let go, before learning to hold on. That was who he was. Had he forgotten?

Why did he think Slayte would be any different?

He had gone his own way, then. Opening his tea shop. Carving a quiet existence for himself out of life's stony face, but an empty one. And then, two years later, she had appeared out of nowhere, looking as lost as he was. She had been quiet and understanding and perfect. She wore on her sleeve what he kept caged within. He thought she had been made for him. Fate's apology for all the shit he had been through. He had been wrong.

He glanced over the gravestone marker once more. At least Farlan had gotten a grave. There were so many others, where he didn't know what had become of them. If they lay buried somewhere, or if their ashes had been scattered anonymously. Petra, Ouluo, Eld, Gunther. Even his mother. He wondered if his uncle had seen fit to give her a proper burial or if he had simply left her behind to decay even further. He tried to recall what her eyes had looked like, full of love and life, but only the memory of sunken, blackened pits came to mind. Some days he could remember her: the way she looked, the way she smelled, the sound of her voice. Today was not one of those days.

"Did you want flowers?" he muttered, brushing dried grass from the gravestone. He still wasn't sure whether or not Farlan was listening, from somewhere. Was that something dead people liked? Was he disappointed Levi hadn't brought him flowers? He doubted it. Farlan knew what he was like. "I'll bring some next time."

"Isabel is a detective. A shitty detective probably, but still." He tucked his hands into his pockets, "Thought you'd like to know that."

He stayed on for hours, reflecting on the past he had pushed to the back of his mind for the past seven years. When the sun sank low on the horizon, casting reddish rays of fading sunlight over the cemetery, Levi slowly began making his leave. The dead should be allowed to rest in peace - even if he had no intention of doing the same. He doubted he would find any sleep for a long time.

He wandered the city roads throughout the night, picking up a pack of cigarettes from a gas station. He eventually came to a stop by a bench at the side of the road and stretched out his legs, crossing one over the other as he lit up a cigarette. Dragging on it, he filled his lungs with the familiar, bitter tobacco smoke he had sworn off years ago. He leaned back and lifted his head to the starry night sky and sighed, the smoke he exhaled lazily drifting away from him.

Her actions contradicted everything he thought he knew about her. Everything he thought they were. He needed to decide what to do with her. He would have to go back eventually. He was a man who relied on his instincts, in fights, in business, in relationships, but for once he was drawing a blank. It was hard to reconcile the Slayte that all but melted into his arms, whose eyes he had always thought to be positively brimming with affection so intense, it hurt to look in them, with the one who had looked him coolly in the eyes that morning and admitted to trampling on everything that had ever been sacred between them.

Slayte was wrong about a lot of things, a lot of the time, but maybe she was right for once. Maybe this really was the end.

* * *

His eyes slowly followed the lines of thin, plastic tubes that had been attached to her arms, providing human medication to her broken body. She was unconscious, and yet, much to his relief, he could sense her heartbeat. Although slower and fainter than usual due to the strength of drugs that had been pumped into her bloodstream, it was still steady in its rhythm, moving in time to the beeping of a vital-signs monitoring machine at her bedside.

Itachi watched the regular spikes of the multi-parameter machine for a moment, his jaw clenching, betraying the tension lining his body - before his gaze moved to her face. She was heavily bandaged at the head, indicating a traumatic injury to her skull. A transparent mask covered her nose and mouth, through which she was receiving pure oxygen.

His chest felt heavy, his conscience weighing crushingly upon him as he regarded her. He recalled, once more, the bitterness of their parting. His part in inadvertently propelling her to pursue a reckless, dangerous path that was so decidedly ill-suited to one as gentle, good-natured and kind as she was. He thought of how fragile mortal life was as his eyes drifted to the tips of her small, slim fingers, peeping out the cast of her arm. How fragile  _ she _ was. How much pain Angelissa had endured in the matter of a few short months - both physical and emotional suffering. Much of it was his own doing, in an attempt to spare her the torment of the truth he knew she could never accept, to spare her from discovering anything about the forbidden Underworld that was his home. And yet this incident had been caused not by any supernatural entity; merely an accident, a result of Angelissa being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

And, he thought to his chagrin, as dark eyes lifted to examine the blond-haired young man who stood on the opposite side of the bed, watching the prone young woman - the wrong  _ company. _

This mortal had once again been involved in harm befalling Angelissa. What had his name been? Cain, he recalled the nymph telling him. He watched, completely cloaked from the young man's eyes, as the blond fussed with the tubes, before lifting a hand to Angelissa's face. He brushed her hair out of her closed eyes, staring down at her with an intensity that caused Itachi's eyes to narrow.  _ Vile. _

"There, there, darling," he cooed. "You'll be alright. I'll look after you and get you fixed up. Just hang in there…" His hand trailed down to Angelissa's neck, stroking the smooth skin there gently, before gliding over her collarbone.

Itachi felt the same, unpleasant burning sensation flare within his chest and this time he did not bother to quell it. Onyx eyes bled to crimson as he glowered forebodingly at the man, his lips pursed tightly with deep displeasure. He had heard the details of the accident from Slayte. This man, without doubt, was the reason why Angelissa was so grievously hurt.

Itachi began to rethink his evaluation of the mortal. He could see, all too plainly, the extent of hunger in those blue eyes, even at a time that was wholly inappropriate. A sudden, intense wave of fierce over-protectiveness washed over him. It was instinctive. Unthinking. After all, Angelissa had chosen to keep company with this particular human. What right did he have to question her actions when he himself had influenced her decisions to take them? To feel such an inexplicable depth of emotion, as if he, himself, had been wronged? It defied all logic and reason, the very logic and reason that ruled his mind. And yet his instinct to shield her from harm had not abated. If anything, it was more compelling than ever before.

The mortal doctor had claimed he would look after her. Had he not caused Angelissa enough strife? Weeks prior, when Angelissa had been near out of her senses in a deplorably inebriated state that had caused internal harm to her body - and again now, where she had been injured so terribly that she was in a coma.

What would be the long-term damage, the repercussions of the accident, when she awoke? He could sense the wounds within her body, wounds that caused her soul to cry out so acutely that it physically hurt his mind - and heart - to listen. A crushed, broken arm. Bones in her legs, snapped in multiple places. Heavy bruising along her shoulder and back. A bad concussion that had caused her to black-out immediately and sent her into the swarming seas of unconsciousness. These were things, he knew, human medicine was able to treat - but would she fully recover without further attention? How long would it be, if her body was left to heal on its own, before she could walk again? Before she could use her arm again? What if the concussion left a lasting impact upon her mental well-being?

He knew only that her life was not in danger of extinguishing at that moment. For all his wisdom, Itachi had no reassurances about how well she would physically recover if her body was left to her own natural devices. That fact unsettled him. It displeased him. It was once again not his place to intervene, and yet.

And yet. Still he would not move from her bedside.

His glare intensified, focusing solely on the man opposite him. Cain's fingers were now stroking over the base of Angelissa's creamy throat - and Itachi, a deity so opposed to violence of any form, was intrigued to find that he had suddenly never wanted to snap a set as much as he wished to break each and every one of those lecherous digits of filth right then. Angelissa was unconscious. What did he mean by it, touching her in such a manner, without her awareness? Without her consent?

_ Enough _ , Itachi thought out to him balefully, eyes narrowing into dangerous slits.  _ You have caused her harm enough. _

At his silent command, he watched Cain's fingers spasm, freezing in place, saw the confusion that passed over the young man's face. He lived, he breathed, at Itachi's mercy. But the God of Death was not done. The coldness of his anger manifested into tendrils of freezing shadow that slowly coiled out from his form, like bleeding ripples of misty ink that seeped onto the ground and inched ever closer to the mortal's feet. As they did so, Itachi found himself entertaining the idea of showing this reckless, swaggering swine of a human precisely the same depth of agonising pain that was afflicting Angelissa's battered body. The more he considered it, the more attractive the proposition became, even as he only intended to compel the man to remove his hand entirely.

The door to the room behind him was suddenly pushed open and a curly haired, cheerful young nurse bustled in carrying a clipboard. Itachi called the tendrils back, the moment in which he briefly considered retribution lost. The nurse glanced at Cain, noting where his hand was on the patient, and then raised an eyebrow at him.

"And what were you just up to, Dr. Lockwood?" She spoke in resigned tones, as if she were not at all surprised.

"Nurse Emily," he smiled in recognition at her.

She smacked his hand away from Elissa sternly. "Stop feeling up the patient. Code of conduct. Don't make me report you."

"My girlfriend," he said smoothly. "I assure you, I'm breaking no codes."

She rolled her eyes. "You mean your latest doll and plaything?"

"I'm offended," Cain's eyebrows rose. "Elissa is my one and only."

Itachi's lips thinned as he watched the interaction aloofly. The mortal seemed remarkably blase and unconcerned given the miserable state Angelissa was in. And yet he claimed to care for her? It was apparent, to his eyes, that the man only cared for himself and his own selfish interests. Angelissa was, perhaps, merely an ornament of sorts to him. One he had the arrogance to assume he could mould and fashion and break as he liked.

"Uh huh," Nurse Emily checked the heart-rate and oxygen saturation levels and took some readings down on her chart. "Sure."

"You're not jealous," Cain flirted with her, resting his elbows casually against the raised side-rail of the bed. "If this is still about the time I refused to take you out for dinner, then we could always-"

Itachi inspected him with detached, refined disgust. It was a marvel, indeed, that Angelissa turned a blind eye to such ridiculous and obvious character flaws. The man was brash and lacked integrity. An integrity that was central to Angelissa's very character as he had come to know it. What did she see in him?

"Really?" Emily shook her head at him. "You wanna go there? With your poor 'girlfriend' in a coma right here in front of us?"

"You're right," Cain shrugged and released a deep sigh, his expression growing more sullen. "Truth be told, I'm nervous and you know I babble like no tomorrow when I'm not handling something all too well. I really didn't mean for her to get hurt, Emily."

"How'd she wind up getting hit by a beam?" Emily frowned. "The paramedic report was really bad."

"It was a terrible accident. We went to an abandoned old warehouse. I was teaching her how to skateboard. It had scaffolding but most of it was outside, so I believed it to be safe. A beam fell off the internal scaffolding and was going to hit a punk kid, but Elissa pushed him out the way and took the impact."

"Oh man…" Emily exhaled, looking at the patient with pity.

"It was a freak accident, really. I don't know why she went to rescue him. He was insulting her, and he probably deserved to be crippled for life. Not her." Cain said.

"Damn," Emily clucked her tongue sympathetically. "She sounds like a sweetheart with a heart of gold."

"She is," Cain agreed.

Itachi's gaze shifted back to Angelissa's face, and he felt a strange twinge within his chest. How very like her, to be so selfless. To shelter other lives above her own. His eyes narrowed in disapproval at her recklessness. Had he not admonished her about that very fact once before? How long ago it seemed, and yet it had only been several months since he had happened upon her, a spirited, curious free-spirit, nursing a wounded bird tenderly in the palm of her hands.

He still recalled the way the sunlight had caught the flecks of honey in her eyes on that day, making them appear a dazzling, ethereal gold in the warm light's glow. The way she had looked up at him, so curiously. A curiosity he had done everything to avert and crush, in his desire to keep distance between them. Evidently he had only succeeded in causing her more harm. Proof of it was there staring right back at him. That had never been his intention. He had only wanted to save them both. Now, he could clearly acknowledge that Shisui was right. He  _ had _ failed. For still he was drawn, hopelessly, to Angelissa's side. And still she was in pain - more so now than ever. Those were the consequences of his actions and the decisions he had made for her, without her consent or knowledge.

For all his foresight and wisdom, he had not anticipated this. Had not realised, until it had been far too late, that with all his power, he could control all else - but emotions could not be commanded. Emotions had wills and hearts of their own.

"Well, sunshine," Emily sighed. "You're a doctor. I'm sure you've already figured out that she'll be out for a few days at least. That concussion was nasty and we need to give her time to heal."

"Yes," he agreed, his eyes moving back to Elissa. "But she'll pull through. She always does."

"She'll pull through," Emily nodded, hooking the clip-board over the railing at the end of the bed. "But she might have lingering symptoms from the concussion. Have a look at the brain-scan results here." She passed a CT-scan film to the doctor from the file she'd brought in with her.

Cain inspected it silently. "Bruising to the brain," he said quietly.

"She's lucky she only got bruising and there wasn't a heavy bleed," Emily's eyebrows knitted together. "Given the force of impact indicated in her report, it could have been a lot worse. I'm surprised her skull wasn't crushed entirely. It seems the beam miraculously missed her head and she struck it against another hard surface. But still, sometimes head wounds appear to get better before they take a turn for the worse, so I'll keep a close eye on her. Don't you worry, Dr. Lockwood, I'll take good care of her."

"You are the best, of course," Cain complimented.

Itachi's hands closed into fists. It was inadvisable for him to remain in proximity to the male mortal with no guarantee that he would suffer him no ill. It appeared that the nymph had been correct in her estimations. This spineless scourge of a  _ boy  _ was wholly unpleasant, a blight upon all manner of propriety, respectability and valour. Never before in the many eons of his existence, had such thoughts ever crossed his mind - to lift a hand to bring harm upon a mortal life. Though he had the power to do so, easily. Effortlessly. In but a moment, he could have the man staggering helplessly onto his knees, suffering in the grips of a catastrophic cardiac arrest from which he would not recover. In but a heart-beat, Itachi could tear his soul from his body and leave his mortal shell to rot, the fiery pits of Tartarus his spirit's prize and final resting place for incurring the wrath of the God of Death himself.

Composing himself, he silently exited the room, taking station outside the window looking in to place much needed distance between them as he continued his vigil, inescapable remorse gnawing away at him all the while.

* * *

It was nearly an hour later that Slayte finally arrived in front of the double doors of the hospital. She took a moment to catch her breath, resting both hands on her knees as sweat dripped from her forehead. Elissa was fine. She had to be. Thanatos had assured her as much, and he was by her side. His hands were deadly, dangerous, but when he intended to protect, they were the safest place in the three realms.

Slayte pulled herself together and, wiping the sweat from her brow, pushed through the large glass doors of the hospital. A receptionist told her where to find her friend and she made her way up to the third floor. As she approached the doors, she took a deep breath and pushed through. She froze in the doorway as her heart broke anew at the sight before her eyes.

Elissa was hooked up to a number of machines, wrapped in bandages, with an IV drip in her arm. She knew she should be relieved that Elissa was receiving medical care, but, now that the beam had been removed, the full extent of her injuries was plain to Slayte's eyes. The casts, the oxygen mask, the steady beeping of the machines that told her Elissa was alive, but only barely. Hanging by a thread, by the steady beeping of the heart monitor. Slayte's lip trembled at the very sight. She closed the door quietly behind her and approached Elissa's bedside.

Reaching out, she laid a gentle, trembling hand on that of her friend. Elissa's hand was warm, alive, and Slayte breathed a shaky sigh of relief even as tears pooled in her eyes. She tried to blink them away but they spilled out over her cheeks and she squeezed her eyes shut instead. She tried to suppress her fear over the extent of the brunette's injuries and focus instead on the simple fact that she was alive. When she reopened her eyes, she found that a tear had fallen on Elissa's hand and she hastily wiped it away. It didn't belong there.

The door to the hospital room slid open and a curly-haired nurse stepped in, eyeing Slayte quizzically. "Hi, my name is Emily. I'm the on-call nurse. You are?" she asked, setting her clipboard on the side table as she stepped forward to replace Elissa's IV. Slayte wiped away her tears before releasing Elissa's hand. "My name is Slayte Rivaille. I'm - I …" She hesitated, could she claim to be Elissa's friend when she was certain Elissa would not corroborate that claim?

"I know Elissa," she finished lamely.

"You okay, hon?" Emily asked, gently checking on Elissa's arm and adjusting the flow of the IV.

Slayte blinked, confused, before remembering that the nurse had walked in on her crying. "Is she going to be alright?" she asked, instead.

"It's hard to say. We're monitoring her at the moment, but there has been some bruising to the brain we need to keep an eye on," she turned back towards the raven-haired woman and, seeing that her eyes had filled anew with tears, she was taken aback. "She'll survive," she added quickly, "But we need to monitor her recovery closely."

Slayte nodded, sniffing as she wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. She turned towards the nurse, listening to her explain about Elissa's physical state, following along with difficulty as she expanded on mortal medical terms. Slayte gathered that Elissa was very likely to live, but it was unclear as yet, if she would make a full recovery. Whether or not she would ever be able to do simple things like ride a bike again, remained to be seen.

The door was suddenly flung open and Slayte turned to see a group of people rush in. An older woman and a man who appeared to be her husband, along with two young men who immediately crowded around Elissa's bed in concern. Slayte stepped back instinctually as the woman reached out for Nurse Emily's arm. Slayte recognized the similarities in their features and their familiar colorings.

She swallowed thickly. This was Elissa's family. Her true family. Not the makeshift family Slayte had puzzled together and clung to with the desperation of the damned. Not the love Slayte scrounged up wherever she could find it, but the love that came as a birthright. Love like the tears she spied in Elissa's mother's eyes as she cupped her daughter's face. Love like the shock that lingered in the eyes of the two young men. Love like the one written in the lines of Elissa's father's face, as he stood at her bedside, looking like his very soul had been dragged from his body.

What was it that mortals said? In their films and their books and their daily conversations? That blood was thicker than water? That families stuck together? If Slayte had been Elissa's true family, would Elissa have still cast her off? If Levi had been her family, would he have still walked out? Or would it have made no difference, because she was truly that difficult? That intolerable?

Slayte cursed herself, what ridiculous thoughts was she entertaining while Elissa lay injured and unconscious? How could she be such a petty, selfish friend? It was good that Elissa had family to step in at times like this. People that Elissa would be happy to see when she awoke. It was for the best that Slayte left now. It was clear she did not belong.

She stepped backwards towards the door, watching the mother cling to her daughter, while one of the brothers placed a comforting hand on the shoulder of the other. She slid the door open as quietly as possible and exited the room. She shut the door quietly and sighed heavily, resting her forehead against the door, making a silent prayer for Elissa's recovery before she turned away from it, freezing in place as her eyes lifted to find none other than Thanatos standing just beside her, leaning against the corridor wall, his arms crossed over his chest. He angled his head towards her and met her eyes coolly down the bridge of his nose. Through his mask, it was impossible to discern if any emotion at all lingered in those impassive onyx eyes.

She recovered quickly and wiped the remains of her tears from her eyes as she cast a last, fleeting look at the group within. "When did you get here?" she questioned quietly, dragging her eyes away from the scene as she left the door and approached him. Crossing her arms in turn, she leaned against the wall beside him, pressing her eyes shut with a sigh.

Itachi glanced at the distraught nymph. She had rushed straight towards the door to Elissa's hospital room, blind to her surroundings. She had failed to notice his presence, a feat in itself. The young nymph had many shortcomings and her disrespect would have been punished by death were she in the service of another, and yet, her concern for Angelissa was genuine. What had she called the mortal? Her friend? It was a relation Slayte clearly took every care to protect. It was her only redeeming quality.

"She was in an accident, in the company of the mortal I warned you about," Slayte murmured, looking down the hallway to see if anyone would notice her talking, apparently, to herself. "By the time your herald summoned me," she frowned, her chest constricting at the memory, "It was too late."

The sound of approaching footsteps halted all further conversation as a doctor made his way down the hallway. Slayte lifted her head to consider the approaching mortal and narrowed her eyes when she found it to be none other than Cain. Her eyes flashed in warning as she lifted her chin. He paused, his hand on the door leading to Elissa's room. Slayte's warning, what she would do to him if Elissa failed to make a full recovery, hung unspoken in the air. He met her gaze, hesitating as if he were about to say something, but merely turned away, entering the hospital room instead.

' _ Coward,'  _ Slayte thought to herself.

Turning to Thanatos, she continued, "You informed me you had resumed sentry over her. What happened?"

"There was no foreign involvement," he answered evenly.

Although it was a relief to know this was not the result of yet another attack, she was still bitter. "Define 'foreign'", she hissed, "I  _ told  _ you that mortal was trouble. I told you to get rid of him."

Thanatos' gaze slid back to the impudent nymph who was glaring at an undefined point on the opposite wall. Was she giving him orders, now?

"None of this would have happened, if you had just listened to me," she muttered, her gaze dropping to the ground.

"Have you changed your stance on divine involvement in mortal affairs?" he questioned her, his voice devoid of intonation.

She frowned, knowing full well he was calling her out on her hypocrisy. "This is different. If ever a mortal deserved to be struck down by divine retribution, it would be him!" She realized too late that she had spoken too loudly, as the people milling about in the corridor turned to look at her strangely.

She averted her gaze and waited for them to carry on with their business before turning back to the stoic god of death. "They say it is unclear if she will make a full recovery. Isn't there something you can do? Anything  _ I _ can do?"

He remained thoughtfully silent as Slayte posed the question he had asked himself, as well. If Angelissa were to be left with some defect, some hindrance, as a result of this accident… it was not in his nature to interfere. The accident itself had not been the result of Underworld involvement, and yet… would he be able to sit idly by?

"There is." His answer surprised her, and she listened with bated breath, ready to do anything, everything to help along Elissa's recovery.

He gave her a meaningful look.

"Wait."

* * *

"My baby!" A slender older woman with light brown hair drawn back into a chic bun and blue eyes gripped tightly onto Elissa's hand, a look of worry weighing heavily on her attractive features. A tall, handsome man with wavy, darker brown hair streaked with grey and hazel-hued eyes joined her, his face grave with concern. He lifted a hand and placed it consolingly around the woman's shoulder.

Two youths approached the other side of the bed. One was tall with broad shoulders, and had wavy brown hair. The second was younger, still a boy, with lighter, straighter brown hair more similar to the woman's in hue.

Angelissa's kin, Itachi immediately surmised from behind the glass, returning to watch over her as the nymph took her leave, muttering that she would soon return. He could clearly see the resemblance in their features. She took after her mother, certainly, but her mesmerising eye-colour was more reminiscent of her father's irises. Green and gold and honey-amber.

"Elissa," her mother called in dismay, stroking a hand over her daughter's bandages gently. Her eyes filled with tears. "Oh, my baby, my precious little girl."

Mr. Caelum turned to Cain as he stepped forward and extended a hand. "I'm Dr. Cain Lockwood," he introduced confidently. "Elissa's boyfriend. A pleasure to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Caelum. And you," he nodded at the two boys. "Her brothers, I presume?"

The older youth's head jerked sharply to the right. "Boyfriend?" he echoed, his eyebrows lifting in surprise. "Elissa never mentioned you."

"Gabe," Mr. Caelum said quietly. "Not now, son."

"No, seriously," Itachi heard the elder brother retort. "She never said. She would tell me if she was going steady with anyone."

"Well," Cain smiled easily. "We're only recent. You must be Gabriel? She mentioned you. A pleasure."

Gabriel stared cooly back at him, but did not offer a smile back.

"And you must be Castiel?" Cain nodded at the younger boy.

The boy scowled. "Cas. What happened to my sister?"

"She was in an unfortunate accident."

Mrs. Caelum regarded him worriedly. They had all rushed from their home as soon as they had received word of Elissa's injury and Mr. Caelum had made the usual two and a half hour drive to Canterbury in record time, grateful that no heavy traffic had slowed them down. "Please tell me what happened to my daughter. What kind of accident was it?"

Cain gave them a regretful look. "A beam fell off some scaffolding at a warehouse and Elissa was caught beneath it."

"What?" Castiel's mouth dropped open in horror and he looked helplessly to his parents and brother. "A beam? Like a metal beam?"

"It was wood," Cain clarified. "But it fell from a great height, which factors for her injuries."

"My God," Mr. Caelum exclaimed, looking back to his unconscious daughter in alarm. "And what's the extent of the damage?"

"She has bruising to the brain," Cain indicated. "And a broken arm and leg. Severe bruising to her right shoulder and along her back. We suspect a hip injury, too."

"Sis," Castiel leaned over and gripped his sister's shoulder tightly, looking visibly upset.

Mrs. Caelum swallowed, her jaw clenching at the worrying news. "The brain injury. How bad is the bruising? Is she- is it permanent?"

"We'll have her in an induced coma to allow her time to recover," Cain assured them. "It shouldn't be permanent, but she'll need to avoid any further head trauma. Concussions accumulate over time, as you may be aware."

"How the hell did this happen?" Gabriel demanded, turning accusing eyes to Cain. "Elissa isn't careless. What was she doing at a construction site?"

Cain's lips pursed together. "It was an accident, I assure you."

"That doesn't answer my question," Gabriel's hazel eyes narrowed distrustfully. "What was my sister doing there, Dr. Lockwood?"

Castiel turned away from the bed and dashed out the room, too upset to remain and listen to any arguing. Itachi watched in silence, pitying the boy, as he took a seat in the row of waiting chairs outside in the corridor. He saw the boy's eyes fill with tears as he bowed his head low, gripping onto his hair with his hands.

Several minutes later, Gabriel exited the room and took a seat beside him.

"Hey, buddy. You alright?"

"They said a brain injury." Castiel's voice trembled. "I'm scared. What if she wakes up... different?"

"She'll be okay." Gabriel reassured him, placing a comforting arm around his sibling's shoulders. "Lissy's a fighter."

"What if she isn't okay?" Castiel wiped at his eyes, a look of anger passing across his face. "What if we're going to lose the only sister we have left because of some freak accident?"

"That's not going to happen," Gabriel said fiercely, hugging his sibling close. "Hey. Listen to me. Cas. It's not. Evie died because she was really sick. Elissa's just had an accident."

"She's in a coma!" Castiel exclaimed, his eyes wide with terror. "A beam fell on her, you heard what that doctor said!"

"Cas. Calm down. Freaking out isn't going to help Lissy or anyone. We need to be strong for mum and dad. Okay? She'll pull through." He raised a hand to his brother's head. "Get it together."

Dark eyes watched them with intent interest. He could see, all too clearly, the pure love they bore for their sister. Itachi recognised all too well, the older brother's attempts to soothe the younger's anxieties, to offer reassurances that all would be fine. He was starkly reminded of his own cherished bond with Sasuke in that moment, seeing it mirrored in the close relationship shared by Angelissa's own brothers.

"Promise me," Castiel's hands closed into fists as he tried to fight back his tears. "Promise me she'll wake up, Gabe."

Itachi's eyes fell away from the pair, moving back to Angelissa's prone form on the other side of the glass window. Silently, he gave his vow.

* * *

Slayte sat outside Elissa's hospital room, unable to bring herself to leave. Levi had warned her to be there when he returned, but she had no clue when he intended to do so. She feared he might return while she was here in the hospital and misinterpret her absence. Even if a separation was inevitable, she didn't want it to be under such terms, worsened by a misunderstanding. She had left Thanatos's company and sought out the hospital reception, trying in vain to reach his cell phone, but it was either turned off or he refused to pick up. In desperation, she tried the number of the tea shop as well, but no one picked up there, either. It wasn't like her to ignore his instructions without a good reason, he knew that. Or did he? This last incident had somehow changed everything between them.

Defeated and unable to reach him, she'd trudged back up to Elissa's room to find that Thanatos had vanished. Slayte sighed. Elissa's state was still unclear and she longed for nothing more than to be able to return to her bedside, to watch over her until she at last opened her eyes again. She rested her head on her hands, closing her eyes for a few seconds. She knew her place was not at her side anymore. How many hours had passed? What time was it? Was Elissa doing any better? Who could she ask? She assumed she would read it off the faces of her family whenever they came out.

She was so lost in her contemplations that she did not notice when the door to Elissa's hospital room slid open and Elissa's mother stepped outside.

"Slayte, right?"

Slayte's head shot up at the foreign voice calling her name, and when she met the blue eyes of the older woman, the eyes that so resembled the shape of her friend's own, the breath caught in her lungs.

"I - um, excuse me?" She answered awkwardly.

"You're Elissa's friend, am I right? Slayte?" Elissa's mother asked kindly.

"I try to be," Slayte answered honestly, getting to her feet in respect for the elder.

Elissa's mother looked exhausted, her eyes were red-rimmed from crying and the lines of her face seemed harshly pronounced in light of her grief.

"Please, have a seat." Slayte gestured to the seat she had just abandoned and Elissa's mother touched Slayte's arm comfortingly, indicating the seat beside it. "Sit with me for a bit."

Slayte glanced at her own arm, confused by the comforting touch before joining Elissa's mother. She could see that the older woman was trying to make pleasant conversation. Perhaps she needed a distraction from her daughter's current state?

"You can just call me Mrs. Caelum or Juliette, whatever is more comfortable for you," she said kindly. "I've heard so much about you from Elissa."

"Thank you Mrs. Caelum," Slayte answered, still unable to wrap her mind around the fact that here she was, speaking to Elissa's own mother. A woman who loved Elissa every bit as much as she did, or even more, if possible. "May I ask," she ventured, curious despite herself, "what she has said about me?"

"Oh," Mrs. Caelum offered Slayte a strained smile, "So much I can't possibly remember. How glad she is to have found you. How caring you are. How well you get along. That it was worth coming to Canterbury just to have met you. I understand you two are very close."

Slayte's chest constricted painfully and she averted her eyes, stung by the words the older woman had spoken. "I… I don't imagine she's said any of that recently."

"The truth is, Mrs. Caelum," she confessed, "Elissa isn't very happy with me right now. I doubt she'll want to see me when she wakes up, I just… I need to know that she's going to be alright."

Juliette Caelum observed the younger woman thoughtfully. She considered herself a fair judge of character and she recognized genuine concern where she saw it. It had been nearly four hours that the raven-haired woman sat outside in the waiting area. Her obvious distress at Elissa's accident did not escape her notice. Here was someone who had Elissa's best interests at heart.

"Whatever happened for the two of you to have had a falling out?"

Slayte frowned, the memories of the previous months filling her mind. The graffiti, the nightclub, the many arguments. There was no way she could mention any of that to her mother. "It's my fault, Mrs. Caelum, I… I haven't been honest with Elissa on some things and she was deeply hurt by it."

Elissa's mother did not immediately answer, considering Slayte's confession. "Well, I'm sure you'll want to know that the doctors have said that her condition is stable now."

"Has she woken up?" Slayte asked, her eyes lighting up at the news.

"No, it's likely to be a while yet. They don't want her waking up too soon either. She's in a lot of pain." Grief flashed through Mrs. Caelum's eyes as she delivered the information.

"I'm sorry," Slayte murmured. It was supposed to be her job to protect Elissa and yet, she had failed, allowing this to happen.

"It isn't your fault, dear," the older woman sighed heavily, patting Slayte's hand, "sometimes these things just happen."

Slayte looked at her own hand with a sense of wonder. Was this what a mother's love felt like? Gentle and forgiving? Elissa was incredibly fortunate. Slayte was gladdened to know that Elissa had lived her whole life knowing this affection. Elissa had not grown up in a state of perpetual uncertainty like herself. That simple knowledge filled her heart with warmth.

Did Slayte, however, have a right to this kindness? This was Elissa's mother, Slayte reminded herself, and Elissa wanted nothing to do with her. She turned away with a grim expression.

"They do, but they aren't supposed to."

"We'll just have to pray for a speedy recovery," Mrs. Caelum mused, leaning back in her chair with a sigh.

"Go on home, dear," she reassured Slayte, "I'm sure your family must be waiting for you."

Slayte lowered her eyes to the mint-tiled floor. The statement was well-meant, she knew and yet, it only brought the memory of the empty tea shop back to her mind. Her family - all that mattered to her in the world - consisted of precisely two people, and she had lost both of them. "Would you please let me know if there are any developments?" she asked quietly.

"Of course," she removed her phone from her purse, "Give me your number, I'll keep you updated." She handed her phone to Slayte, who entered her contact information into it.

"I forgot my phone at home," Slayte explained, "So I won't be able to check my messages until I get back, but please let me know everything, even if it's minor."

"I will," Juliette promised.

Slayte rose to her feet, then, casting one last longing look at Elissa's closed hospital room door. Elissa's father and brothers were in there with Cain at the moment.

She hesitated, remembering everything Elissa and Levi had ever told her about her obsessive, overemotional nature, before throwing caution to the wind. "Mrs. Caelum, can I say something?"

"Of course, go right ahead."

"I just want to say thank you," Slayte's eyes filled with tears that she blinked back. "Thank you for bringing her into this world and raising her and loving her. Thank you for not leaving her alone. Thank you for all the kindness and affection you've given her. Thank you for teaching her to be the way she is. She's amazing. There's no one like her. Just…" She lowered her head in gratitude, "Thank you for everything."

Juliette Caelum blinked, taken aback. At length, she rose to her feet and embraced the tormented younger woman. It was just as Elissa had said, confusingly sentimental, ridiculously overemotional, and simply endearing. "Thank you as well, Slayte. For being a friend to her."

Slayte nodded, her throat constricted with tears she refused to shed. At length, Mrs. Caelum released her and patted her back. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, thank you. I'll go now." Slayte feared another emotional outburst, or worse, a breakdown, if she stayed any longer. She murmured a goodbye to Mrs. Caelum and turned down the hallway towards the exit. She paused by Elissa's door and glanced through the window, her eyes falling on her injured friend's pained countenance.

"Get well," she whispered, touching her fingers briefly to the glass before pushing on.

She stepped out of the double doors of the hospital and breathed in the cold night air. It had been a terribly trying day and Slayte did her best to shut out any more emotion. To block out the events of the day.

She began her trek down the sidewalk under the city lights. She had left in a hurry, foregoing a jacket, and had neither her phone, nor her keys, nor her wallet with her. She had never come as far as the hospital on foot. It had been an hour's walk from the site of the accident but she had managed by asking passersby for directions. Now, it was well past midnight and the roads were abandoned, but she had to somehow find her way back to the tea shop.

It had been a long time since she had found herself so far from home, but she recalled Levi's advice about how to find her way back if ever she was lost. The signs to look for, the roads to follow, how to read the maps at the bus stops. Two hours later, she found the tea shop looming in the distance. With a weary sigh, she pressed a hand to the keyhole, using her shadows to unlock the door as she had done the night she had brought Elissa home.

Pushing open the door, she stepped inside into the darkness.

"Levi?" she called hesitantly, reaching out blindly for the light switch. Her own voice echoed back to her as light filled the area. Her eyes scanned the shop for the telltale signs. His shoes by the door, his jacket on the wardrobe, but they were nowhere to be found. She tried to see if a thing had been moved since she was called away. It was impossible to know if he had been there and had left again, finding her absent, or if he hadn't come home at all. She sighed and closed the door behind her, locking it as she did so.

She squeezed her eyes shut as the events of the day caught up with her. Levi had left her. Her things were packed in a suitcase by the wardrobe. Ready to leave the minute he returned. Elissa had been struck down by a terrible beam, broken and battered in more places than she could count. She was alive, but only barely. No one knew to what extent she would recover.

Levi was gone. Elissa was gone.

What remained?

Slayte reached for her phone, trembling. She turned it on, hoping to find a message from him, anything, a sign he was still alive. A sign he hadn't forgotten her. There was a message from Elissa's mother, whose number she immediately saved, informing her that Elissa was doing just the same, and advising her to get some rest. Slayte typed out a thank you.

Scrolling to her last conversation with Levi, a two word confirmation of a shopping list, she bit her lip. Shouldn't she somehow explain her absence? In case he had been there while she was in the hospital? She typed out a message, only to delete and rephrase it until an hour had passed.

"I didn't leave. I was at the hospital," was the message she finally ended up sending only to discover that his phone was off and the message was not being delivered. Had he turned it off intentionally or had something happened to him? Where was he sleeping? Was he sleeping at all?

The very idea of heading upstairs to bed was painful. She glanced at the wall clock to realize it was four in the morning. She wanted to hide somewhere dark. Somewhere safe. Somewhere Levi still loved her and Elissa was alive and alert with a fiery spark in her eyes. Switching the lights back off, she approached the service counter and pulled the chair away before crawling underneath it and huddling as far into the corner as she could.

She folded her arms over her knees and rested her head on them. She closed her eyes against the tears forming in her eyes, and when they spilled forth anyway she tried to ignore them, tried to fall asleep before the emotions followed. Just two hours. Two hours of sleep before she reopened the tea shop and could throw herself into her work.

_ Elissa is angry with me, but she's fine. Out adventuring with Cain. Levi loves me. He's nearby. _

_ Everything is going to be okay. _

* * *

The steady sound of beeping was what Elissa first became aware of as she slowly opened her eyes, wincing against the glare of lights around her. She blinked blearily, making out voices, speaking words she couldn't comprehend. It took a few moments for her mind to kick into gear, to understand the language, recognising the voices as familiar. Someone was holding tightly onto her hand, and she could see that there was another person leaning against the side of her bed.

She blinked again, and her vision finally focused. She stared at the handsome individual, identifying him as a beloved face, and yet her brain felt unnaturally sluggish, slow to process what she was looking at. The person then turned toward her, eyes widening, and immediately he straightened.

"Elissa...? Mum, dad!"

It was her older brother, Gabriel. Elissa heard a gasp coming from her left side and her mother's distraught, hopeful face then came into view. "Elissa! Baby?" Mrs. Caelum's eyes filled with tears. "Baby, can you hear me?"

Elissa saw her father peering over her mother's shoulder, and then she heard her little brother's voice.

"She's awake? Lissy?"

Elissa stared blankly at them, too dazed and weak to respond. Slowly feeling returned to her as consciousness dawned upon her body, and with it came indescribable pain. She whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut, feeling tears welling there.

The beeping sound sped up in response to her escalating distress. She realised it was her heart-beat. She then became aware of the oxygen mask on her face, the tubes sticking out of her arm, and felt an overwhelming sense of panic wash over her.

"Isaac!" Mrs. Caelum called desperately to her husband. "Isaac, call the nurse, quickly!"

There was a scrambling of movement. The pain was unbearable, everywhere, and Elissa couldn't bear it. She inhaled, sobbing raggedly. She couldn't remember what had happened to her. Was it the medication that she was on that was making her feel so disjointed? Her head throbbed, sending searing jolts of agony through her skull. Her entire right side was in agony. She opened her mouth, releasing a strangled cry of distress.

"It's alright, baby," her mother soothed, her voice cracking with emotion. Seeing the suffering her daughter was enduring clawed her to pieces inside. "I know it hurts. You're in the hospital. They're taking care of you. We're all here. Just hold on."

"Step aside please," she heard a familiar voice say. Elissa's eyes opened again, to find Cain - and at the sight of him, memory slammed back into her.

They'd gone to a warehouse. They'd argued with teenagers. A beam had fallen. She'd rushed forward, and then everything had gone black.

How long ago had that been? She knew time must have passed, but had no semblance of just how much of it had been lost. Her throat felt dry, her lips cracked, and every bone in her body ached and hurt.

"Elissa," Cain peered down at her. "Can you hear me? Lift your finger if you can."

Elissa lifted the index finger of her left hand.

"M...um…" she croaked out.

"I'm right here, honey," her mother leaned over, holding tightly onto her hand. "What is it?"

"...H...urts." Elissa rasped out. Every bone in her body felt like it had been shattered, her very nerve-endings were on fire, sending pulses of pain from her head down to her toes.

"I know. Baby, I know. Dr. Lockwood, please, can we get her any more pain relief?"

"Don't you worry," a pleasant voice chirped, and Elissa saw a curly haired nurse move beside her. "I'm about to administer some more. We need to get some food in her, too, build up her strength now that she's starting to come around."

"What about her head?" Mr. Caelum asked. "How can we monitor the brain injury?"

"We'll run another scan," Cain answered. "She's able to form words, that's a good sign, and if she feels pain that means her spine is in the clear."

The nurse smiled soothingly at Elissa. "Alright sweetie, you're going to be okay."

Mr. Caelum leaned down and pressed a kiss to his daughter's forehead. "Hang in there, sweetheart."

Everything seemed to pass in a blur. Elissa felt like she was floating on the edge of consciousness, in the clutches of a strange dream, and managed to stay awake for all of ten minutes before she kept slipping in and out of consciousness. She had no way of knowing how long she slept for, and sometimes she would wake up and find just her mother by her bedside, at other times her dad and brothers, too.

She saw the most vivid dreams. Herself in a beautiful field, with a flawless night sky twinkling high above her. There were flowers all around her, touched with the enchanting glow of moonlight. A hand held hers, large and warm, and she could feel someone's comforting presence right behind her. She felt happy. There was no pain. Sometimes she would see terrible things. Shadows coiling all around her. Whispering voices. Red eyes. Herself, alone in a barren wasteland, the sky a murky, stormy grey-black. A bottomless black pit that she always fell into. Then she would wake up and the agony would return, leaving her crying out, her family distressed and unable to do anything but watch her suffer.

On the fourth day after she had first regained consciousness, Elissa was finally able to stay awake for an extended period and to begin speaking in coherent sentences. Nurse Emily had carefully adjusted her bed to allow her to sit up at a slight angle, affording her a better view of where she was to find that flowers and get well cards and balloons were placed all around the room. She had been fed liquids, but the room still spun unpleasantly around her. She felt sick to her stomach and like her brain was enveloped in a thick shroud of fog.

She looked down at herself, to find that her right arm was encased in a cast, and so was the entirety of her right leg. The worst of the pain was definitely in her head and right side, but everywhere else felt stiff and sore, too. Elissa gulped as her oxygen mask was finally removed and gratefully accepted the straw Emily placed into her mouth, allowing her to take a sip of water.

"Not too much," Emily warned. "Slowly does it."

Mrs. Caelum stroked her daughter's left hand gently, immense relief painted all over her and Mr. Caelum's faces.

"Thank God," Elissa's father muttered. "You gave us a real fright."

"Honey." Mrs. Caelum squeezed Elissa's arm, careful not to disturb the needles and tubes attached to her daughter's skin. "How are you feeling?"

Elissa blinked. She felt like hell. Exhausted beyond measure. Like she wanted to just close her eyes and slip back into the blanket of unconsciousness if it meant being rid of the agonising pain.

"Sis," Castiel gazed at her with wide, anxious eyes. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she croaked, not wanting to alarm her little brother. She forced herself to offer a weak, lopsided smile, even as her head screamed with torment.

"Do you remember what happened?" Gabriel stared at her in concern. "Dr. Lockwood said you were hit by some beam."

"Yeah," Elissa's voice felt rusty from days of misuse. She accepted another sip of water, this time offered to her by Castiel.

"How?" Gabriel demanded. "Elissa-"

"Gabe," Mr. Caelum frowned. "It can wait, son."

"I've been waiting over a week for an explanation," Gabriel scowled. "Am I the only one who has a problem with her being at an abandoned old warehouse?"

"Later, Gabe," Mrs. Caelum gave her eldest son a stern look.

Over a week? Elissa blinked at her family, stunned. Had she really been out for that long?

"Elissa, darling," another deep voice broke in. Elissa's eyes moved to the door, to find Cain breezing in, dressed in his doctor's uniform. He looked handsome and fresh, as if he hadn't lost a wink of sleep.

"I'm so sorry that this happened to you," he apologised, coming to stand beside her. "I don't know how that beam could have possibly fallen."

She blinked at him. It hadn't been his fault that she had been hurt, but he  _ had  _ taken them to the construction site, and she supposed that was why he was looking at her so regretfully right then, because he had been the one to assure her that it was completely safe before entering. Once again, she'd trusted his word and chosen to recklessly follow his lead, thinking no harm would come of it. Elissa swallowed, frustrated with herself for her own stupidity, but unable to help herself from feeling a sliver of resentment toward him - even when she knew, truly, that she had nobody else to blame for the accident but herself.  _ She _ had chosen to tag along, to enter the building, to jump forward to save the gang leader's life. She had foolishly put herself in danger, prioritising another life over her own, thinking that somehow she could save them both. She was lucky to still be alive at all, she knew that.

But still, she wondered why she hadn't listened to her better judgement and turned away as soon as she'd seen the warning signs on the building. She had always been so cautious in the past. What was it about Cain that caused her to throw such caution to the wind, she wondered? And now she had paid the ultimate price for it. There was no telling the extent of the damage to her body. Terror gripped her in a paralysing hold. Did she want to find out? The beam had been indescribably heavy. She recalled the explosion of pain as it had slammed down upon her with the force of a crippling guillotine.

What if she never walked again?

"I'm so relieved to see you awake," he hovered by her bedside, his eyes shining with sincere concern. "How are you feeling now? Any dizziness? Ringing in your ears? Nausea?"

Elissa felt all those things. "Everything," she informed him.

"That's understandable. You've had a terrible accident. Thank goodness I managed to get you first-aid in time," Cain said. Then he leaned over, and pressed a kiss to Elissa's head.

Her family stared at him, watching Elissa for a reaction. When she gave none, Mr. Caelum cleared his throat.

"Yes. Well. We are very grateful for your medical intervention, Dr. Lockwood."

"Of course," Cain smiled easily. "Elissa is very important to me. Only the very best care for her."

"Give me a fucking break," Gabriel muttered beneath his breath.

Castiel glanced up at him in confusion. "What did you say?"

"Nothing, little guy," Gabriel mumbled, ruffling his younger brother's hair in response, but continued to glower surreptitiously at Cain.

"Keep giving her fluids," Cain instructed. "See if she can have some soup. We have a canteen on the ground floor that serves hot food."

"Elissa," Gabriel looked to his sister, breaching the subject of her accident again despite his parents' warnings. "What were you doing in a construction site? That's not like you."

"It was an accident," Cain repeated.

"Dr. Lockwood, really," Mrs. Caelum interjected mildly, an air of irritation seeping into her voice. "My daughter is now awake and can answer for herself."

"Of course," Cain shrugged languidly.

"We just went to skateboard," Elissa replied, wincing as nurse Emily set about changing the cannula in her hand.

"At a construction site?" Mr. Caelum frowned dubiously. "Honey, that's not a sensible place to skateboard."

"Was this  _ your  _ idea?" Gabriel turned accusing eyes onto Cain, who opened his mouth to respond - but Elissa's whisper turned everyone's attention back onto her.

"It was going to fall on a kid," she said tearfully. "He was… he was Evie's age and I… I just moved... without thinking..." Her voice broke off, clogging with emotion. Another overwhelming wave of dizziness assaulted her, and she felt that speaking as little as she had, had already used up what little energy she possessed.

A heavy silence filled the room.

"Oh, honey…" Mrs. Caelum said softly, as she gently caressed her daughter's hair.

"I'll give you a moment," Cain said, clearing his throat awkwardly. He turned to exit the room, leaving Elissa alone in the privacy of her family's company.

* * *

When Elissa next opened her eyes, she blinked to find a bouquet of periwinkle hydrangeas and white lilies resting in a vase. Searching the hospital room, she found it disturbingly empty. Usually, at least one of her family members stayed nearby in case she should have need of anything.

At her movements, a thin voice broke the silence. "Hydrangeas are for perseverance. Lilies are apologies."

Turning to the voice that was vaguely familiar, she found someone sitting with their head lowered at the foot of the bed.

"Are you going to make me twist my neck in this condition?" she grumbled weakly, suspecting she knew who it was. The visitor stood up, revealing himself to her, open regret written in his eyes.

"Sit down over here, then I don't have to crane my neck," she instructed, indicating with a movement of her eyes towards the chair at her side.

"Are you okay with me being here?" he asked hesitantly, turning his knit beanie nervously in his hands.

"Did you come here thinking I wouldn't be?"

He slowly approached the chair she had indicated and sat beside her, his gaze fixed on the floor. A long silence passed between them until Elissa nodded at the vase.

"What did you say those flowers were again?"

"Hydrangeas," he answered automatically, "and lillies."

"And they stand for… apologies?"

"The lillies are apologies, the hydrangeas are for perseverance," he clarified.

Elissa was silent for a moment. "I like the hydrangeas."

"I didn't know what to do. My ma is a florist, so I just know useless shit like this," he muttered.

"It's not useless," Elissa replied. "Girls would like that."

He looked up at her, perplexed. "Why are you being so nice?"

"I'm not nice," Elissa countered crabbily with a frown.

"You are. I was insulting you, and you did what you did. I never asked you to save me," an emotion was rising in his voice that Elissa could not name.

"I wasn't going to wait for you to ask me," Elissa answered quietly, trying not to make her headache worse, "Look at what happened to me. I'm a grown adult. If that beam had fallen on you…." she trailed off, her expression grim.

"Who cares?!" He all but shouted, making her wince, "There's a long list of people who would have thanked you for that."

"Shut up," Elissa whispered, pressing her eyes shut, "I didn't save your sorry hide for you to come here and give me a headache."

"Sorry," he muttered immediately, realizing he had been too loud.

"I forgot your name."

"Liam."

"Okay,  _ Liam.  _ Listen," she sighed, fixing the confused teenager with a solemn stare, " _ I _ care."

"If I'd not done what I did, for the rest of my life I would've been haunted by the memory of what happened to you, and asked myself if there was something I could have done to prevent it from happening. Turns out, you survived, and I'm going to be alright, too. No harm done." She wasn't sure if that was true given how broken she felt, but she didn't want to burden the miserable teenager any further. She had somehow overlooked it when she had been out with Cain but, looking at him now, he was really just a kid.

"Why save someone like me?" he muttered miserably, dropping his head into his hands.

"What do you mean someone like you?" She mumbled. "What's wrong with you?"

He refused to answer and Elissa leaned back into her pillow, closing her eyes. She wanted some painkillers. She was having a hard enough time. She didn't have it in her to comfort this kid right now.

"I'm sorry," he said finally, his voice thick with regret. "Sorry for calling you a bitch. Sorry this happened to you."

"Are you really?" she asked, still not opening her eyes.

"Yeah, I swear."

She sighed. "Then get your life together. Think of your future. I didn't save your life for you to make it a crappy one, okay? You're too young for all the drinking and smoking." She cracked an eye open at him. "Life is… precious. Don't throw it away."

He shifted uncomfortably, shaking his leg nervously. "No one needs me. No one cares about me. They're just trying to force me into what they want. Always thinking they know what's best. Deciding for me. I just want to get away from them all. Do my own thing. Be respected for who I am and what I want. You know?"

Elissa blinked at the ceiling, his words hitting dangerously close to home.

"I'm doing things no one wants me to do, but… I feel alive at least."

"Until you almost weren't," Elissa deadpanned.

"... yeah."

"I don't know your situation, Liam. Are they smothering you or do they just care for you? Maybe they just don't want you getting hurt… who knows? It feels like they don't understand you, but do you understand them? There are two sides to every coin." She stared numbly at the ceiling as she spoke, feeling like the world's biggest hypocrite.

Didn't her words actually apply to her own situation as well? Feeling alive… until you almost weren't. How many highs had she chased with Cain, seeking the exact same escape? She swallowed thickly. Were the two of them really so different? She hoped that he would at least stop before he paid for it - the way she supposed she had.

"Anyway, stop with the excuses. Think of this as a second chance and..." she winced at the pain in her head. "Turn your life around."

She thought of the dreadful irony of her words. How much her own advice was applicable to herself. She swallowed down the misery clogging her throat.

He nodded numbly, shaken by her current state. "I guess I have to."

"Yeah…" Elissa closed her eyes tiredly, her voice a near-whisper. "You and me both."

* * *

"Mum?"

The word was out of Elissa's mouth nearly before her eyes opened, attuned to her mother's presence.

"I'm here, baby," came the reassuring answer as familiar, gentle hands stroked her hair away from her face.

Elissa blinked until her mother's face came into focus. "I love you, mum," she whispered.

"Elissa," her mother's expression softened, her eyes growing moist, "I hope those aren't the meds talking." She laughed softly, "I love you too, baby."

She helped her daughter get more comfortable before moving around the room, tidying up. "Anything I can get you, love?"

"Water, please."

Her mother brought her a glass of water, lifting Elissa's head to help her drink from it. Elissa's eye fell on the side table as she drank and she saw that the pile of get well gifts had grown significantly.

"Have there been visitors while I was out of it again?" she asked.

"Oh?" Her mother followed her gaze, "Yes, Cami was here and a few others. Slayte didn't come again though."

Elissa felt a cold bitterness seep through her at mention of the name. "Again?"

"Mm-hm, she was here when we arrived. She was very concerned," her mother clarified, feigning ignorance. She cast a glance at her daughter, trying to discern just how deep this rift between the two girls went.

Slayte had been there? How had she even known she was hurt? How had she arrived there even before her emergency contacts? Elissa frowned, was Slayte  _ still  _ stalking her?

"She seems to care a great deal for you, Elissa." Her mother spoke gently, not wanting to pressure her daughter.

"Yeah, seems that way," Elissa agreed with an irritated frown, not wanting to worry her mother. Things weren't always as they seemed.

"I'm sure she would like to visit you," her mother continued, "but she's under the impression you don't want to see her." She waited, watching her daughter pensively. It would be for the best, she felt, for the two girls to reconcile. It was obvious Slayte cared deeply for her daughter and Elissa, as well, was not the type to shut people out so adamantly. If the hurt ran so deep, it meant that Slayte meant a great deal to her as well.

Elissa did not answer, the mere thought of Slayte was wearing her out. Having to deal with her was the last thing she needed right now. At least the other girl knew that Elissa didn't want her around, and was keeping her distance. That was some small relief. Elissa closed her eyes, suddenly wanting nothing more than to be asleep again. With the amount of drugs in her system it wasn't difficult to drift back to slumber, but regret lingered like a bitter salve in her mouth.

She didn't want to see Slayte again. Didn't want to hold her hand like she did when her grandfather's death was too much to bear. Didn't want her to stroke her hair and sing to her in a soothing, foreign tongue. She had her family, she had everything she needed. She didn't want to see her, and she didn't want to think of her right then, either.


	30. Part XXIX: Death's Servant

* * *

**  
Part XXIX: Death's Servant**

* * *

Late afternoon sunlight streamed through the windows of the Wings of Freedom tea shop, empty of its owner. It was odd to have such a brightly sunny day in late autumn, but the people of Canterbury had spilled out onto the roads to make the most of it. Its bright rays banished the cold, the shadows, and the lingering blues of the fall. None of that did any good however, for the underworld Nymph who sat at the service counter, cursing its warmth, its cheer, the way it seemed to mock her sorrow. Slayte slumped forward and allowed her head to rest against the cool wood of the counter.

Just another hour. One more hour and the customers would leave, marking the third day of his absence. The third day opening and closing shop without him. The third day of stacking letters he needed to address. The third day of answering more complicated business inquiries with promises that he would soon return and inform them of his decision on the matter. The third day of sitting at the service counter, her eyes fixed firmly on the gilded, green door for the moment he might return.

She missed him. Terribly.

She knew she should dread his return, as it signaled the moment of her own departure. The moment that they would have to say their goodbyes. She didn't doubt that he was mature and collected enough to see her off in a cordial, cool manner and she hoped she had enough restraint to not cling to him, a pathetic, sobbing mess. She hoped she, too, could shake his hand and thank him warmly for the time they had spent together. That she could keep a cool head and say goodbye without hurting him any further. Although these concerns ran rampant in her heart, she didn't care anymore. She just wanted to see him again.

She frowned against the tears welling in her eyes. It had only been three days. Three unbearable days. How was she supposed to go on millennia without him? The very thought filled her with an ache so intense she rubbed at her arms to make it go away. It was impossible. Thousands of years like these three days? Maybe she could do something. Maybe when Elissa was safe, she could provoke Thanatos into punishing her. There were a number of ways to end her existence if she truly thought about it. If she put her mind to it, maybe she wouldn't have to endure thousands of grueling years haunted by his memory, by the hurt in his eyes, by the knowledge that he would never take her in his arms again.

" _Don't make me say Elissa was right about you."_

Maybe she was. Maybe they all were. From the first day. Filthy nymph. Useless. Ridiculous. Psycho. Obsessive. Stalker. Reckless. Fool. There were so many words that had been used to describe her and they were all somehow accurate, in their own way.

She lifted her head, checking to see if anyone at the tables had taken notice of her moment of weakness. No one had. But that was to be expected. She was invisible again.

Her phone vibrated and she reached for it automatically, her thoughts called back to the present. To Elissa's condition. Was it good news from her mother? She could only hope.

Her eyes flying over the text, she scarcely noticed as the last of the customers filed slowly out. It was somewhat good news, the doctors said her condition was steadily improving and she was likely to wake up soon. Slayte felt that she wouldn't be able to breathe easy until she finally got that confirmation. The message saying Elissa had opened her eyes again. But as long as the doctors said everything was progressing as was to be expected, she supposed she would have to be satisfied with that for now.

 _Thank you, Mrs. Caelum_ , she typed out, _Please let me know if -_

The jingling of the front door's bell caught her attention, and she glanced up, ready to inform the visitor that they were closed, only to have her phone slip out of her hand and fall to the counter as familiar grey eyes caught hold of her own. It was like a vision from a dream, seeing him standing there in the doorway, observing her wordlessly. The anger simmering in the depths of his cool, grey eyes made it painfully apparent that he had not yet forgiven her, but she didn't need his forgiveness in that moment. She only needed him.

"Levi…" she breathed, her heart fluttering in her chest as she slipped slowly to her feet.

He was wearing new clothing, had apparently gotten himself a change of clothes from somewhere and showered, as was to be expected, she supposed, with his high standards for personal hygiene. Had he slept? Had he stayed at a friend's? Red hair and bright green eyes came to mind, but she banished the thought. It didn't matter. It was perhaps better, even, if there had been someone to comfort him.

His eyes scanned over the tea shop briefly before returning to her own stunned, brown irises.

"Get your jacket," he instructed, without so much as a greeting, "We're going out."

"Huh?" She stood there, confused. Was he throwing her out already? Without talking it over? Without a goodbye? Without a hello?

"This is supposed to be a peaceful space," he explained, regarding her coldly. "I'm done filling it up with all our shitty fights."

She dropped her gaze to the counter. He was right. A tea shop, especially Levi's tea shop, was serene, soothing, comforting.

"Sorry," she murmured, passing by the counter to remove her jacket from the wardrobe. He watched her aloofly, with an unreadable expression, as she shrugged on her coat and slipped into her black chelsea boots. When she turned to the wardrobe and pulled out her suitcase, her heart sinking, he frowned.

"The hell is that supposed to be?"

"Um… my things, I…" she trailed off, not wanting to put the obvious into words.

He furrowed his brow in irritation, looking from her to the suitcase. Her tormented expression made apparent, at least, that she didn't _want_ to leave. Did she think he was throwing her out? Was that the impression he had given her?

Three days he had needed, to sort out his thoughts. Nothing with Slayte was ever easy, it seemed. And yet, she had said something that he couldn't quite place. Her refusal to apologize had rubbed him the wrong way. It was impossible to make sense of and yet, stupidly familiar. When had he heard her say that before?

When it hit him, he wondered what had taken him so long. After nearly killing Vetty, while making up with Elissa, hadn't he observed them from his perch by the service counter? The way a tear-stricken Slayte had insisted to Elissa that she could not apologize for her actions, that she would do it again if she had to. That reaction stemmed from her intense desire to protect and an inability to offer empty apologies. Was that the reason she had claimed she couldn't apologize to him for her actions? Actions that she, herself, had admitted were wrong?

It begged the question, what did she believe she was protecting him from? Maybe she hadn't been going through his past for selfish reasons or as part of her assignment to protect Elissa, maybe she was trying, in her own way, to protect him from something she kept concealed from him much the same way she was doing with Elissa. It wasn't that much of a stretch. Even though it frustrated him, it was the most likely scenario. It was the only thing that made any sort of sense.

He stepped forward and tugged the handle of the suitcase from her hands, his fingers brushing over hers, sending a wave of warmth rushing through her, even as his familiar touch cast a pang of aching longing and bitter regret through her heart. He was close enough to wrap her arms around him. Close enough to bury her face into his chest, to cling to his coat and apologize, and at the same time, he was further away than the Elysian Fields.

"Leave that here," he instructed. "For now."

She averted her gaze, not wanting him to see the tears threatening to make an appearance in her eyes, and nodded.

He led the way to the front door and held it open for her, allowing her to pass him by. She stood by his side as he wordlessly locked the front door and felt a sense of bittersweet relief that the tea shop's owner had resumed his rightful place. The tea shop had always been her safe haven, but it seemed that held most true when he was there at the helm of it.

He turned down the road without once meeting her eyes and she bit her lip, hurt to be so dismissed. Had he not missed her at all? Had he not thought of her once? Not reminisced achingly on their time together, as she had? Reminding herself that she had done more than enough to be deserving of his cold, brusque manner, she followed him quietly.

As they trudged on down the winding roads, working their way deeper into the heart of Canterbury where people still milled along the roads, making the most of the last, fading rays of sunlight, speaking not a word to each other, she lost herself deeper and deeper in her anguish. She had wanted to see him, yes, but where was he taking her? What was he going to say to her? Was she ready to hear it? Could she bear it? If he told her she had betrayed him. If he told her she wasn't what he had thought she was? If he told her he wished she had never appeared in his life, would she be able to hear those words? Would she be able to recover from them?

Filth nymph. Useless. Reckless. Fool. Traitor.

Her eyes brimmed with tears. She didn't want to hear it. Not those words. Not from him. Couldn't she tell him she understood already? Couldn't she make this short and painless? Her eyes were glued to the paved road at her feet. Couldn't she somehow escape?

"Oi."

Lifting her eyes, she saw that the distance between them had grown. He stood several paces further, turned halfway back towards her, the setting sun on the horizon bathing him in an ethereal glow as the crowd of people passed between them. "Is there some special reason you're hanging back there?"

She opened her mouth, wanting to ask mercy, but words failed her. Thanatos in all his might could not destroy her so utterly as Levi could with a few, simple words.

When her tears spilled out of her eyes, she reached up to wipe them away hastily. Levi crossed the distance between them, taking hold of her wrist before dragging her down the road behind him. His warm hand closed around her wrist only exacerbated her torment. His touch was so familiar, so comforting. She stood on the edge of a castle grounds, a home she would never again enter.

The tears spilled forth endlessly. No matter how much she tried, new tears formed faster than she could wipe them from her eyes. She didn't want all of this. She had only ever wanted to continue her quiet, peaceful existence with him. Forever, if she could. That was all she wanted. All she had ever asked. Losing Elissa had hurt so much. Losing Levi would kill her. It was too much to ask of her. Why did she have to hurt so much? It wasn't fair.

"You don't get to cry after screwing up the way you did." Levi's voice was even, as unreadable as his expression.

"I know," her voice broke as she succumbed to further tears, "I'm sorry."

Levi glanced over his shoulder at her and saw that she had buried her face into her elbow, having given up on wiping away her tears as her shoulders shook with grief. His impassive grey eyes scanned the approaching road before he tugged her down an empty alleyway. Pulling her along, he released his hold on her suddenly, and her back collided with the brick wall of the narrow alley. She looked up at him, her eyes red-rimmed and tearful. He pressed a hand against the wall next to her head, leaning over her.

"Spit it out," he met her tearful eyes with his own detached grey irises. "Why are you crying?"

"I'm sorry," she blubbered, bringing both hands to her eyes, desperate to regain some control even as she hiccupped helplessly, "I'll stop."

He watched her a moment, fighting a losing battle against her tears, before pressing calmly, "That doesn't answer my question."

"I just," she sucked in a breath, burying her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking, "I don't want you to leave me," she sobbed, "But how can I possibly say that?"

A glimmer of an indiscernible sentiment flitted through his eyes as he regarded her, "With your mouth, stupid."

She could not bring herself to look at him. The more she struggled to stop crying, the more her tears seemed to consume her.

"When will you learn to start asking for the things you want?"

When she did not answer, he raised a hand to her chin, lifting her face up to meet his eyes. She was helpless to resist him. The anguish in her expression, the tears streaming down her face, clinging to her thick lashes, the desperation in her dark eyes, everything lay bare to his perceptive, grey eyes that carried not a trace of emotion she could name.

"Say it."

His voice - low, even, and commanding - sent a shudder down her spine. She had never yet refused him when she could help it.

Trembling from head to toe, she forced herself to voice her feelings. "Please don't leave me, Levi," she whispered with difficulty, her lip quivering. "I'm lost without you."

Something passed through his eyes then, something she might have recognized if she was not so lost to her own fears, her own torment. He leaned in towards her, his thumb brushing over her trembling lip as she clung to his arm. "Now," his eyes followed his own movement thoughtfully, "was that so hard?"

Just beyond the alleyway, the world passed them by and for one foolish, irrational moment, she thought he was going to kiss her before he suddenly pulled away and nodded towards the other end of the winding alleyway, leading deeper into the backroads.

"Come on." He took hold of her hand and led the way. Although he had neither kissed her, nor answered her, she felt oddly comforted and kept up with him quietly.

She had never been down these roads and as they wandered further and further past one small side street after another, increasingly battered, run-down buildings passed them by. Homeless men and women had set up camp in these alleyways, wrapped up in sleeping bags, clinging to disposable coffee cups full of small change as if they held the most precious treasure in the world.

At length, they reached an area with graffitied buildings in such a state of disrepair that not even the homeless lingered there. It was precisely to one such concrete building, with broken windows and entire walls missing that Levi led her. He released her hand as they approached a narrow stairway leading up the side of the building to a second entrance. They climbed the stairs wordlessly, ignoring the stained, broken signs warning of a demolition date that had passed some four years ago. Halfway up the stairs, Levi came to a stop and held a hand out towards her. She saw that deep cracks ran through the concrete, longer than she was tall, but she trusted Levi's judgement inherently and took his hand, allowing herself to be led through a narrow gap where an entire section of the wall had crumbled away.

She stood in a dark room, blinking as she struggled to adjust to the lighting conditions. She reached out blindly, hoping not to crash into anything as she stumbled along, when she heard a door open and suddenly the area was flooded with sunlight. They stood in a narrow hallway and beyond that, to the right, Levi had opened a door leading into a large common area. An entire wall of this area had either never been constructed, or broken down over time so that they could look over much of the city from this vantage point, and had a clear view of the sun sinking in all its crimson glory on the horizon.

For a moment, she forgot about their fight and her fear. She forgot about Thanatos and Elissa. She forgot about who and what she was. She watched the city she had made her home, its sprawling cobblestone roads, its glittering streams and idyllic buildings, bathed in the soft rays of the setting sun and breathed a sigh of wonder, "It's lovely."

Levi watched her quietly. It was a fact that beauty could be found everywhere. Even in rundown places like this. Even with broken-down people like himself. The common area was littered with empty crates and bottles. An abandoned cigarette pack lay somewhere off to the side. He doubted anyone had been here since he himself had convened with his group here last.

He considered dragging a crate over, to provide her with a place to sit, but Slayte needed no invitation. She stepped closer to the view that had so entranced her and lowered herself to the floor where the ground ended, dangling her legs off the side of the building.

He had wanted to bring her here, to their old hideout. To talk it all over. To show her who he was, but he had not expected her to fit into this space so seamlessly. As if she had always been there. As if she were a part of the memories. Now that he had seen her here, her long black hair, bound in a ponytail, trailing down her back, the cool, autumn air bringing color to the apples of her cheeks, her cinnamon-brown eyes aglow in the light of the setting sun, he knew he would never be able to extricate her from this place in his memories now. She was immortalized within it. Had given this place new meaning without so much as speaking a word or lifting a finger.

That always seemed to be the way with her.

There wasn't a facet of his life that she had touched without making it her own. It had never bothered him, how easily she was able to claim everything he thought was his. He had thought he rather liked the way she dyed her surroundings in her own colors. Thought a day might come when she was so interwoven in his life that not a thing would be left bare. A day when he would be at peace with everything.

And then she had blindsided him and he had found himself surrounded by her while she had taken aim at him. A rude awakening to the fact that she, alone, had the ability to strike where he was unguarded.

Slowly, he approached her, his eyes scanning the city stretched out beyond. It hadn't changed much in the last seven years. This rundown place hadn't changed either, apparently the city council couldn't even be bothered to tear it down. What about himself? Had he changed? Was he somehow different from the last time he had stood here? Who knew, really? People change, little by little, every day and at the same time, they don't change at all.

He seated himself beside her, leaving a careful distance between them as they watched the sunset. The wind whistled past them and the silence was comfortable, as it always had been, between them. It was unsettling, how easy it was to settle back into the familiar quiet, despite the fact that they had unearthed such deep rifts in their relationship. Perhaps they had grown far too accustomed to covering their problems with stillness. Shrugging it off like it didn't matter.

"This was our meeting area. Farlan, Isabel, and I for the most part. The others came and went. Plans, payments, contracts… all of it here." Levi broke the silence, speaking of his past for the first time in the nearly six years she had known him. Slayte turned towards him, feeling guilty beyond expression.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"I thought you weren't going to apologize?"

"I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing," she confirmed sadly, "I'm sorry for that, too."

His grey eyes shifted from the fading rays of sunlight towards her downcast face, "That brat was a piece of shit," he announced without preamble, "He deserved to die."

Slayte lifted warm, brown eyes to him, seeing the torment in his cold expression. "I don't doubt it," she returned softly. "You must have had a reason."

He frowned, seeing nothing but absolute acceptance in her demeanor.

"... I didn't always have a good reason." He turned back towards the horizon, uneasy at how readily she had accepted his statement. "At some point, it just became protocol."

He thought back to the many people who had lost their lives at his hands after. He didn't remember them all anymore. He never lost control again after that. He knew what it looked like the moment the life went out of someone. He knew when to let off. He wasn't proud of it, but he had been the best at what he did. It was a fact that had terrified his enemies and secured safety for his friends. When your life was hanging by a thread every waking second, empathy proved a luxury few could afford. His hands had been dirtied with blood, but the blood staining them hadn't been clean either. "I don't know when it all started blurring together," he confessed.

A warm hand settling on his own drew his attention back to her as she held his gaze sincerely - that familiar, undying, senseless affection burning deep within those dark eyes. "I don't care if you killed the pope, Levi." Her voice held no intonation whatsoever, an admission of a simple truth."That's not what this is about."

"What is it about, then?" When she frowned and didn't answer, he pressed, "What the hell do you think you're protecting me from?"

Her eyes widened, surprised, and she drew back with a sigh, pulling her hand away. She should have known he would have figured something out, with how well he knew her.

"It's your afterlife, Levi," she admitted quietly, "This life is incredibly short and what follows…" she swallowed and clenched her fists, terrified at the mere thought, "is neverending. I can't allow that to happen to you."

He stared back at her, nonplussed. Of all the…

"I never took you for the religious type."

"Religious?" she blinked at him, taken aback, "That's not it, I just… know what will happen, if you are not forgiven."

"And that's why you went and asked the old hag for forgiveness?" He narrowed his eyes in reproach. The very sentence left a bitter taste in his mouth.

She nodded quietly and he released a frustrated sigh as he ran a hand through his hair. It wasn't any less ridiculous now than it had been three days ago. "You think that's the only thing I've done?"

"... No."

Of course not. Of course that hadn't been the extent of it. "How many?" he seethed.

She looked up at him to find him scowling at her. "What?"

"How many assholes have you been seeking forgiveness from?"

"I… I don't know, just… whoever I could find, going by your public record…" she bit her lip, seeing the outright anger burning in his eyes as his lips pressed into a thin line.

"Did it feel good? Bowing your head to the families of rapists? Getting on your knees in my name? Did you think that would make me proud? Was your empty head somehow convinced I would like that?" his voice was dangerously low, measured, the intonation spiking, indicating his iron-willed self control was slipping.

"Levi, I…" she faltered, "I wasn't thinking anything like that."

"You weren't thinking anything at all," he hissed, "Just getting another shitty idea in that placeholder brain of yours and acting on it blindly."

"Yes!" she protested, "Yes, I wasn't thinking! Because how could I think anything except that I would do _whatever it takes_ to prevent you being cast in an iron cell in a fiery pit for all of eternity!" Her voice rose in pitch, in sheer terror, her eyes wide and horrified. "The thought of your screams," her lip trembled, her thoughts were somewhere far removed, seeing something he could not even imagine. "They haunt me every waking moment."

She shivered, and rubbed unthinkingly at her arm. "Of course, I knew you wouldn't approve. I knew you would be angry, but… I had to take a chance. Oh, Levi… I can't let you go there. Not ever."

Her fear was real, if her quivering shoulders were any indication. She thought he was going to hell?

"No one knows what happens after you die, and if that's my fate, I'll take it."

"No!" she all but screamed, "You're saying that because you haven't seen it! Because you don't know-!" she cut herself off as she realized what she had just said. She swallowed thickly. "Just no, please don't say that. Please, Levi."

"Oi," he took hold of her arm, the one she was gripping anxiously, "You don't get to choose. It's not your call. If that's what's coming, that's fine. It'll mean I deserved it. I'll deal with it when it comes."

"NO!" she covered her ears, "Stop saying that! PLEASE! You can't!"

His gaze softened at her anguish. He was right, she thought she was protecting him. Her actions, however misguided, had come from a place of sincerity. What had he been expecting?

He took hold of her wrists, pulling her hands away from her ears. "Oi," he muttered, "Cut it out. Listen to me."

She turned her face away, not wanting to hear a word. He considered her a moment. She was trembling. For him? Worried for him? He set his jaw determinedly, before pulling her in closer, so that she was off balance, supported entirely by his grip on her wrists. "It's my life. My choice. My afterlife. Back the fuck off."

Her eyes filled with tears as she sensed the finality in both his stern statement and his unrelenting grey eyes. "It's cute that you care so much," he deadpanned, his eyes narrowed and impassive, making her furrow her brows in confusion at the compliment, "but it pisses me off. So, stop it."

She tried to pull away, to center her balance, but he tugged on her wrists again, leaving her hanging awkwardly in the space between them.

"You're going to stop," he repeated, the even tone of his voice leaving no room for argument, "Or we're done."

She gaped at him, not believing her ears, but he held her gaze stubbornly, not showing any sign of budging. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Are you saying I should… just selfishly choose my own desire to be with you, ignoring everything I know, abandoning you to your eternal fate?" the incredulity in her voice and the anger on her features was unmistakable.

"Haven't you been listening? Selfishly choose what you want. That's what I've been telling you since day one."

She scowled, still leaning on him awkwardly, when he continued, "So, what's it going to be? Are we saying goodbye here?"

She sputtered indignantly, he was giving her an ultimatum, leaving her hanging in every sense of the word. It wasn't as if he was actually giving her a choice!

She sighed, defeated. She didn't _have_ a choice. Not in his matters. Not in Elissa's. Failing to respect that had only caused trouble for everyone. Was it worth it? Hurting him now so that he wouldn't be hurt later? She wasn't sure anymore.

She bit her lip, guilt consuming her as she relented, nodding quietly.

"What's that?"

"I…" she sighed, feeling terrible, wanting to throw up, "I'll stop, if that's truly what you want."

He hummed in approval, releasing one of her wrists to snake an arm around her waist and pull her in easily towards himself. He nestled her close, her back pressed against his chest as she sat between his legs. He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder.

"Good choice."

She fumed to herself, feeling browbeaten into a decision she was not at all comfortable with, while at the same time, her entire body tingled with elation at finally being this close to him again.

"What else did she tell you?"

She turned her head to meet his cool, grey eyes looking down on her before she placed what he meant. She turned back towards the horizon. Only the faintest scarlet shadow remained where the sun had been, a lilac curtain now stretching over the sky.

"The things your lawyer said…" she admitted slowly, "about your childhood circumstances."

"Tch. Prying and then beating around the bush?" he seethed into her ear, "Just say it like it is. My mother was a whore and I grew up in a whorehouse. Do the words make you that uncomfortable?"

"Your mother was a wonderful lady." She frowned, unhappy with how he was referring to his own tragic upbringing.

"She was no _lady_ ," he dismissed neutrally, "you can be sure of that."

"I know she was kindhearted, brave, and beautiful and I refuse to sit by and let you define her by her circumstances." She attempted to pull away from his embrace, angry at the way he was referring to his own mother, when she had none, but he only tightened his grip and held her more firmly against himself.

"... and how the hell do you assume you know that?"

"Because you are her son," she huffed, giving up the fight, "And justice requires that I thank her with every breath in my lungs for having you, for keeping you, for seeing in you what I see."

He was silent for a long, contemplative moment, before muttering, "and what's that?"

Slayte answered without missing a beat, "Everything."

He did not know what to say to that. It was hard to take her seriously, she was so over-the-top and yet, he knew she was being sincere.

"So, you know now," he said, finally, "That's who I am. Does it make a difference?"

"Levi, you could be the devil himself and it wouldn't change how I feel about you." She meant it. That was the strange thing about her. She said the most ridiculous things, but meant them with every fiber of her being.

"See, shit like this is why people call you obsessive," he dismissed, turning his gaze back to the evening sky, to the people making their way down the road to where city lights still shone bright.

"People?" she complained, angling a glance up at him, "Isn't that just you?"

"It's abnormal." He thought back to his earlier musings, to how strange their relationship was. To how little they resembled anyone else he knew, any other relationship he had seen. "Why are we so abnormal? Is it because we've seen too many abnormal things?"

Slayte fell silent, considering. Was there even such a thing as normal? Or was everyone hiding their eccentrics? Hiding what made them different in order to appear acceptable to society's blind eye?

"Same goes for you," he buried his face into the crook of her neck, inhaling deeply, "No matter what you are, it doesn't change anything."

She laughed awkwardly, as she turned her head towards him, confused by his statement. "What do you mean _what_ I am?"

He said nothing, staying firmly in place, breathing deeply, almost as if he were asleep. His raven hair tickled the skin of her neck and his arms were wrapped around her firmly, as if rooting her by his side. She sighed, and leaned her head against his, laying a gentle hand on his forearms. "Thank you."

She watched the sky darken, the shadows of the night creeping in as mortals gathered somewhere up ahead in the city's center. The peace of her element settled over her mind as Levi's embrace gave her courage.

"My name is Slayte," she began slowly, narrowing her eyes at the city below. "I was born sometime in the winter, I am told."

She felt Levi tense, and knew he was listening intently.

"I have neither a mother, nor a father. No family to speak of. Not a soul to call my own. It was sometime around the first snowfall of the year, that I was summoned into existence from the shadows of the night. Although, where I lived, we have neither snowfall, winter, nor years, so that account could be as unreliable as it is irrelevant."

She frowned, wondering what she was even saying. Was she rambling again? But the things she _wanted_ to tell him were blurring over the things she was supposed to be telling him.

"I lived like a ghost. Wandering, invisible. Only my mistakes garnered any attention. I made many of them, at first. Punishment was my teacher, and disdain was my master. Raised voices were my lullabies. Pain was my companion." She frowned grimly, her earliest memories were always painful to think of. "But I was no fool, and I learned quickly. In the end, there was no rule that I did not know, and did not adhere to. Although the most I could hope to achieve was true invisibility. If no one noticed me, I should have been grateful for it…" she trailed off, and sighed. This part didn't matter, did it? And yet, for once, she wanted to tell her tale in its entirety.

Levi shifted, and rested his chin on her shoulder again. He adjusted his grip, all but hiding her away in his arms, rubbing at the spot on her shoulder he knew plagued her when she was nervous.

It was his quiet acceptance, his gentle encouragement that gave her the strength to go on.

"Ten years passed, and I was given into the service of my master," she paused here, remembering the day that had so defined the course of her existence. Thanatos had been there, although he likely didn't remember it. Despite being the exalted God of Death, the Crown Prince of the Uchiha, there had been neither disgust nor disdain in his onyx eyes as he beheld her. "He never raised his voice at me, never censured me, never punished me…" It felt stupid still, in retrospect, how such simple things had earned him her undying loyalty back then. "In fact, he rarely ever spoke to me at all."

"I poured everything I had into my service, never wanting to give him a cause for displeasure. Not wanting my actions to reflect badly on him in any way. Until one day, I realized that despite doing my absolute best… in his eyes, I did not even exist."

Levi listened quietly and a twinge of ugly jealousy reared in his heart. Although he knew it was in the past, he could see all too clearly how this mysterious master of hers had been the focus of her obsessive affection and blind loyalty then. She must have taken him to be the very sun itself. Especially given that she'd had no one else.

"At first, I thought that I was in love with him. That his neglect had broken my heart, leading me to leave that place. I realize now that that wasn't the case. It was that place itself, and my role there that had frustrated me from the very beginning. I was tired of being inconsequential and invisible. I was tired of living out that meaningless life where not a day could be distinguished from another. An endless cycle of arbitrary tasks. An unchanging eternity that was worse than being dead."

"The fact that he neither knew my name or face only served to reinforce what I already knew. If I wanted to truly live, if I wanted to escape from the emptiness that had defined my whole life, I would have to leave. There would never be any love lost for me there."

"And so, I did. I came here, to your world."

"My world?" the words were spoken quietly into her ear, asking the question that lingered in the air. The deciding factor she had yet to mention.

"Levi, I'm a shadow nymph of the underworld." The confession hurt her. She wished the words weren't true. She wished she was a mortal. Like he was. Like Elissa was.

She waited with bated breath to hear his response. His hand on her shoulder stilled, and she supposed he was weighing the revelation.

"What's a nymph?"

She turned towards him, surprised. "You must have heard Elissa and I talking about it. Most mortals know about the greek mythology."

"If I listened to all of your incessant chatter, the two of you would have worn my ears off ages ago." He returned her gaze evenly, unsurprised and calm. His unperturbed manner served to ease her nerves as well.

"A nymph is a creature called to existence from the elements of nature." She explained gently.

"Like a fairy?"

"No, not a fairy-" she countered, offended, before she broke off, considering. "Yeah, okay, maybe. Like a fairy. In my case, I was created from the shadows of the night to be the servant of Death in the Underworld - the final resting place for mortal souls."

The Underworld. Not the underworld he had come to know but a real place, as was described in myths and legends, where human souls went to rest? And Slayte had come from there? It was a stunning revelation, but at the same time, a relief - to know that those he had lost lived on somewhere, somehow. Even in the midst of his contemplation, another part of her admission suddenly dawned on him.

"Death?" Levi's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Didn't you say you work for that guy shadowing Elissa?"

"Yes, that is my master, Lord Thanatos, the god of death," she confirmed.

"Wait, you mean… this guy getting involved with Elissa… is some kind of grim reaper?"

Slayte grimaced at the idea of comparing the illustrious, elegant and noble Lord Thanatos with some hooded, skeletal figure before relenting, "I suppose you could say that. That is his role, at least, to harvest mortal souls."

Levi considered this. The irony of the fact that Elissa both hated death and apparently found herself enamored by it was startling. He was no fool. He had suspected it ever since Elissa had spoken to him of the stranger by the river, and every one of her actions since pointed in that same direction. That of a heartbroken, lovesick girl. He would have told her as much, that she needed to let him go. That he clearly didn't know a good thing when it was right in front of him, if she had been in a listening mood. But she had cut them off, and he was never one to give unsolicited advice. After all, if she needed advice she would seek out her real brother, right?

But to think the man she found herself so hopelessly attracted to was Death himself? His protective instinct towards the younger woman flared.

"Does Elissa know this?" he asked, at last.

"No. He has forbidden me to tell her." Slayte frowned, still bitter at that decision.

"Or else what?" Levi furrowed his brow in irritation, "Elissa has a right to know."

"She does," Slayte agreed, "But if I tell her…" she averted her gaze. "He has promised to dispose of me."

"You think I'll just stand by and let that happen?"

"No, Levi," her head shot up to meet his incensed gaze, something possessive burning in his smoky irises. She shook her head, "Don't even think about it. He is Death incarnate. Listen to me on this, if he wants you dead, you _will_ be before he's so much as completed the thought."

She pulled away from his embrace to face him. Reaching out for his hand, she squeezed it desperately, with all the force of her conviction.

"Promise me," she demanded. "Promise that if you ever see him, which I hope never happens, no matter what he says or does, no matter what he might say or do _to me_ , you will _not_ interfere."

"Alright," Levi held her gaze with fathomless grey eyes, not intending to make any promise of the sort, "Go on."

"Promise first." She clung to his hand, not quite trusting him.

"Do you think I have some kind of death wish?" he evaded. "Just go on with your story."

She eyed him warily before sighing and releasing his hand. "So, I ran away from the underworld. Wandered the surface. Of course, I didn't know a thing about how the mortal world works, so I had a hard time." She remembered, still, the hunger and cold, the hopelessness that had plagued her, then, and the all-consuming self-doubt that had threatened to swallow her alive.

"I stopped in the rain outside your tea shop for a breather, trying to decide what to do next. I remember looking in through the window, wishing for a hot cup of tea."

A blush crept over her face at the memory. The rain dripping from his black hair, the cool, grey eyes that had looked her once over, sending her heart aflutter, even then. How much she had liked his voice when she first heard it. How he had held the door open for her.

He was her savior.

After the cold of the underworld, the barren life she had led there, he had brought her inside to a world she had never known before. The warm shop, the hot tea, his warm hands, his burning kisses. Meeting him was all she had needed, to know that she had never been in love with Thanatos.

He had seen her, asked her name, given her meaning. Given her freedom and protection.

"And then?" he prompted, at her prolonged silence.

"And then I found my family," she whispered, not daring to look up at him, "I found a place that I belonged."

She cleared her throat, uncomfortable with her own confession, "I thought I would just live my life as a mortal, for as long as I could. But then, Elissa took in Vetty."

Now she did lift her eyes to his, "Vetty is also a creature of the underworld. A demon cat, to be precise. That was why I had to kill her. But in the end, it turned out that she was trying to protect Elissa in her own way. She was the one who told me that something is watching Elissa. When Elissa then started meeting Thanatos, I tried everything I could to warn her off, but she wouldn't listen."

Levi listened quietly. He remembered Slayte's panicked anguish in those days. She had been downright terrified, to the point of being traumatized. It made sense now. Of course she would have been horrified to learn her friend was keeping company with death.

"I couldn't get too involved because I didn't want to catch his notice. I was only able to run away because of how insignificant I was in the underworld, but if he saw me on the surface, he would recognize me, and it would all be over. And then…" she swallowed at the memory, "he did."

"That was the day you came back looking like you'd seen a ghost?"

She nodded, "The day he found me. But he said I could stay on the surface if I protected Elissa. That's what I wanted to do anyway, so of course, I agreed."

"He gave me this," she gestured to her arm cuff, hidden underneath her coat, "So that I could have the means to protect her."

"And since then… you know the rest."

Levi considered this, "What about the crow?"

"Crow?"

"The one you were talking to."

She lifted wide eyes, "You noticed that?"

Levi frowned, "I'm patient, not stupid, Slayte. There's a difference."

Slayte considered how best to explain. "The crows are also shadows, like me. Servants of Lord Thanatos. They're keeping an eye on Elissa and summon me when there's danger. That is to say…" she trailed off, wondering how to word her next statement. "Both the crows and Lord Thanatos can summon me by my essence, which is why I sometimes… disappear." She finished lamely.

Levi was silent for a long moment, working through the revelations she had confessed to. She stayed by his side as he stared grimly out at the city, reevaluating their current situation.

"And this… emo-god is the one who told you I'm going to hell?" He angled his head to fix her with a solemn stare.

She nodded miserably, "Yes, unless you're forgiven by those you have…" she left the word unspoken, not wanting to say "wronged" as she was still unconvinced he had truly done anything wrong.

"Hm," he returned his contemplative gaze to the night sky.

"Just because they're gods, doesn't mean they're just," Slayte scowled, looking out over the city as well.

"It's a fair judgment," Levi countered without looking at her.

"No, it isn't. People aren't black or white. There are so many shades of grey. They don't know you."

He turned to her, then. It was just like Slayte to defy literal gods for his sake.

"I don't care," he dismissed evenly, "I'll cross that bridge when I get to it."

She glanced at him, the night breeze ruffled his hair and the moonlight illuminated his aristocratic features. He seemed unaffected.

"Do you understand why it is so important that I took the actions that I did? Please, Levi, reconsider. I know it's difficult for you, but please, let me do it. I'll get them all to forgive you, I swear it."

He scowled at her. Why was she bringing this up again?

"Oi," he snapped, "I don't even want you bowing your head to that shitty master of yours. How the hell do you think I would approve of you begging and scraping for all those people - and in my name? Don't you realize how filthy that makes me feel?"

"But what am I supposed to do?!" she pleaded, "I can't bear this!"

"Tough luck," his tone was unfeeling, "It's none of your goddamn business."

She drew her knees up to her chest and rested her head on them miserably. He didn't know what he was saying. How could he even be so calm about all of this? She turned her head to watch him looking out over the city, his arm resting on his raised knee. A hushed silence fell over them as they worked through their thoughts.

"Do you… even believe all of this?" she asked quietly.

"Why shouldn't I?" he returned gently, turning to meet her eyes, "It's not the strangest thing I've heard."

She blinked at him, perplexed, "What could be stranger than that?"

She looked small and lost, weighed down by the magnitude of her confessions. It was a lot to take in, but it was also a heavy burden she had kept to herself over the past six years.

"One time, we were waiting for a target to come out of the toilet, so we could get rid of him," he narrated dryly. "We waited for hours but he didn't show. Turns out, it was because he had died in there."

"How is that stranger than my story?" she questioned, lost.

"Isn't it?" he asked, leaning back casually. When she only looked at him, perplexed, he sighed.

"I've been waiting a long time for this." He tucked a strand of raven hair behind her ear, "Why shouldn't I believe you?"

"I just… it's not anything mortals are usually confronted with."

"When you say mortals… how old are you, exactly?"

"Eight hundred and…" she did the math, having entered Thanatos' service at the age of ten years, and then the nearly six years she had spent on the surface, "...sixteen, I guess."

He frowned. "I'm usually not into older women."

"Of all of this, _that's_ what bothers you?"

"Yeah, that's gonna be a problem."

She gaped at him, confused, before understanding what he was doing. Teasing her. Bringing some normalcy to the situation.

"And you're not ever going to age?" he asked, curious, and when she shook her head in response he continued, "So, what, you'll live forever?"

"Not forever," she smiled sadly, "but a terribly long time."

"That's good," he turned back to the horizon, "Don't have to worry about you dying on me."

"And me?" she lamented, "What will I do without you?"

He cast her a dismissive glance, "How is that my problem?"

She frowned, and folded her arms over her knees, looking out at the city below, where some sort of festival seemed to be taking place in the distance.

"I wish I could die with you," she murmured, so quietly he barely heard her. "I wish I could be buried beside you. I wish we could cross the Styx together."

He turned towards her, unsure how to deal with her confession.

"And if you end up going to Tartarus, I wish I could go with you."

"How is that supposed to help me?" he scoffed.

"It wouldn't," she admitted, pulling her knees in closer towards herself, "But it would help me, to know that you're not suffering alone."

"Oi, there's a limit to the stupid shit I will tolerate from you. You should know where to draw the line."

“I love you, Levi.” 

He froze in place as time seemed to stand still. Ice pumped through his veins as she voiced the words that always hovered between them, unspoken. 

Words that settled on his ears like puzzle pieces falling into place. Words he hadn't realized he had been waiting to hear. Words that took his breath away.

“I’ve lied to you - a lot, I know. But I swear by my freedom, these are the truest words that will ever cross my lips.”

She looked out over the city, where the festivities were well underway in the distance, fireworks lighting up the sky, miles away. 

She spoke evenly, her words a simple truth. “I love you. And I will love you when Apollo tires of his chariot. I will love you still when immortality ends. I will love you when death dies. I will love you when love itself has lost meaning. I will love you so long as there is anything of me that lives. And when my essence has returned to the darkness,” she took a deep breath, the depth of her emotion making her wistful, “I will love you from the shadows.” 

“Slayte…” 

“You don’t have to say anything in return. I know, it’s difficult for you and you might not want to hear this.” She gathered her courage and turned to face him, lifting soulful brown eyes to his stunned, silver ones. “But to me, you are life itself.”

“And death, to me, is having to live without you. If I don’t have you, I don’t have anything.” She sighed, and felt tears stinging her eyes. “I just… I want forever with you. But I…” she squeezed her eyes shut, willing her tears away, “I have nothing to offer you. I don’t know when they might drag me back. If I were to have children, they would be just as bound to the underworld as I am. I’m here on borrowed time. I have no future to speak of.” 

“That’s why… even though I hate the very thought… It would be for the best, if you found a mortal woman to share your life with. One who can stay with you. Have children with you. Hold your hand until the end, and be buried beside you. Your life is too short to waste it on me.” Tears spilled over her cheeks at her confession. No matter how much it hurt her, no matter how much she wished it wasn’t so, she knew he was wasting his precious little time on her. 

“You finally say something decent and then you have to go and shit on it,” he deadpanned. “Back up a bit. Say that again.” 

“A mortal woman?” 

“Tch. Not that, stupid.” 

“I…” she hesitated, he didn’t mean…? “I love you?” 

He met her gaze evenly, his steel-grey eyes boring into hers. A long silence stretched between them. 

“Say it again.” 

She laughed weakly, despite herself, a contrast to the tears welling in her eyes. She had been terrified to voice the words, thinking he wouldn’t want to hear them. Thinking he would feel pressured to return them. Thinking he was as adverse to her saying it as he was to saying it himself. 

She scooted over, closing the distance between them. Rising to her knees, she cupped his face in her hands, looking down into the depths of those grey irises, as comforting as a dream to her. “I love you, Levi. I’ll say it as many times as you like. I will never stop loving you.” 

Still, he said nothing, his eyes tracing the angles of her face as if committing them to memory, the shape of her almond eyes, the line of her straight nose, the full lips. The planes of her face alight with the myriad colors of the fireworks going off in the distance. It was one thing to know it, and another to hear it.

“I will always love you, wherever I may be.” The emotion in her eyes faltered, conflicted with sadness. “But I won’t always be here to love you. So, find someone you can build your future with, Levi. I’m no better than a passing cloud.”

Her long-lashed eyes lowered. It was an attempt to shield her inner pain, he knew, as she began to withdraw her hands from his face. Levi felt something burn within his chest at her words, something white-hot and fierce that bordered on angry. She didn’t get to say everything she had, to speak the words they’d always skirted around for _years,_ only to tell him to go and find someone else. What kind of stupid behaviour was that? There wasn’t a chance in hell that he could accept her ridiculous suggestion, and yet he knew Slayte as surely as the back of his own hand. He knew what she was like; when she had something stuck in that damned, stubborn head of hers, nothing anyone said would shift her opinion.

There remained nothing for it, he realised, but to shut her ludicrous proposal down and show her precisely how wrong she was. That she was a shadow nymph from a dark Underworld and a servant of the God of Death changed absolutely nothing in Levi’s eyes. It only explained away many of her stranger tendencies in manner and speech. It did not change who she was to him, or her significance.

He regarded her grimly for a moment. Did Slayte truly think that he, of all people, was capable of being deterred so easily? That he would give up on the best thing that had ever happened to him? She was sorely mistaken. They were a team, a unit, and that didn’t change just because of her shitty, shady past. 

He reached up, caught her wrists before she could pull away entirely, and yanked her down with such force that a surprised gasp escaped his girlfriend’s lips as she found herself half-sprawled in his lap, cradled in the strong, reassuring cage of his arms.

“Oi,” he said harshly. His steely irises, darkened with emotion, pierced through her. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”

“Levi,” she began, wide-eyed as she gazed up at him, and he knew, somehow, in the dimness, that she was blushing. That charming, innocent, stupid blush that did such ridiculous things inside to him. “I-”

“Find someone,” he repeated her words, gaze narrowing accusingly at her. “Did your brain jump out of your head? You say that shit again, you’re gonna regret it.”

Her mouth opened, startled by the vehemence of his disapproval - only for any words she had prepared on her tongue to be swallowed to oblivion as his lips crashed over her own, in a kiss so passionate, so all-consuming, that it made Slayte’s head spin. 

She squeezed her eyes shut, fighting it for all of one second before she reached up to him, her fingers fisting in his dark hair, returning the kiss with equal fervour. Within her chest, her heart both soared and constricted, the love she bore for him manifesting as a terrible, physical ache, the weight of which was crushing. It was hopeless, she knew. Hopeless to continue, and yet, like a crazed, fatalistic addict unable to relinquish their high, she could not stop herself from responding to his touch. Without it, she was not alive. She needed Levi like the very air mortals required to breathe. An existence without him was no existence at all, would kill her long before her final demise arrived. There was no other comparable pain, no punishment that matched the unbearable suffering, the torment of an eternity without him by her side.

His hand trailed over the curve of her face, rough fingertips grazing over her right cheekbone, venturing higher until they found the band of her ponytail. He tugged it loose, wanting to feel the silky softness of her midnight tresses beneath his seeking palms. 

The hideout was a ruin, his methodical mind knew, full of rocky rubble from the damaged wall, scattered glass and litter, discarded wooden crates and abandoned, damaged furniture; a far cry from the neat and spotless order he had left it in. It was no place for mindless acts of passion, and yet as the kiss grew deeper, Levi felt the flooding warmth in his body, his blood strewn alight for her, and could not think beyond the need to remove each and every one of her ridiculous doubts, to kiss and remind her of her place at his side until she surrendered them all and accepted what he already knew. 

That they were simply meant to be, and there was no other alternative. 

Knowing, finally, what she was, who she was, how she had come to be outside his tea-shop, the way they had come clean to one another at long last, baring everything they were fearlessly to each other, was like a detonation within him. The need to bridge the physical gap between them crashed over him like a rip-tide, sweeping away any qualms he might have otherwise had over the questionable choice of location. He couldn’t wait for them to return home. He didn’t want to. This was the perfect place, the perfect time.

“Levi,” she whispered in weak protest when his lips blazed a fiery trail along the graceful arch of her slender throat. “You deserve something simple, uncomplicated, someone who can live as a- oh!” she broke off with a gasp, when in one, swift, sudden motion he rolled them fluidly over, away from the edge of the crumbled wall, pinning her under him on the dusty, debris strewn floor. 

Dragging the tip of his nose down the bridge of hers, he uttered, “Think you know all about what I deserve?” His stormy eyes captured hers, swirling with a semblance of some unidentifiable emotion that set Slayte’s heart racing faster still. He was so beautiful, she thought to herself, gazing breathlessly up at him in absolute awe. So much more beautiful than any strange thing to be found in her native realm. More alive, more vivid, more real than any being she had ever known in the Underworld. And somehow, against all logic and reason, he had chosen to make her his own. 

Levi inspected her closely for a moment, noting the tearful sheen glossing over her eyes. The absurd look on her face was a sure-sign that she was losing herself to her own, overly emotional, over-the-top thoughts.

“Tch,” he scoffed in irritation - and then his lips slanted over hers, and Slayte felt the very air flee from her lungs when his hands lifted to push her jacket off her, his movements hurried, impatient as he all but dragged it away from her arms.

Here? She thought dazedly, conscious of the hardness of the rough wooden floor beneath her. It was nothing like the immaculate order she knew he preferred, but she could scarcely bring herself to dwell on the less than ideal location. His touch was doing wicked things to her. His fingertips and lips were the fire to the gasoline of her body and she was aflame, the cold she had felt along the way to the derelict building all but forgotten. Even as she told herself that he deserved better, that theirs was surely a foolish, doomed love, even as she questioned how they could possibly have the future he wanted, the future her heart also yearned for, knowing that one day he would pass on and she would have to endure hell on earth without him, even when Slayte told herself that she knew all those things, her hands were still helpless to resist touching him. Her palms lifted to cup his face, returning his kisses with equally desperate passion.

Levi yanked at the buttons of her shirt, sending them flying from their seams. She was still dressed in the daily uniform she wore for work, and the damned clothing was in the way. He ripped her top open and pushed down her black bra, cupping her soft, creamy mounds in his palms, squeezing firmly, possessively. 

Did she really think that confessing would drive him away? Was that why she had kept the truth hidden from him for so long? Had she truly believed that his knowing it would cause him to abandon her so easily? That he would discard what he had, everything they had shared together, everything they had worked years to build, and just trade her in for some ordinary, brainless, unremarkable woman? The very idea irked him. He couldn’t imagine a life without Slayte’s odd, maddening quirks driving him to exasperation. Perhaps other women would be human, but what could they give him, what could they possibly offer to him, that Slayte already didn’t?

Nothing. In her was everything he wanted, everything he needed and he wanted and needed nothing and no-one else. His lips lowered to her throat, sucking and nibbling, eliciting appreciative gasps and throaty mewls that were so damned sexy to his ears, so damned _Slayte._

Nothing. His head trailed lower, capturing a nipple teasingly between his teeth as he undid the buttons of her black jeans, dragging them down her slender hips. His palm slipped between her legs, rubbing over her underwear, feeling her heat through the thin black material. 

“Levi,” she gulped, tingling little shocks of electricity zig-zagging through her at the stimulation, an undeniable, dangerous current coursing through her veins. “We should go back and-”

The rest of her words evaporated into thin air at the sensation of his rough, hot tongue licking and sucking sensually at her breasts. He then rained a path of kisses along her abdomen and around her navel, before lifting his lips back to hers. Biting down on her lower lip, he uttered coldly, “Take it back.”

“W-what?” she squirmed under him, catching her breath when she felt his index finger hook around her underwear, drawing it back and away from her flesh.

“Take back that shitty thing you said,” he ordered, something dark flashing across his heavy-lidded eyes.

Shitty... thing? As he slipped another finger between the fabric, brushing it up against her most intimate of places, Slayte’s thoughts scattered. What had she said? She couldn’t recall it. Couldn’t fathom, all of a sudden, why he seemed so irritated.

“Levi, I-I’m not sure what you’re-”

“Finding someone else,” he all but growled, sucking hard on her lower lip, the tips of his fingers stroking over her inner folds.

“I...” she couldn’t keep her body from twitching, yearning to grind instinctively up against the hand that firmly cupped her womanhood. Heat pooled into her cheeks, desire fogging her mind. Blinking rapidly, she responded, “I just meant, that it would be… better for you, if-”

“Tch,” he interrupted disapprovingly. “Wrong answer.”

His kiss, this time, was blistering. Bruising. A protest caught in Slayte’s throat when his hand abruptly pulled away from between her legs, his fingers moving to grip onto her hips. Before she had time to react any further, he lifted her up and swiftly flipped her over, then hurriedly shrugged off his jacket and reached down to unbuckle his belt and unzip his pants.

His lips hovered over her left ear, and Slayte felt the masculine heat of his body cradle hers as he leaned in close to repeat, the warmth of his breath causing her skin to tingle, “Take it back.”

She blinked, stunned to find herself on all fours, but she barely had the opportunity to process it when she felt him savagely yank her underwear down, and a moment later, an enveloping, throbbing, thick heat as Levi slid his hard cock slowly into her. She released a breathless, low moan, the tantalising sensation of her inner walls being filled and stretched by his member driving her near-delirious with need. 

“Oh… Levi…” she gasped, nails scraping against the wooden floorboards.

He clapped a palm against her rear before kneading the soft, silky flesh, satisfied at the redness he glimpsed blooming onto her skin. The stinging pain made Slayte’s body tense and she craved more of it. More of his punishment, more of his love. She was ravenous, glutinous for it. Another gasp tumbled from her parted lips when she felt his fingers entwine in her long locks of hair, pulling at her midnight tresses as he proceeded to thrust unhurriedly into her, forcing her head back, and her back to arch as he slapped her rear hard again, driving more forcefully into her. Slayte’s eyelashes fluttered shut and she rocked eagerly back against him, giving herself up to the delicious friction of his rough, primal strokes.

“Oh, yes… gods…” she breathed.

Pressing his chest tightly against her, Levi reached around her shoulder and gripped her chin in his palm, angling her face to the side, his other hand releasing her locks to cup and squeeze her left breast. Heavy lidded, passion-clouded eyes fixed intently onto her, as he leaned his forehead against her temple and ground out, thrusting with greater force into her, “Say it again. I dare you. Tell me to find someone else.”

“Oh,” she exhaled. Someone else? Unthinkable. “No…”

“What’s that?” he bit on her earlobe, eliciting the most delectable mewl from her lips. “Can’t hear you,” he muttered, stilling within her. Her tight walls pulsed and clenched around him, and he gritted his teeth, summoning all of his will power to remain in place.

“No,” she repeated pleadingly, her body continuing to rock back against his length, embedded deeply within her as she opened her eyes again. “Levi, please...”

His hand lowered from her chin, to her throat. Slender and delicate beneath the fingers he firmly wrapped around the graceful column.

“Don’t stop,” she begged, squirming before him. The ache within her was unbearable, and she knew that he was the only one who could relieve it. Her hunger for him was insatiable. Levi was the flame that would burn eternally in her heart, a flame she would let readily reduce her to nothing but ashes. 

“Wasn’t that your shitty idea?” he demanded, squeezing her throat slowly, carefully. “To stop?” 

“Oh…” she moaned. “No…” she mumbled unthinkingly. “Don’t…”

“No?” he tilted his head, his breath hot in her ear. “Then what?”

She bit her lower lip, her half-lidded eyes fixed onto the broken planks of wood scattered just before her. What did she want? The same as what she had always wanted. Him. Only him. Levi, forever. She wanted to live and to die and live her afterlife again in his arms, until time’s very end, until nothing remained of the world and the universe itself ceased to be.

“I…” The words caught in her throat when his fingers applied greater pressure over her windpipe, sending a wild thrill shooting down her spine. He was in that mood, she recognised. To be rough and raw, to punish her. Every inch of her tingled in anticipation, aroused by his dominance, craving the exhilarating mixture of pleasure and pain she knew, from experience, he could deliver all too well. 

“What were you saying?” he thrust once into her, before stilling again. “About a mortal woman?”

Slayte couldn’t stand the agonising throb, the familiar coil of sinful tension within her lower belly that pleaded for release. She gripped onto his arm with one hand, and tried in vain to reach around him in a desperate attempt to urge him to continue in his motions. But Levi was holding her by her throat, restricting her movements, his chest pressed to her back. He was all around her, inescapable, his weight rooting her in place. Her inner walls twitched with the need to restore the burning friction between them, to scratch the unbearable itch within.

“Take,” he squeezed tighter, pulling on her hair almost painfully, “your shitty,” the edges of Slayte’s vision began to fog, “words back.”

Her nails dug into his forearm, and something snapped inside her. A mortal woman? How could she possibly bear such an awful thing? Even knowing that it was surely for the best, what had even possessed her to say it, when he touched her this way, completed her this way? The very idea of any other woman being with Levi filled Slayte with an unspeakable, possessive jealousy. He was rejecting her suggestion. He had accepted her for everything she was. He was making it clear, with every kiss and angry thrust, that he had absolutely no intention of ending things between them.

He was being selfish, making clear what he wanted. And what he wanted was Slayte. Her heart swelled within her chest, pounding against her rib-cage, liquid warmth coursing through her veins. 

Levi wanted her. He didn’t want to let go, even knowing the truth. The Fates had surely molded him for her. And she had been molded for him, too.

Wasn’t he always telling her to do the same? To ask for and take what she wanted?

She pushed herself back up onto her knees and lifted an arm, grabbing the back of his head, pulling it roughly down, her fingers tangling through his fine hair. Turning her face toward his, she met his lips with hers and whispered between impassioned kisses, “I want,” she bit into his bottom lip, “ _you_ , Levi.”

Once more he thrust up into her, his tongue dancing with hers.

“Say it,” he responded, “again.”

“I want you,” she echoed with greater conviction, and was rewarded with four quick thrusts in succession, before Levi rose to his feet and wound a steely arm around her midriff, lifting her with ease off the ground as though she were weightless. The room spun in a blur of movement and then Slayte felt the cold hardness of a solid brick wall at her back as Levi pushed her into it. She wrapped her long, slender legs around his waist, snaked her arms around his neck and crashed her lips against his once more.

“I can’t hear you,” he said harshly, gripping her hips as he ploughed into her, his rhythm steady, forceful. 

“I… want… _you_ …! Levi… Ackerman!” Her voice rose, each word punctuated by the power of his thrusts. The tantalising feel of his hard, engorged length stroking against the wet slickness of her clenching walls sent her rapidly hurtling toward the edge, nearing the plummet that would drive them both to senseless euphoria.

“No ‘mortal’ woman?” he demanded.

“No,” she gasped, locking her ankles behind him as she shifted her weight and bounced up and down his cock, her nails digging hard enough into his scalp to draw a pained hissed from his lips. “No-one else. No-one but me… mmmph,” she kissed him roughly, ruthlessly, mad with lust. 

“Tch,” she felt his lips twitch against hers, not quite a smirk, but satisfied nonetheless. “That’s what I thought.”

He increased his pace, lowering his lips to suck at the supple skin of her throat, eliciting deep, sinful, approving moans from her as he pumped harder, deeper, faster, more urgently into her, his movements growing more and more desperate. He gritted his teeth, feeling beads of sweat forming on his brow from exertion, his pulse hurtling as he rammed into her with wild abandon. 

Slayte lost herself to the intense excitement of being trapped between the hardness of the wall behind her and the heat and strength of Levi’s body owning her, possessing her completely, her whimpering moans turning to screams of pure pleasure as she cried out his name in desperate need, her entire body consumed with fire. 

“Levi…! Levi…! Oh…!”

The words sounded like a sacred prayer falling from her lips. He loved the sensual huskiness of her voice, the way she moaned his name so sexily in the height of their lovemaking, the way it excited him to hear it, knowing that he alone was the one responsible for leaving her in such a flustered, vulnerable state. She had come from another world, innocent, untouched, alone - and somehow stumbled into his. As his eyes fell onto her pleasure-contorted face, Levi found that he was glad that Slayte was not human. At least, if he was guaranteed to die first, he would never have to live on in misery without hearing his favourite sound. 

He snipped at her lips with his own, driving up into her with concentrated effort, jarring her head back and forth and pushing her body uncomfortably against the wall from the brutality of his thrusts. Slayte welcomed the roughness, the rawness as she grinded against him, paying little heed to the protruding bricks that dug painfully into her back, likely to leave bruises the next morning. 

“Slayte,” he ground out, feeling himself coming rapidly undone inside her hot, velvety-sheath, close to unravelling entirely. His entire body, his mind, were attuned to her and her alone. There was nothing else in the world but Slayte, her softness, her welcoming heat, the endless love she so selflessly offered to him and the inexplicable peace he found in her arms. “ _Fuck…_ ”

The agonising tingling within Slayte heightened, each strong pound increasing the burning friction until the tightly wound spring of heavy, throbbing tension between her legs finally snapped, sending violent wave after wave of unadulterated pleasure crashing over her, ripping the very air from her lungs as she breathlessly near-sobbed his name, overcome with the blinding, head-spinning force of their passion.

The sheer tightness of Slayte’s pulsing, clenching walls as she orgasmed was a catalyst that catapulted him into the summit of ecstasy mere seconds after her. Levi slammed her wrists up against the wall and pressed his face against the sweat-coated junction between her neck and shoulder, an incoherent, strangled groan vibrating in his throat as he finished inside her, coating her womb with his seed, the force of his release turning his breaths into ragged pants.

He thrust up once more into her, holding himself deeply within her for a long moment, savouring the last few pulses of delicious pleasure - before his legs buckled and he slid slowly down onto his knees, lowering her gently with him. Panting against her shoulder, he remained buried within her, feeling the gentleness of her tender, adoring fingers as they raked slowly through his hair, her ankles still locked tightly around him. He could feel the fine tremors racking through her body, and the strain in his own muscles as he sagged against her, trying to catch his breath.

There was a long silence, in which there were only the two of them and the quiet stillness of the night, as the world that had faded away around them settled gradually back into orbit. 

Slayte was finally the one to break it, overwhelmed once more by the depth of her feelings for him as she clung onto him tightly, pressing a tender, ardent kiss against his temple. He accepted her. He loved her. What else was there to fear? Couldn’t they overcome anything and everything together, if she just held onto his hand and never let go, until time cruelly forced her to? It would be unbearable. But she would have lived, and a short lifetime with Levi was better than an eternity alone. Wasn’t it?

“I love you…” she whispered the words again into the night air, where they settled like soft snowflakes around him, leaving him feeling fuzzy and warm. A thoroughly disarming sensation - but one that was by no means unpleasant. Levi lazily blinked, utterly spent, utterly content, the immense relief of knowing where they stood with each other, and that they were surely going to be alright flooding through him. He wasn’t going to let anything happen to Slayte. He would do everything in his power to keep her where she belonged; right by his side. That was nothing any stupid words, or doubts, or monsters from her world, and even her damned Grim-Reaper ‘Master’, could and would ever change. 

Still the three word response he knew she deserved wedged in his throat, stubbornly refusing to roll off his tongue. Instead, he silently slipped his arms around her waist, buried his face in her hair and released a heavy sigh as he held her close, pressing his chest tightly against her breasts, where he knew she could feel the force of his heart, drumming fast against his rib-cage. 

The heart that Slayte knew, as she blinked back tears and embraced him closely, beat unequivocally for her. After all, it raced for nobody else the way it did for Slayte Rivaille and in that moment, she knew, without doubt, that his heart spoke those three words back to her, too.

* * *

After spending just over two weeks under close observation in the hospital and enduring multiple scans and operations to align the various breaks in her right arm, leg and hip, Elissa was finally discharged and taken back to her apartment, wheelchair bound and still in a great degree of pain and discomfort.

The medical staff were satisfied that her head injury was stable and a consultant doctor senior to Cain had informed Elissa and her family of the prognosis. It would take several months for her broken arm and legs to heal. Elissa had seen the scan images, which had shown a multitude of fractures caused by the crushing impact of the beam. Her arm, the consultant had stated, would likely make a complete recovery over time, perhaps leaving only minor shoulder issues behind, but due to the extent of injury, there was a greater risk that her right leg, in particular, could cause further complications down the line, and she would require extensive physiotherapy to regain function of that limb.

Elissa was also firmly ordered to return straight to hospital if she experienced any further spells of dizziness, strong nausea, severe headaches, memory loss, or excessive sleepiness, which were all indications of worsening head-trauma.

The news of being wheel-chair bound for a period of at least four months at the very minimum hit Elissa hard. She was used to being outgoing and enjoyed moving around. Being confined to a wheel-chair was going to be difficult. She knew she was lucky to be alive at all, that the accident could have been so much worse. Her spine could have been snapped and left her permanently paralysed. At least she had a hope of walking normally again. She told herself she just needed to be patient.

The medication they'd sent home with her was strong and Elissa loathed the side-effects. But it was the only thing that brought her much-needed pain relief. She felt that she was a captive, trapped in the prison of pain that was her body. On the morning that her father wheeled her out of the hospital, Elissa inhaled deeply, hungry to draw in fresh air after weeks of being consigned to a stuffy hospital room.

Her mother had taken time off work to care for her. The hospital had advised that Elissa's recovery take place in Canterbury where possible as the medics there were now familiar with her case. Elissa had been relieved to hear this. She knew what her parents were like, how they would have otherwise marched her straight home. But she hadn't even told them that she'd lost her own job yet. How was she going to confess to her mother that she had no more money to pay for rent? The humiliation of it was too much for Elissa to bear. Not only would her mother be staying with her for the next few months, she'd also be paying Elissa's rent for her. There was no way that Elissa could get a job for the foreseeable future to cover the living costs.

 _So much for being independent_ , Elissa thought glumly to herself. She didn't seem to have being a grown, responsible adult figured out all that well yet.

Gabriel lifted her gently out the wheelchair and placed her onto the passenger seat at the back of the car. Castiel reached over and secured her seatbelt while Mr. Caelum placed the wheelchair in the boot of the car. When they were all inside, Cain, who had followed them out, assured Elissa that he would be around often to check on her progress. Elissa and her parents thanked him, and then Castiel rolled up the window and the family departed.

"Is that guy seriously your boyfriend?" Gabriel turned his eyes to his sister, frowning as their father pulled out onto the road. "For real? How come you never told me about him?"

Cain had become a grey area ever since the nightclub outing. She didn't know how to answer her brother. _Were_ they friends? More than friends? Something in between? Identifying him as her boyfriend would mean that she was no longer single and fully committed to him. Did she even _want_ to be something long-term with Cain?

Her eyebrows furrowed together as she stared out the window. Her heart wasn't exactly leaping at the idea, but she enjoyed his company, didn't she? Wasn't that enough? Or did she just enjoy the way his fast-paced life-style placed her thoughts on pause, helping her to avoid over-thinking issues she desperately didn't want to dwell on? All the things that had happened to her over the previous months that completely defied all logic and explanation?

Was it him, or was it the distraction he offered? How could she know, when she'd never really even had a steady boyfriend before? Only meaningless, informal 'dates' here and there that had never led to anything substantial. How could she be sure when she had never been in love before?

Cain was wild in nature. Confident, uncensored, he played by no rules but his own and Elissa knew that was part of his appeal. He went to questionable places, engaged in reckless behaviours. Elissa had gone along on the ride, experienced those places with him. Done things she'd never even considered in the past, chasing the same high she assumed the teenager she'd saved, Liam, had been desperate to achieve in order to feel alive. But was that truly what living was about? She found herself wondering if there was another, better way. A way that didn't involve her being hurt - physically or emotionally. Or were those guaranteed to happen, regardless of which path one carved out in life? She'd been hurt being too trusting, too sensible and naive. She'd been hurt throwing all caution to the wind. When did the pain end?

She sighed heavily, hearing all too clearly the disapproval in her brother's voice.

"We're not official," she answered. "It's a grey area."

"He seems a friendly chap, at least," Mr. Caelum said.

"Dad, seriously?" Gabriel exclaimed.

"Well," Isaac Caelum amended. "I mean, he's clearly educated. What do you think, Jules?"

"Educated doesn't equate to class, honey," his wife, Juliette, remarked dryly.

"I saw this prick chatting up his female colleagues," Gabriel informed them. "Elissa, you're too good for him."

"He smiles too much," Castiel agreed, scowling. "He's kinda weird."

"Ugh. Guys. I don't want to talk about it," Elissa lifted her working hand to her throbbing head. The last thing she needed now was her family judging her on her relationship with Cain. Her head hurt too much and she didn't even want to think about him at all.

"It's alright honey," her mother reassured her. "You don't need to think about that now. I'm sure it'll be comforting to your brother to know a doctor is coming over to check on you, even if he dislikes him."

"Whatever," Gabriel muttered beneath his breath. "Just don't want my sister taken advantage of."

"My daughter's no push-over," Juliette remarked, meeting Elissa's eyes in the rearview mirror. "Isn't that right, love?"

Elissa thought of all the people who had lied to her and taken advantage of her, and swallowed, turning her eyes back to the window where she watched the world streak by. She offered no reply, not wanting to disappoint her mother with the news that she had failed in _that_ department, too.

* * *

They arrived at Elissa's apartment, where her family helped her to settle in. Elissa came to discover that her parents had been staying at her place after contacting the landlord following news of the accident. Gabriel had taken Castiel back home so that he wouldn't miss any more work and Castiel could continue going to school. Her brothers visited on weekends, but now the entire family was together again to make sure Elissa had everything she needed before everyone except her mother remained behind to care for her.

It had been a while since any of her family members had visited her, and Elissa had not had Vetty the last time they had. Castiel and her mother took an instant liking to her cat. The family shared a home-cooked dinner together and Elissa realised how much she had missed being around them, how grateful she was for them, how good it felt to be surrounded by people who loved her unconditionally. She bickered with her brothers, enjoyed her father's dad jokes, and laughed at Vetty's cute antics as she tried to endear herself to all of her family members. Then, at the end of a pleasant night, Elissa's father helped her into bed, before he and her brothers hugged her goodbye, promising that they would return to visit the following weekend.

She went to sleep for the night, heavily drugged on pain relief, and dreamt vividly again of strange shadowy figures. When she awoke in the middle of the night, crying out in pain, her mother rushed to her side to soothe her, stroking her hair until her daughter fell back into a fitful slumber once again.

* * *

He sat perched on the rooftop late that night, listening to the distressing sounds of her broken cries for help. She was suffering intensely. Her soul, trapped in a cage of torment, screamed out for aid, calling out to his very being. He knew it would take her body months to recover if left to its own devices - and even then, there was no guarantee that the recovery would be complete, and that she would be restored to her previous state of health.

It was not his place to intrude, no business of his to pay heed to an injured mortal who was safe from the time of their demise. But Angelissa was in a heavily- compromised state. Unknown threats still loomed over her. Any further attack on her now would surely be fatal.

Another cry caused a heaviness to weigh upon his chest. He determined that he would monitor the situation and continue to keep sentry outside her home between the fulfillment of his duties. Now, more than ever, she was in need of a guard, helpless and broken as she was with only her mother beside her for company.

The sound of her tearful sobs tugged persistently at him. Although he had learned not to lend ear, although his eons as the god of death meant he knew precisely how to block out the sound of her cries, he instead reduced every other plea begging audience to silence, until no voice remained but hers.

* * *

True to his word, Cain dropped by the next afternoon, bringing with him a box of fresh pastries and coffee he'd pick up for both Elissa and her mother. Juliette Caelum accepted the offerings, thanking him politely, and then hung back to watch his interaction with her daughter with keen interest.

"Elissa, darling," Cain sat down on the couch next to where Elissa was sitting before the TV, her broken leg resting elevated on a chair. "How are you feeling?"

"My arm itches," she complained, frowning down at the heavily bandaged limb cradled close to her chest in its sling.

"Ah, a common complaint," he agreed. "How is the pain? Were you able to sleep alright?"

"Not really," Elissa grumbled grumpily. "I feel like crap."

Cain regarded her for a long moment, then sighed. "What possessed you to throw yourself in harm's way like that? Look at what's happened to you, darling." He gestured at her leg cast. "That foul-mouthed little brat deserved whatever came to him."

Elissa frowned. "He's just a kid," she defended. "A lost kid. He came to visit me to apologise and brought me flowers."

"Did he, now?" Cain looked bemused. "I'm surprised he has a conscience at all."

"Everyone has a story, Cain." She responded. "Maybe his parents aren't around, maybe there's a reason he's so angry with the world. How can you say something like that?"

"Because he was a punk who bit off way more than he could chew." Cain rolled his eyes. "That would've been a life-lesson for him, Elissa."

"You're a doctor," Elissa shook her head. "What happened to saving people?"

"I do save people. But I'm saying it should have been him, rather him than you. It was horrible for me to see you in such a state. I hate seeing you now like this."

Elissa swallowed, disagreeing with him. Though she was suffering immeasurable pain, she was pleased that she had spared the poor child the agony she was feeling. Maybe the outcome would have been different if he had been hit. Maybe he might have died. She'd gotten terribly hurt, but at least nobody had passed away. She took great comfort from that fact.

"Mrs. Caelum," Cain called to Elissa's mother, who stepped out of the kitchen with hot drinks and the treats he had brought. "Has Elissa been eating well?"

"Here and there," Juliette answered. "I think the medication leaves her feeling a little nauseous."

"Oh yes, it's ghastly stuff," Cain mused. "But the only thing that will do."

"How long do you think it will take for her arm to mend, at least?" Mrs. Caelum asked.

Cain rested a casual elbow on the couch's arm-rest. "Hmm. It should be quicker than her leg. Her leg suffered the worst brunt of the impact. Maybe eight to twelve weeks. We'll book her in for some physio too once the scans look good, to make sure she regains full function in her arm and fingers. Snapped everything. Even her wrist."

Elissa felt it. She felt like her arm was just barely attached to her shoulder.

"Honey, do you want some pastries?" Her mother offered.

Elissa shook her head. She usually loved sweet things, but the idea of eating anything sugary right then set her stomach churning. "I'm tired," she mumbled, trying to fight off the sudden wave of sleepiness that crashed over her. She could feel her eyelids growing heavy.

"Take a nap, baby," her mother moved to get the blanket, but Cain was already on his feet.

"Please, allow me," he offered, and gallantly snatched it before she could, spreading it over Elissa comfortingly. She soon dozed off.

Cain reached out and tucked a lock of hair carefully behind Elissa's ear. Mrs. Caelum watched him in silence for a moment, before saying, "Dr. Lockwood. What was my daughter doing at the construction site? Why was it unsupervised?"

He sighed and turned sorrowful eyes to her. "Elissa wanted to go skating. I took her to a place I knew. There's never been an accident there before, and I've been several times."

She folded her arms, pursing her lips. "I assume there were warning signs the pair of you ignored."

He shrugged. "As I said, there was never an issue before."

"That's reckless of your both," she scowled. In her mind, she added that it was also wholly unlike Elissa.

"In hindsight, yes," Cain replied, sipping on his coffee. "I feel terrible."

Mrs. Caelum eyed him for a moment, before continuing, "And this boy she saved?"

"A little scoundrel who was showing off in front of his friends," Cain waved a dismissive hand. "He tried to start trouble, and in the midst of it a beam fell from the scaffolding. Elissa threw herself into the way. I tried to stop her. It escapes me why she would think to do such a reckless thing, when the boy was insulting her."

Mrs. Caelum's eyes narrowed. "My daughter has a kind heart and hates to see anyone else in pain. It may have been a reckless thing to do, but I assure you, it was done out of kindness."

"So she would rather take it upon herself?" He shook his head, as if he couldn't understand the reasoning behind Elissa's actions. "Why suffer yourself in someone else's stead?"

"I suppose," Juliette's eyes moved to her daughter, softening with affection. "You could look at it like that. She's always trying to save others, to make sure nobody feels left out, ever since she was a little girl."

"How sweet," Cain remarked, but she didn't miss the way he frowned as if in disapproval. "This accident was entirely avoidable," he went on. "The boy was the one who should have been hit. Now she has been instead, and is confined to a wheel-chair for who knows how long? A price she did not need to pay. A pity, really…" He glanced thoughtfully at Elissa.

Juliette's eyebrows rose. She said nothing to that. She watched as his phone pinged and he glanced down, blinking, then smirking slightly in amusement as he sent some messages back to someone. She determined that for her daughter's supposed 'boyfriend', he was a bit too laid back and distracted given Elissa's present state.

Cain then glanced up at her, and smiled, finishing off his drink.

"I am glad I had the opportunity to meet you, Mrs. Caelum. I can certainly see where Elissa gets her beauty from."

Mrs. Caelum pursed her lips. "Thank you for the compliment," she replied tautly. "I think it's best we let her rest now. Thank you so much for stopping by to check on her."

"Of course," he nodded, looking back to the sleeping young woman. "I'm just a phone-call away. Anything you need, call me. I do care very much about her."

"Thank you," Mrs. Caelum said politely again, and saw him to the door.

* * *

Two days later, Elissa's mother finally confronted her about Cain.

"Honey," she said. "Where did you meet him?"

"At the vet's when I first found Vetty," Elissa confessed, lifting a spoonful of chicken soup to her lips. If there was one amazing perk to having her mother around, other than the welcome company, it was that she had a break from doing all her chores, and got to enjoy her mother's delicious home-cooking again. Elissa was sure by the time the six months or so of healing were up, she would be several kilograms heavier and none of her skinny-jeans and clothes would even fit her anymore.

"And... do you like him?" Her mother ventured, taking a sip of her hot chocolate as she sat beside her daughter, flipping through a magazine she'd purchased from a local corner shop. "You said you weren't official."

"We're not," Elissa lifted her working shoulder in a shrug. "We've been out together a few times. Gone to concerts and clubs and stuff. Nothing major."

"I assume you've kissed?" Her mother's blunt question caused Elissa's cheeks to flush deeply. "Since he identified himself as your boyfriend."

"M-mum," she coughed, wincing as she swallowed down a mouthful of too-hot soup.

"It's just a question, and I already see the answer," her mother raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"So what?" Elissa answered, trying to play it cool - and failing. After all, her mother had the irritating gift of seeing right through her and always had. "I mean, I was kind of drunk at the time, so it doesn't really count." She didn't want to think the other times counted either, considering they'd only been quick pecks here and there - always initiated by Cain.

"To boys, that _does_ count," her mother pursed her lips. "They're only after one thing at this age, unfortunately. Assuming he is your age."

"But you met dad at my age." Elissa pointed out.

"Times were different then," her mother replied. "Of course boys are boys, but this man…" she shook her head, and closed the magazine, turning earnest eyes to her daughter. "Oh, honey," she sighed. "You know I love you and trust you. You're a sensible girl, you've always been sensible, and I hate to intrude, but are you being sensible about this boy? He's a doctor, yes, and he seems charming, but he's very sure of himself, and comes across as a little self-centred."

"You mean confident?" Elissa asked. "We have a good time, mum, it's nothing serious."

"Well, that's all very well and good, but does he respect you, honey? Even if it's nothing heavy, he should respect you. Do you have similar values and principles?"

Elissa frowned. She thought of the drugs incident, how uncomfortable that memory still was for her.

Her mother pressed, raising an eyebrow at her, "When you were asleep the other day, he was very critical of you helping the boy. Not very compassionate, given he's a doctor."

"He's just upset I got hurt instead of the kid," Elissa said. "Sometimes he says stupid things, but he has helped me out a lot, too."

"Helped you in what way?"

"Just, with stuff…" Elissa answered vaguely. "When my car broke down. Helping distribute my CVs."

"Baby, boys do that when they're after something." Her mother pursed her lips. "Look at you. You're beautiful, intelligent, amazing. I don't fault him for being interested one bit. I'm just not so sure he's your type."

"Everyone else seems to know what my type is," Elissa muttered in exasperation. "What is it, then?"

"Well," her mother ventured thoughtfully. "I'm sure it's someone a bit less… crass than he is? Someone a bit more mature, less arrogant? He's good at his job, I don't question that, but he also just seems to be very… well, showy. Even his worry seemed a little lukewarm. If he really loved you, I'm sure he'd-"

Elissa laughed dryly. "Mum, who said anything about love? I mean," she glanced at her mother. "I guess, I just admire how he walks his own path, irrespective of what anyone else thinks. I've never _been_ in love to compare."

"Oh, when you're in love, you know it, honey," her mother replied. "The person is all you can think about. You lay awake at night, and that's all that comes to mind."

Elissa was silent. Cain definitely didn't fall into that category. In fact- she stemmed the thought before it could continue, not allowing herself to dwell on it any further.

"He's rich," Elissa supplied. "I guess he's used to being in that kind of environment. His father is an oil tycoon."

"But not all rich people are like that, honey. He seems the flaunting type. I don't want him objectifying you. He's already declared himself your boyfriend when you've said yourself you're not official. That's presumptuous."

Elissa was silent for a moment. Then she confessed to her mother honestly, "He can be a jerk sometimes. I know he's outrageous and he's loud. But being around him keeps my mind off things."

Her mother regarded her for a moment. "Honey. This isn't the same man you were telling me about over the phone? The one that had you so upset?"

Elissa stared blankly at her for a moment, before realisation dawned upon her, causing her embarrassment to magnify ten-fold. "Oh. No. God, no! That's not him. He's nothing like- I mean-" she fumbled, before biting her tongue to force herself to stop talking.

"I just hope this man wasn't a rebound while your feelings were hurt from the other one- what was his name?" Her mother mused. "You never told me."

Elissa swallowed, the memory of dark, searing eyes haunting her mind, their intensity inescapably engraved into her memories. "Nobody," she near-whispered, shoving the image of Itachi into the darkest catacombs of her mind. "He was... nobody."

"Well, your brother doesn't like this Dr. Lockwood, either," Mrs. Caelum laughed. "You know how overprotective he gets."

"Gabe doesn't want me dating anyone. Ever." Elissa rolled her eyes. "He's worse than dad."

"That's not true," her mother chuckled, a tinkling, pleasant sound. "We all want to see you settled and happy, but with the right man. I just want you to be careful, honey, and to find someone who respects you for who you are, not for shallow, superficial reasons. And not anyone who leads you to do reckless things, either. It's your life and your decision. You're young. There's no pressure to commit to anyone just yet and don't let anyone pressure you to do it."

"Thanks, mum," Elissa answered. "But I don't want you worrying about me. This was just an accident. It was my own stupid fault. I didn't have to follow him into the building, but I did."

"You're alive," her mother stroked her hair softly. "That's all that matters. We've all done crazy things in our youth. But, no more construction sites for you in future. There are warning signs plastered all over them for a reason, honey."

"Right," Elissa agreed.

"What about work?" Her mother then changed the subject, causing Elissa's stomach to form knots of dread. "Have you sorted everything out with them? I have the doctor's sick note here, if you want me to contact them on your behalf?"

"N-no," Elissa refused. "Mum, it's fine. Don't worry about it." But guilt was eating her up inside. She still hadn't told her parents that she'd lost her job because she'd chosen to walk out herself. They would surely think her immature, a terrible disappointment. But the secret was crushing her inside and she knew the longer she remained silent about it, the worse it would be when her mother inevitably found out.

"Mum," she blurted out a moment later. "I- I quit."

Her mother blinked at her in surprise. "What?"

Elissa bit her lower lip, tears stinging her eyes. "I… walked out. The manager was bullying me and I was miserable and I walked out and he fired me officially hours later." She rambled.

Her mother's blue eyes widened. "Oh, sweetheart…" she exclaimed. "When was this?"

"Just over a month ago," Elissa confided miserably. "I was applying for jobs. And now this accident happened, and…" her voice trailed off. "I'm sorry," her voice wavered. "I know I'm a failure. I just want to be happy. I just want to find somewhere where I fit in and belong and… that place wasn't it."

"You're not a failure, honey," her mother shook her head. "You've told me about your boss many times before. If it felt like the right thing to do, then it was the right thing to do."

Elissa stared at her in astonishment, relief flooding through her. "You're… not mad?"

"Why would I be mad?" Her mother raised her eyebrows. "I'd be a hypocrite, since I walked out of a job too when I was nineteen."

"You did?" Elissa gaped at her. "You never told me that."

"It was a summer job," her mother explained. "At a cafe. The manager was an ogre who pestered us girls and I upped and left without notice. Then I went on to secure an incredible contract a summer later. Sometimes disasters are blessings in disguise, honey. You got out of a toxic environment. Good on you."

"But the rent," Elissa went on. "I was meaning to find something else, anything."

"Oh, don't worry about that." Her mother dismissed. "Your father will be covering the rent from now on, I'll let him know."

"No, mum," Elissa protested. "I really don't want to-"

"Just until you're all healed up." Her mother insisted, raising a hand to quell her arguments. "You can't earn any income right now in your state, anyway. We can figure out the rest later, alright?"

"I feel like a burden," Elissa said dejectedly. So much for being independent.

"You're our daughter. You're never a burden, love. It's just a shame that we can't take you back home," her mother sighed. "I'm sure we'd all prefer that. But it doesn't matter, anyway. So long as you heal up. How much is rent a month, honey?"

Elissa's eyes lowered guiltily as she confessed the amount to her mother.

"Oh, that's manageable," her mother nodded. "Don't you worry about it."

"How will I ever repay you guys?" Elissa's eyes welled with tears. She felt overly emotional, a result of the medication and all the stress she had been under for so long, as well as the relief of knowing that her financial worries, at least, were going to be taken care of by her family. She'd expected her mother to be disappointed, upset. Instead Mrs. Caelum had shown her nothing but kindness, sympathy and understanding.

"I'm sure we'll find ways," her mother laughed, ruffling her hair affectionately. "We funded you for eighteen years before you moved out. What's a few months more, honey?"

"Thanks, mum," Elissa whispered gratefully.

"Anytime, love." Mrs. Caelum then rose to her feet. "Now what do you say we take a walk outside?" she suggested cheerfully. "We've been cooped up indoors for a few days, and the sun is shining. How about a walk around the block? I'd like to look around, too."

"Sure," Elissa agreed.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, her mother wheeled her out into the early afternoon sunshine. Elissa inhaled deeply, wrapped snugly in a warm blanket, enjoying the crisp autumn air, turning her face up to the sun that shone in a pleasantly clear blue sky. Given that it was early October, the weather was favourable. Orange and brown leaves lay scattered on the streets, the trees not yet finished with their seasonal shedding. Elissa watched as people strolled along, getting on with their daily lives. She already missed walking. To think that just several weeks earlier, she had been just like them, taking all her movements for granted.

Her mother chatted away, admiring the local surroundings as they walked past little shops. Elissa listened absently, the soothing movement of the wheelchair soon causing her eyelids to grow heavy, lulling her into a light sleep.

The sound of her mother's voice calling to her drew her back to wakefulness. Elissa blinked, once again feeling displaced, not sure how long she had dozed off for.

"Honey?" Her mother's face came into focus, looking at her with concern and affection. "You took a little nap. Are you alright?"

Elissa blinked. They had come to a stop somewhere green, she realised.

"Yeah," she said, rubbing at her eyes tiredly. "Just tired, I guess."

"I found a local park nearby," her mother informed her, smiling as she took out a flask of tea and some cakes she'd brought with them. "I thought it'd be nice for you to look at nature. Look," she nodded to the side. "There's a pretty little river here, too."

All remnants of grogginess flew from Elissa's mind and she stiffened, immediately tense and painfully aware of her surroundings. Inside her chest, her heart painfully constricted before skipping several beats, quickening in its rhythm as recognition and dread washed over her. Her mother didn't know any better, she told herself. Her mother was only trying to help. She had no way of knowing how much this very spot pained Elissa.

It was the very same place that she had been avoiding ever since her final, cruel parting with Itachi. The day he had told her she was nothing to him, not even a friend, merely a means to an end in his investigation.

Elissa felt her throat clog with emotion and her eyes blur with tears as she gazed miserably at the rippling water. It was serene, a calming, tranquil sight, and yet she had never felt such unrest. Her gaze trailed over the trees, gently dropping their leaves around them, and before she could stop it, tears were spilling down her cheeks.

She remembered their talks. How much they had meant to her. How much peace they had brought to her, how much of a great source of warmth and comfort it had been, sitting beside him, listening to his gentle wisdom, to the way he made the world make so much more sense, wasting no idle words in doing so. As if he had held the answer to every question, the solution to every problem. Elissa blinked through her tears. She knew those had been her own stupid delusions. And yet how could he have put her sister's death so effortlessly into context and helped her with finally accepting it, only to heartlessly cut her off and inform her it had been nothing but an assignment to him all along?

Why had he encouraged her not to give up on her writing? How had that benefited his investigation at all, how had any of it helped him in any way, speaking to a nameless nobody who was so wholly unremarkable as she was? Why her? Why had he showed up in her life, woven a dark enchantment upon her only to abruptly take his leave without explanation? And then choose to reappear, months later, seemingly to judge her actions? Why did he torment her so? _Why her?_

She loathed the thoughts running through her mind. Still months later, the lack of answers tortured her and she didn't know why. They had barely even been friends. Why did all thoughts relating to Itachi leave her with such an inexplicable, lingering feeling of deep sadness? Was it because she mourned an innocence lost? Because a part of her knew that she had lost contact with someone she had known to be exceptional from the very start? It hadn't just been his dark beauty, his easy, almost regal grace. He was a man who spoke like nobody else she had ever met, certainly nobody around her own age. Humble and thoughtful. A man who was emotionally and intellectually mature far beyond his physical appearance. A man whose soft-spoken, quiet nature had compelled her to think more deeply about things, had helped open her eyes to another way of looking at the world.

That world-view had vanished along with him, leaving Elissa with the painful, harsh reality. People took advantage of kind, trusting hearts. Itachi had crushed hers. All the lies. The deceit. The refusal to afford her any answers. The permanent scars on her back, which would always serve as a reminder of everything that had transpired between them.

Why did she still miss his presence, months after he had treated her so terribly? Why did the betrayal still hurt so much, when the friendship had been entirely fabricated by her own naive mind, and he had admitted to not viewing her in the same way?

She was nothing but a fool. She could only hate him - and herself even more, for her lingering stupidity and inability to get over his ruthless rejection. She had been blind, too trusting, too everything around him. Just looking at him had seemed to steal all rational sense from her mind. She hated the effect he'd had on her. The effect he still had on her. The disarming power to still the chaos of her thoughts, and to set her heart racing. Those heavy-lashed, dark, solemn, knowing, intense eyes, that seemed to see right through her, as if they were capable of peering into her very soul-

"Honey?" Her mother, who was holding out a cup of tea to her, frowned at the tears she saw on her daughter's face. "Oh, sweetheart. What's the matter?"

Elissa hastily wiped at her face with her left hand. "Nothing," she whispered. Sitting by the river was too much, too overwhelming, too painful a reminder of Itachi and the yawning chasm his absence had left in her life, and yet she wasn't about to tell her mother that, or demand they leave. She knew her mother would get suspicious. She knew her too well. Elissa didn't have the heart to tell her. "I'm sorry. It must be the meds."

"Have some tea and cake, love," her mother handed her the thermal cup and placed a homemade blueberry muffin wrapped neatly in a napkin on the blanket on her lap. Elissa sipped the steaming tea, trying to fight the tremor that assaulted her fingers. She inhaled slowly again, willing herself to calm down. This was just the spot they had met in, she reminded herself. It didn't mean he was anywhere nearby.

The cawing of a bird drew her attention up to the tree just over their heads, startling her so that she split some of her tea onto her blanket. She found a crow perched upon a branch, tilting its head quizzically at her. Elissa blinked up at it. She was seeing a lot of those birds around, including on her balcony at night. She looked away, shrugging it off. It was just a coincidence, she knew. There were a lot of crows and ravens in general in Canterbury.

She munched on her delicious muffin, watching as her mother set down her cup and neared the river's edge.

"Where does this river lead to?" Mrs. Caelum wondered.

"I'm not sure," Elissa admitted. "I've never really followed it beyond this park."

"How lovely to have this so close to your apartment, honey," her mother smiled. "It's a lovely spot to read and write and clear your head in, isn't it?"

Elissa swallowed. "Right," she forced herself to agree. The horrible irony was that it was the place that caused all peace to elude her.

Mrs. Caelum picked up a stone. Elissa eyed her curiously.

"Mum? What are you doing?"

Her mother tossed the stone into the river. "Skipping stones. I've never been much good at it," she laughed.

Elissa watched her. "You're holding it wrong," she began automatically. "It needs to be at the right angle, and then you…" her voice trailed off. Her heart lurched at the sudden memory that flashed almost tauntingly through her mind.

A warm, gentle hand, positioning her wrist at precisely the correct angle. Dark eyes meeting hazel. An encouraging nod.

She gulped, blinking back the fresh tears that threatened to well in her eyes. What was she _doing?_

 _Stop it_ , she pleaded to him in her mind. _Please. Why won't you get out of my head?_

"Like this?" Her mother attempted, failing spectacularly once again.

Elissa didn't respond, and watched in silence as her mother continued to try, before she declared defeat and rejoined her daughter, sitting on the grass where they watched the sunlight glisten off the river's surface together.

* * *

The weeks passed, and as they did, Elissa grew increasingly frustrated by her lack of mobility. Her dominant right hand was completely unusable, and trying to do anything with her left hand resulted in making a mess. She relied heavily on her mother to help her do the simplest things, such as bathing and washing her hair, clipping her nails, helping her dress, and all the other things she had taken for granted before her accident. Mrs. Caelum took care of her patiently, always saying and doing things to help keep her daughter's spirits lifted. But on the days when Elissa broke down in frustration, or simply cried from feeling helpless and overwhelmed, her mother was there for her, offering comforting hugs and reassurances that she would fully recover in time.

Cain dropped by often, keeping a close eye on her recovery. After six weeks had passed, he scheduled another hospital scan for her at the two month mark, which was when her bandages were set to be removed to check on the progress of healing.

Elissa found that her symptoms had slowly started to improve. The worst of the pain that bothered her at night seemed to have passed. Any lingering concussion symptoms had all but cleared.

She tried to get back into her writing but typing with one hand was slow and aggravating. Elissa found she was at her happiest when the rest of her family came around, helping to distract her from her sadness, or when her mother took her for a walk outside. The visits to the river didn't become any easier, but Elissa tolerated them, accepting that there was no use in wallowing any further. What was done was done.

And all the while, as time continued to march on, she remained oblivious to the pair of eyes that watched her, monitoring her recovery closely from the trees and shadows.

* * *

It had been two months to the day since her discharge from hospital, and Elissa was slowly starting to feel more like her old self, at least in the clarity of her thoughts and wakefulness. She no longer took the strongest of pain medication, and found that her sleepiness and headaches had subsided as a result. Her mind felt sharper, and though she still had terrible days where she was seized with anxiety over the worry that her limbs wouldn't heal completely, she tried to maintain a positive outlook. Her friends visited her often, filling her living room with flowers and gifts, noise and laughter as they did manicures, pedicures, played music, watched chick-flicks and rallied around Elissa to cheer her up, all the while enjoying the snacks and food served to them by Elissa's doting mother.

But there was one face Elissa noted the absence of. As she sat amongst familiar friends she'd made in childhood, high-school and university, Elissa couldn't help but think of Slayte. Her mother had told her on several occasions that Slayte frequently texted her to check in on Elissa's wellbeing. She had even dropped off some cakes from the cafe outside the apartment, but had chosen not to come upstairs despite Mrs. Caelum's insistence that it would be perfectly fine for her to do so.

Every time her mother mentioned Slayte, Elissa would feel a deep, twisting pain within her chest. A part of her missed Slayte terribly. That she had come so close to losing her life - again - had ebbed away some of the anger she'd felt toward her former best friend over the weeks of her healing. Elissa had had a lot of time to reflect on life, and how short and precious it was - how grudges could lead to eternal regrets - but that didn't mean she was ready to speak to Slayte or to see her again. Anytime she scrolled through her phone and her eyes came to rest hesitantly on Slayte's name, Elissa was reminded of her connection to Itachi, Slayte's _Master,_ and everything that had happened surrounding him, all the endless, needless lies, along with the ugly confrontation they'd had at the nightclub - and she always found herself swallowing miserably before setting her phone aside.

She refused to tell her mother what the issue was with Slayte. She couldn't talk about it without mentioning Itachi, and she knew that if she opened her mouth and told her mother about _him,_ then she would never stop, she would say too much, her mother would know too much, and would probably question her daughter's sanity. She'd already just about managed to convince her mother that she'd gotten tattoos to explain the strange, shadowy marks on her back. She couldn't face telling her mother the truth. That she'd been marked by an enigmatic, supernatural entity who had saved her life following a terrible accident in the sea. It sounded ridiculous even to Elissa's own mind. And so she kept it all in, stating that they'd just had a bad fight, and that maybe someday they would fix it.

But as she fell asleep that night, Elissa wondered if she'd pushed Slayte too far away already for them to ever even attempt a reconciliation of any kind.

* * *

He moved as silently as a shadow in the darkened room. Angelissa's mother had fallen asleep on the couch, just as she had for the previous two months, keeping vigil over her daughter. He paused, looking over the woman's sleeping form. She had sacrificed many sleepless nights tending to Angelissa, he knew, but that labour of love was about to come to an end. They had both struggled enough, and he was ready to finish the work he had begun weeks prior that night.

Itachi drew to a stop by Angelissa's bedside, his dark gaze softening as it came to rest upon her fair, slumbering features. Words she had thought out to him weeks before returned to his mind with perfect clarity.

_Stop it. Please. Why won't you get out of my head?_

Still he caused her unrest, and yet he was powerless to assist her in her request. For she haunted his thoughts in turn, though she did not know it. Had he possessed the ability to do as she asked and _stop_ whatever mysterious force it was that compelled both their musings to turn to one another, then he would have long since done so and spared them both the strife. The only way to truly relieve her of the burden, he knew, was to allow Shisui to erase all memory of him in her mind.

That had been his cousin's wager, and Itachi did not know why the thought of him doing it did not bring him the sense of relief he might have otherwise expected. Was it what Angelissa wanted? To truly forget him? He supposed he could not fault her for that. He knew only that he wished not to forget her.

He observed her grimly for a moment, noting her to be sound asleep. Then, just as he had done many times before over the course of the previous two months, he lifted his hand, resting his index and middle finger lightly upon her right shoulder. From his barely perceptible touch, cool tendrils of shadow seeped through her skin, wrapping around the bones in her arm, slowly working to mend the fractures within. He had done the same thing gradually over many visits, so as to allow a more natural, progressive rate of healing. Already Angelissa's mind was fully recovered. It had been the first part of her he had completely restored, removing all evidence of concussion and bruising, ensuring there were no lasting adverse-effects to her mental cognition and personality.

What remained was to fix the final breaks in her limbs. He closed his eyes, focusing his divine energy. Death maimed, and was not healing by nature, but Itachi was a deity as much as any other regardless of his function, and he possessed in his hands the power to regenerate wounds as he willed. Not as flawlessly as perhaps those forged by light as the Olympians were, whose healing never left behind any trace of blemishes. But enough, certainly, to mend fractured bones. He sent a stronger wave of restorative chakra through her arm, visualising the moment the final cracks in her bone fused together. Satisfied that she would have full control of her arm once again, he opened his eyes, his gaze shifting from her peaceful expression, down to her legs.

His fingers trailed lower, resting over the position of her right hip, concealed to him beneath the duvet cover. Once more he concentrated, seeing the breaks in his mind, channelling soothing, shadow-natured chakra precisely through her hip bone and down the multiple fractures in her leg. The damaged bones merged back together seamlessly, fully renewed.

Itachi then drew his hand back, his gaze resting on her face once more. Her expression relaxed as the pain that had plagued her body these last months finally left her. She released a soft sigh of relief as the underlying tension at last faded from her body. She would walk again by the morrow, and surely herald it as a miracle. Itachi regarded her a moment longer as she settled into a deep, tranquil sleep, that faint breath of gratitude still lingering on his mind.

His gaze then flicked briefly onto Vetty. The feline was curled by Angelissa's side and stared up at him, swishing her tail back and forth, clearly pleased to see her familiar fully restored to health.

' _You are kind to her, Lord Thanatos. Kind to ease her suffering',_ she communicated telepathically to the stoic deity.

Itachi said nothing to that, but answered her with another statement.

' _My mother bids you return to the Underworld.'_

Vetty yawned, appearing bored. ' _I will do as I please,'_ she answered simply, and snuggled closer to the sleeping mortal, as if to make a point that her place was by her side.

Itachi regarded her silently for a long moment, recognising it as devotion. Then, a few seconds later, he vanished out of sight entirely.

* * *

**AN: Please be so kind as to leave a review, thank you!**

Slayte & Levi by Larskukka (https://larskukka.tumblr.com/)


	31. Part XXX: The Sanctity of Life

* * *

**Part XXX: The Sanctity of Life**

* * *

Elissa awoke to the sound of birds chirping and the smell of freshly brewed coffee. She yawned, stretching lazily. She'd slept deeply the previous night, and hadn't woken up even once. She supposed that was why she felt so refreshed.

"Morning, baby," her mother, who had just entered her room, smiled. "It's a sunny day and I've made pancakes!"

Elissa could smell them, and her stomach growled hungrily. Her mother heard it, and chuckled.

"I take it someone's hungry," she said, as she approached her daughter and pressed an affectionate kiss on her head.

"What time is it?" Elissa asked.

"It's just gone past nine-thirty." Mrs. Caelum replied, pulling back the bedcovers for her daughter. "I've been up since seven. You slept so soundly last night. How are you feeling?"

"I did sleep well," Elissa agreed. She slowly sat up, as her mother carefully removed the pillow from under the cast on her leg. Usually movement of any sort would cause discomfort. Elissa blinked, pleasantly surprised to feel no pain. Even the lingering throbbing in her arm seemed to have improved. Her symptoms had generally gotten better, but it was the first time she had woken up with no discomfort at all.

"It'll soon be time for your meds again." Her mother said. "Let's get you into your wheelchair." She pushed the chair closer to the bedside and set the brakes on, then helped Elissa shift onto the edge of the bed, and eased her into the wheelchair. As her mother bent down to pull out the foot-rests, she accidentally struck Elissa's leg with her elbow, causing the limb to jar to the side.

"Oh, goodness!" Mrs. Caelum exclaimed in horror. "Honey, I'm so sorry! Did I hurt you?"

Elissa, who had flinched reflexively in anticipation of pain, stared at her leg in confusion. "No…" she replied. She'd felt… absolutely nothing. "Wait. Mum." She gasped a moment later, when it suddenly hit her that she had moved her own leg onto the footrest. "Mum, look! I can move it!"

"What?" Mrs. Caelum's eyebrows drew together and she stared down at the cast. "What do you mean?"

Elissa held her breath, and slowly lifted the leg. Her muscles trembled - the sign of general fatigue and disuse - but there was no searing pain. It was remarkable given that even with her medication, she usually still detected varying levels of discomfort.

"Oh my," Her mother gaped in astonishment. "Honey, put it down. Maybe it's just starting to mend now. Don't move it so much!"

"But I don't feel anything," Elissa frowned. "It doesn't hurt. It's like… it almost feels like…" She glanced at her mother. "Mum, can you help me try to stand?"

"Elissa, you shouldn't be standing just yet!" Her mother looked at her with uncertainty. "Don't get ahead of yourself. Even if it is feeling better, it's only been two months. The doctors said that from the extent of your injuries-"

"They said it could take anywhere between 8-16 weeks for my arm to mend and 24 and above for my leg," Elissa recalled.

"Your arm." Mrs. Caelum touched her cast lightly. "How is that feeling? Can you lift it at all?"

Elissa cautiously tried and gawked when she was able to do so without difficulty. "No way," she breathed. Both she and her mother exchanged stunned looks.

"That's astonishing." Mrs. Caelum released a gasp, and Elissa could see the hope lighting in her tearful eyes. It was contagious. "Oh, honey, I don't understand how. It seems too good to be true."

"Mum, please, help me stand," Elissa reached for her. Her mother moved to her right side and slid an arm around her back, supporting her. Elissa's heart quickened. She took a deep breath and then slowly, gingerly, got up, placing her weight on her left foot.

"I don't know, honey," her mother frowned. "Maybe we should check with the doctor. Should you be putting weight on it so soon?"

"Let me just try," Elissa insisted. Placing her right foot onto the ground, she slowly, carefully shifted her weight, wincing, anticipating another explosion of pain in her hip and leg - but she felt nothing except the shakiness from lack of muscle use.

"Well?" Mrs. Caelum stared at her anxiously. "What do you feel?"

"Nothing," Elissa shook her head, dumbfounded and alarmed. "Mum, the pain's completely gone!" Leaning against her mother, she then cautiously dared to take a small step forward, pressing her weight onto her right foot more firmly. Then another. "Oh my God," she breathed, unable to believe what she was seeing as she took another hopeful step. Was it a dream? Had the medication caused her to hallucinate? If she pinched herself, would she wake up in bed again, crying in agony?

But it wasn't. She was definitely awake. Her heart pounded. How could it be? She had started feeling better gradually as time had gone by, but to suddenly wake up, seemingly with function restored to her limbs? What was going on?

"Oh my," her mother's amazed expression mirrored her own. Elissa's face broke out into a smile when she lifted her arm again, unable to bend it because of the cast - but once more, there was no trace of pain.

"Mum," she gasped. "This is crazy! I feel like my arm is fully healed. And my leg. There's no pain there, either."

"How are you able to walk on that?" Her mother looked lost for words. "Surely you must be feeling some pain?"

"Nothing," Elissa met her searching gaze.

"But it's only been two months," Juliette's eyebrows furrowed together, puzzled. "How could you have healed so soon? Your arm, perhaps that's possible, but your hip and leg honey, those were really severe breaks."

"I don't know," Elissa shook her head, staring down at her leg, baffled. Maybe if she stared at it hard enough, it would somehow reveal its secret. She felt giddy with excitement at the prospect of being able to use her arm and leg sooner than anticipated but tried not to get too carried away.

"We need to get you to the hospital to check this. Your scan is in two more days, honey. Let's not overdo it. Sit back down, now."

Elissa relented and returned to her wheelchair, hoping against hope that somehow, it wasn't just a stroke of luck and that the pain wouldn't come crashing down on her once her medication wore off.

* * *

Two days later, Elissa sat restlessly in the consultant's room, waiting for the results of her scans. Her mother was in the seat beside her, equally as anxious.

"Do you think it's good news?" Elissa turned to her mother, who was holding her left hand. Her pain had completely subsided, and it seemed too good to be true, but she knew that the only way to confirm the status of her injuries was to await the scans and to see the state of her limbs with her own eyes once her bandages were removed.

"I hope so," Juliette bit her lower lip, a habit Elissa had picked up from her whenever she felt nervous. "You said the discomfort is gone, honey. Miracles do happen."

The door opened and Nurse Emily bustled in, smiling brightly at the two women. "Good morning, Elissa, sweetie! Mrs. Caelum. How are you both today?"

"Good morning Emily," Mrs. Caelum smiled. "We're well. And yourself?"

"Just peachy. Ready to get this cast off now?"

"I can't wait. It's been so itchy and unbearable," Elissa complained.

Emily chuckled and pulled up a chair, setting to work. Elissa watched in fascination as her careful, gentle, skilled hands expertly removed the cast from first her arm, and then her leg.

The door to the consultation room opened again. The senior consultant, Dr. Daniel Mason, breezed in, carrying copies of the scan results. He was dressed in a long white doctor's coat and was a tall, slim, smart-looking man, with neatly combed silver hair, blue eyes and stylish glasses. Cain was right behind him, and winked at Elissa as he entered the room, also dressed in uniform.

"Good morning Miss Caelum. Mrs. Caelum," Dr. Mason greeted, and set the film against the illuminating backlight panel on the wall. "I have some wondrous news for you."

Elissa held her breath, as Emily carefully began to unwrap the bandaging around her right arm.

Dr. Mason pointed to the bones in Elissa's arm. "This is your arm. This was the location of the break." He indicated with the end of his pen. "As you can see, it's completely healed. Astonishing."

Mrs. Caelum pressed a hand to her mouth, and fought back emotional tears. "Oh, baby," she looked at her daughter, eyes shining with joy.

"And even more incredible are the results of your hip and leg MRI scans," Dr. Mason handed Cain the arm film and replaced it with the hip one. "Here was the break." He showed her the old, initial scan that clearly showed the damage to the bone. "And now, following the operation and two months of healing…" He swapped the film. "All healed. Your leg," Once again, he placed the first scan at the time of injury onto the wall panel, and Elissa saw the multiple, complex fractures in her leg, the bone appearing almost completely shattered in places. "And now," Dr. Mason replaced it with the new scan.

Elissa exhaled shakily, unable to comprehend what she was seeing.

"There's absolutely no indication of any trauma left. The only thing I can see here are these slightly darker, shadowy areas," he pointed, "along the fracture lines that are the only things indicating that there were any breaks at all. Otherwise you're fully healed, and I've medically never seen anything like it."

"It's a miracle," Cain declared.

"Well now that's just wonderful news," Emily beamed.

Elissa burst into tears, a strong wave of overwhelming relief flooding through her as all her worries about her recovery immediately melted away.

_ Thank you, God _ , she thought, weeping into her hands, overcome with emotion.

Her mother leaned over and hugged her tightly. "Oh, honey." She said in a choked voice.

"Remarkable," Dr. Mason said. "I don't know what you've been eating and drinking over the last few months, Miss Caelum, but I've never seen anyone recover from such a terrible accident in so short a space of time. Our prognosis was six months at the very least. It's a marvel, to be sure." He smiled kindly at her.

"You're sure?" Mrs. Caelum pressed. "She really is fully recovered?"

"Positive." Dr. Mason confirmed. "We'll schedule you in for some physiotherapy to help rebuild your muscles and strength again, and then you should be good to go. A full and truly astonishing recovery, one I'm sure my colleagues and I will be talking about for a long while. Dr. Lockwood will now talk you through the physio and aftercare programme."

"Thank you," Elissa sobbed gratefully, crying into her mother's shoulder as Dr. Mason nodded and left the room. Mrs. Caelum also wept, jubilant that her daughter was fully healed with no lasting damage left behind.

As Elissa pulled away from her mother, and watched Emily remove the last of the bandages, she marvelled at the restored ability to move her arm again, to bend her knee, laughing in delight as she tested the working limbs, finding them perfectly responsive and fully mended. She held up her hand to the smiling nurse, as if she were showing off something precious. Mrs. Caelum immediately called her husband to inform him of the good news, before texting her sons in the family messaging group, smiling through her relieved tears.

Elissa met Cain's gaze, to find that he was smiling widely at her, and looked pleased by her full recovery.

"Well, Miss Caelum," he remarked smoothly, "you truly  _ are _ something special."

* * *

Slayte smiled as Levi placed the steaming cup of tea in front of her.

"Thank you," she said gratefully, gazing at him as he took a seat opposite her on the table. They'd closed for lunch-break, and ever since they had reconciled two months earlier, she found herself cherishing every single second in his company, not wanting to blink to miss even a moment of it.

She watched the way he lifted his tea cup to his lips, marvelling at the effortless grace of the simple action. Levi then paused, his stormy eyes meeting hers. He lifted an eyebrow. There she went, pulling that ridiculous face at him again.

"Oi." He quipped. "What's with that look?"

"Huh?" Slayte blinked at him, flushing with embarrassment. She knew she'd been staring openly, but she couldn't help it. She'd believed them to be truly over and couldn't help but feel the need to keep pinching herself to check that she wasn't dreaming. Levi knew the truth about her. He accepted her for exactly who and what she was. It was too good to be true. She kept expecting to wake up, beneath the counter, still alone.

He sighed and shook his head. "You look constipated."

"I- what?" she gaped at him.

He released a quiet snort, and Slayte's retort was lost as her phone screen suddenly illuminated, indicating a new message received.

Her heart leapt to her throat. Mrs. Caelum. Was there an update to Elissa's condition?

Levi eyed her as she grabbed at the phone, sliding a thumb across the screen to unlock it as she hit the message notification to open it. Her eyes rushed over the text anxiously.

_ Hi Slayte. It's Mrs. Caelum. I hope you're well. I've the most wonderful news _ . Slayte sucked in a breath as she continued reading hurriedly.  _ Elissa has made a full recovery and they've taken all the casts and bandages off today. The doctors are saying it's a miracle that she's healed so quickly given the severity of her injuries and with a few rounds of physio she'll be as good as new. We're ecstatic. I thought you'd like to know. _

Slayte's eyes blurred with tears as joy sang through her heart.

_ Thank you so much again for all your support and concern for Elissa during this time. I'm sure Elissa would love to hear from you again once she's settled. Take care. _

Levi watched her expression closely. It had to be Elissa's mother, he deduced, judging from the myriad of emotions that danced across her face. She then released a gasp of delight and burst into overwhelmed tears.

"Hey…" Levi frowned. "What's with you?"

"Elissa," Slayte wept. "Oh, thank the gods, Elissa's alright! She's recovered!"

Levi was glad to hear it. "Then why are you making that ugly face? Oi. Stop crying."

"I'm sorry," Slayte half-laughed, half-cried. "I'm just- so happy and relieved and-"

"Tch," Levi grabbed the tissue box on the table and pushed it toward her.

As Slayte dabbed at her eyes and gladness filled her heart. There could be no doubt that the speed of Elissa's recovery was a true miracle, the result of divine intervention from Thanatos himself.

He had instructed Slayte to wait. And true to his word, the waiting had paid off. In just two short months, Elissa had been renewed. Once again, Death had assisted her, stepping in to intervene even when it wasn't his place to do so. That action spoke volumes to Slayte. There was no doubt in her mind, anymore, as to how deeply Thanatos had to care for Elissa.

' _ Thank you, Lord Thanatos,'  _ she communicated sincerely, knowing that he could hear her. ' _ Thank you! Thank you for healing her. You have my undying, eternal gratitude forever and I will never ever forget this day!' _

The usual sound of humming, maddening silence was the only response she received , but for once, she was far too elated to mind.

* * *

Elissa's family came over that Saturday to witness for themselves her miraculous recovery.

"No way!" Castiel stared at her arm in amazement, lifting it back and forth as he tested its movement. "How? What did the doctors say?"

"Your leg too?" Gabriel poked at her knee. "Hey. Move it, then. Show me."

Elissa laughed and extended her leg in delight.

"And it doesn't hurt?" Gabriel's eyes lifted to meet hers. "Not even a little?"

"It's fully healed," Mrs. Caelum said. "We saw the scans. It's a miracle, there's no other explanation."

"Whoa," Castiel shook his head. "That's wild. So you can walk and use your arm like normal now?"

"I only need a few rounds of physio to check everything's working correctly, and then Emily said I can probably just do strengthening exercises from home."

"We're so happy for you, sweetheart." A beaming Isaac Caelum wrapped his daughter into a big bear hug.

"I'll race you, you can test to see everything works." Castiel teased. "Bet you're still slower than I am, Lissy."

"Oh yeah?" Elissa stuck out her tongue playfully. "We'll see about that!" She reached out to ruffle his hair.

"You're getting old," he sniggered, evading her hand. "You'll be out of breath."

"Old!" His sister gasped indignantly. "I'm twenty-two, not two hundred, Cas!"

Mr. and Mrs. Caelum exchanged looks, affectionately rolling their eyes at their children's familiar banter.

"Shut up, midget," Gabriel twisted his little brother's ear. "Pick on someone your own size. I'd beat you hands down."

"Try it," Castiel, who was taller than Elissa but shorter than his older brother, challenged. "Just wait until I stop growing. I'll be taller than you are!"

"Have you even  _ started _ growing?" Gabriel shot back, prompting Elissa to burst into laughter.

Beyond the open balcony doors, the sound of her mirth and her fa mily's happiness carried to the night sky. A dark figure's crimson eyes met that of the crow stationed upon the balcony railings, satisfied that all was well - before vanishing abruptly from the roof-top.

* * *

Elissa's mother stayed an extra four days for good measure, attending the first of her daughter's physiotherapy sessions where she received reassurance that no lasting nerve or muscle damage remained from Elissa's healed injuries. It was a Thursday morning when she finally prepared to leave, pulling Elissa into a tight hug at her apartment's front door. Gabriel hovered outside in the hallway, holding his mother's wheeled luggage suitcase. He'd driven down to collect her and take her back to their home-town.

"Thanks for everything, mum," Elissa squeezed her arms around her mother's slim shoulders gratefully.

Her mother kissed her cheek. "No more skateboarding adventures for you any time soon, honey. Be careful, alright?"

"And dump that dick before you're official," Gabriel quipped behind her.

"Gabe, honey," Mrs. Caelum lightly chided. "If Elissa likes him-"

"Mum, she can do way better," her eldest son argued. "So what if he has some flashy car and a doctor title? Lissy needs someone who respects her and I stand by what I said. This guy's an asshole. I've seen him flirting with plenty of nurses in the hospital corridor." He glanced at his sister. "You're way too smart for that."

"Language," Juliette gave him a stern look. "Dr. Lockwood  _ did _ help in your sister's recovery."

"Yeah, whatever, only so he could make eyes at her without the casts on," Gabriel snorted.

Elissa rolled her eyes before stepping forward to embrace her brother in turn. "You're such a pain," she said affectionately. "So annoying."

"I mean it," he said to her seriously, hugging her close. "You can do better. Don't let him or anyone else pressure you into anything. I'll break both his legs if he tries."

"Gabe!" she exclaimed.

"Just take care, alright?" He added more gently.

"Okay,  _ dad,"  _ Elissa said sarcastically, but she smiled against his shoulder.

"Dad spoils you too much." Gabriel pulled back and flicked her on her nose, prompting her to wrinkle it. "Someone has to lay it straight."

"Alright, out with you," his mother shooed him away. "Baby," she turned back to look at Elissa again. "If you need anything at all, call me right away."

"I will, mum," Elissa promised. "Thanks again."

"Bye, Hobbit," her brother called as he wheeled away his mother's luggage bag.

"Oh my God, Gabe, don't call me that!" Elissa protested after him. He'd teased her about her height and petite stature for as long as she could remember.

"Take care, Hobbit," he grinned, repeating the irritating name teasingly.

"Ugh! Hey! Say hi to Serena for me," she called, referring to his long-term girlfriend. "And put a ring on it soon, loser! Before she realises how weird you are and runs away!"

He laughed. "Shut up, Lissy."

"That's what I tell him," Mrs. Caelum sighed. "I don't know what else he's waiting for. At his age, your father already had two children."

"Yeah, whatever. Time's change." He raised a hand to indicate he'd heard them both, and then disappeared around the corner, heading in the direction of the elevator.

Elissa turned smilingly back to her mother, who reached out and placed her hands on her daughter's shoulders.

"Honey…" she began. "I know you and Slayte have had a little disagreement, but…"

Elissa's smile immediately waned at the mention of the raven-haired girl's name.

"I hope you don't mind, I've told her you've made a full recovery now, and she's so happy for you. I really do hope you girls can talk things over. You haven't had it easy, losing Evie, and I think…" Mrs. Caelum pushed a lock of Elissa's hair tenderly behind her ear. "I think having an older friend in your life will do you good. She seems such a nice sort of girl, honey, and she cares so much about you. Whatever it is, I'm sure you can work it out. Life's too short to hold grudges, isn't it?"

Elissa was silent. She swallowed, not wanting to say anything that would disappoint or upset her mother just as she was leaving. She heard the reason in her words, and still she felt a deep twisting pain within her chest at the mere thought of Slayte.

"Right," she answered vaguely.

"If you need anything at all, I'm sure she'd come running if you just asked. You're a sensible girl. I know you'll make the right choices."

With that, she pressed a kiss to her daughter's forehead, leaned down to pet a meowing Vetty and then departed.

Elissa closed the door with a sigh, and bent down, scooping Vetty up into her arms. Burying her face against her mewling cat's soft dark fur, Elissa squeezed her eyes shut, and murmured, "I'm so grateful, Vetty. So grateful."

* * *

Elissa found herself appreciating things from a new perspective following her accident. Doing chores, which she had always despised, felt like a blessing. Exercising was no longer a daily struggle, but something she relished doing every morning, whether it was cycling around the block, going to the gym or partaking in home workouts. She continued to apply for jobs, and slowly began to pick up her writing. She still struggled in places with it but found comfort from the fact that she was able to at least write some content, which was better than none.

She visited her friends and signed up to help at a local charity to fill up her free time, eager to take the second chance she had been given at life with all her limbs intact seriously, with renewed vigour and optimism. If she  _ believed _ things would fall into place, then perhaps, steadily, slowly, they would? After all, hadn't she hit rock bottom already, losing her job, her best-friend, almost losing her life? Surely the only direction to move in now was upwards?

Cain was quick to come around often again, eager to spend time in her company alone. Elissa had deliberately not told him of her mother's departure right away, wanting some time to herself, to clear her head and consider whether she wished to continue with the grey area they'd found themselves in - or to friendzone him entirely.

"A drink," he declared one evening when she'd finally accepted his invitation to go out for a drink. "To toast your miraculous recovery."

Elissa followed him into the Hidden Leaf bar. It was eight-thirty in the evening and relatively packed. Cain had just clocked off work, calling her up as soon as he'd finished. She'd finally accepted his offer to take her out to celebrate, mostly out of polite gratitude for his role in her road to recovering from her injury. As she settled onto the stool by the bartender's counter, she listened to him talk on, greatly distracted by her own thoughts. She stared down at her newly mended arm beneath the sleeve of her cream leather jacket, immensely grateful for what she had always taken for granted in the past. Her good health.

"What'll it be, darling?" Cain's voice hovered close to her right ear. "The usual? It's on me, so order anything you like."

She lifted her head, humming automatically as she watched the people in the bar talking, eating, laughing.

"Yeah, that's fine," she replied, not really focusing on his words. She only snapped back to attention when a vodka shot was suddenly placed in front of her. Elissa blinked down at it, her eyes shifting to Cain, who had already downed his, and reached for the second. Her gaze returned to the glass in front of her. She frowned.

Her accident had been caused by a lapse in judgement on her part. She had chosen to enter a construction site. If she hadn't, she wouldn't have gotten hurt. She'd engaged in fighting with the teenagers, pointlessly, because alcohol had spurned her to take the bait instead of ignoring it as she usually would have. Those had been her mistakes. How many others had she made, while under the influence? She recalled the incident in the nightclub. The drugs. Almost drunkenly sleeping with Cain in her own apartment.

She had hardly ever drank in the past, and yet had consumed more alcohol over the previous months than she had in her entire lifetime prior to that. She remembered why she had always chosen to avoid it, how sensitive she had always been to it. How she hated its effects on her mind. How it made her feel foggy, out of control, when above all else, she always tried her best to be in control. She'd watched alcohol waste away good people. One of her own family members had died from their addiction to it. She had always disliked it. That was who she was.

This… drinking until she was hammered beyond comprehension - Elissa knew that wasn't her. And spending time in her family's company during recovery had helped to remind her of her values. Of the fundamental things she believed in.

Gabriel had reminded her not to let anyone pressure her into anything. Since when had she  _ ever _ let anyone do that?

Silently, she pushed the shot-glass aside.

Cain blinked at her. "What's wrong, darling?" he questioned. He lifted her glass, and offered it to her. "Come now, it's a time to be happy. Drink."

He captured her eyes, his blue irises twinkling with familiar mischief. She felt them drawing her in, a strange magnetic pull and Elissa's right hand lifted automatically toward it - when she frowned and abruptly caught herself. Hadn't she just told herself she  _ wouldn't _ have it? She gave herself a mental shake. What was the matter with her?

"No," she refused firmly. "I don't want to drink that."

"What?" Cain looked puzzled. "Why not?"

"I just don't want alcohol." Her tone left no room for arguing. She turned to the bartender. "Could I get an orange-juice, please?"

"Of course, Miss," the elderly bartender nodded, and turned away to get her order.

"That's a boring choice," Cain scoffed. "We're celebrating." Then he shrugged and downed her shot. "Your loss."

"I can celebrate without getting plastered," Elissa retorted.

"Elissa," he sighed. "Are you upset at me? Is this about the accident? Because I told you, darling, I felt terrible, and-"

"I'm not mad. I made that choice. And I'm healed now, so we don't need to talk about it." She shrugged. "You know I never  _ was _ much of a drinker anyway."

"But this is a special occasion," he argued.

"I've seen what you do for 'fun'," she shot him a pointed look, referencing the drugs incident. "Everyone has different definitions of it, don't they? Why can't we have fun together without getting drunk?"

"You're really somber today," he smirked. "What's gotten into you? Where's the wild, fierce vixen I know?"

"Oh, she's still here," Elissa replied, thanking the bartender as he set down her glass of orange-juice. She raised the glass to him. "You don't want to push her around."

"I wouldn't dream of it," he laughed, and downed another shot. "Actually, I'm thrilled that you've healed. We can go back to doing things. Fun things."

"Yeah, I have plenty of suggestions," Elissa agreed thoughtfully. "How about some museums? A theatre. You know. Cultured places."

He gave her a look. "I suppose…"

"Or…" she took a sip of her drink. "Is that not really your scene?"

"My scene is anywhere you are," he replied suavely.

Elissa resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Smooth," she conceded. "I forgot. You own The Book of Cain-isms."

"I'll get a special edition just for you, for Christmas," he chuckled, snaking an arm around her shoulders, drawing her in close to his side.

"You're the gift that keeps on giving, huh?" This time she did roll her eyes, prompting another loud laugh from him.

She was jolted when someone suddenly bumped roughly into Cain's back while trying to side-step another person behind them.

"Watch it," Cain turned his head, frowning. The tall, burly, bald-headed man with a black goatee who had accidentally nudged into Cain glanced back at him, offering no apology - when his eyes suddenly came to rest on Elissa. He blinked and did a double-take, a strange expression passing across his face, as if he were struggling to place her features.

Elissa stared back, confused as to why he was looking at her so oddly. She raised her eyebrows and opened her mouth to ask him what his issue was, when his gaze suddenly widened, and he reached out and grabbed the shoulder of the man in front of him.

The second man was shorter, with a ruddy face, wore a leather jacket and had unruly red hair.

"Hey, Gavin! Look! Isn't this that broad from that night? I'm sure!"

Cain downed another shot and squinted at him. "I beg your pardon?" he said.

The red-haired man, Gavin, had turned around. His eyes grew as large and round as saucers as he stared at Elissa, anger morphing on his face. "So it is," he sneered. "I remember that face. Where's your psycho friend, bitch?"

Elissa blinked at him, nonplussed. What was he talking about? "I'm sorry?" she tried to begin non-confrontationally. "Do I know you?"

"Don't play dumb with us, you little cunt," the taller man snarled. "You might've been drunk, but you can't fool us. Your crazy psycho bitch of a friend broke Gavin's hand!"

"Fucking lunatic! Still hurts!" Gavin agreed, glaring so hatefully at Elissa, she was taken aback. "Where is the little bitch, huh?"

"What…?" Elissa still struggled to comprehend what on earth he was even talking about.

"The dark-haired girl who showed up out of nowhere in the back-alley when you were last here!" Gavin gestured. "You fucking tell her to stay away from our bar! We don't want trouble makers like you here!"

"The dark haired…" Elissa's voice trailed off. Her mouth hung open, struck speechless by the man's words. She recalled the night she had chosen to go for a late drink at this same bar. How she'd drank too much. How she couldn't recall for the life of her just  _ how _ she'd gotten home safely. The pieces clicked into place with resounding clarity in her mind and she felt physically sick, her heart immediately pounding within her chest as realisation struck her like a bolt of lightning.

The dark haired girl.  _ Slayte?  _ Elissa stared after them as they left in an angry huff, stunned by the revelation. Slayte had retrieved her and taken her home? Saved her from a situation involving at least two men, a situation that had resulted in one of their hands being broken? Slayte had done that, even when they hadn't been talking?

Elissa swallowed thickly, scarcely believing it - and yet, nothing in the world made more sense to her in that moment. She knew it with certainty, felt it in her bones, that the men were not lying about her unexpected saviour. It was exactly the kind of crazy, devoted, over-protective thing that Slayte would do, and she would only do it if they had intended Elissa real harm.

How many times had Slayte appeared out of nowhere when Elissa had been in danger? It certainly fit the pattern. She suddenly wondered whether Slayte had been there when the beam had dropped on her, too. Was that how she had known to come to the hospital? Another mystery, unanswered, and yet it didn't seem too far-fetched to Elissa right then. Horror filled her.

She jerked back from Cain, throwing his arm off her as she turned accusing eyes up at him, hazel irises glittering with the fire of fury.

"Elissa-" he began.

"You asshole!" she hissed. "You told me it was you who took me home that night! You told me you were here at the bar."

He held up his hands in an attempt to calm her down. "Now, darling, I didn't say it was me, you assumed-"

"You  _ told _ me you were here! You liar!"

"I said you were so out of it, you didn't remember what happened, and-"

"Shut up!" Elissa snarled, and slipped off the bar stool. "Don't play word games with me, you jerk! I can't believe you lied to me!" Suddenly she couldn't stand to be next to him, to keep company in his overbearing, self-assured, arrogant presence, too upset and distraught by the fact that Slayte,  _ Slayte,  _ had been the one to take her home, to tuck her into bed, without a word spoken to her. And all that time, Elissa had believed it to be Cain who had come to her aid.

She felt cheated. Foolish. Furious. Without another word, she shoved roughly past him.

"Elissa!" Cain called desperately after her, reaching out automatically for her arm - but she had already slipped away. "Hold on! Stop!"

"Go to hell!" she yelled at him, over the sound of talking and music, drawing curious gazes onto her. But she didn't care that people were staring. She suddenly felt suffocated in the stuffy, over-crowded bar. None of it - any of this, she realised starkly, was  _ her. _

"Elissa! Wait. Elissa!" Cursing, Cain turned to settle the bill for the drinks, trying to catch the bartender's attention.

Elissa paid him no heed. Without looking back, she stormed out of The Hidden Leaf, wincing as a strange throbbing sensation briefly assaulted her skull. She gritted her teeth and ignored it, pushing onward, barreling down the pavement, incensed. Angry, hot tears welled in her eyes and her hands closed into tight fists, the realisation that Cain had  _ played  _ her like a fool scalding her inside.

Just  _ who _ did he think he was, trying to masquerade as some knight in shining armour who had come to her rescue when all along it had been someone else entirely who had come to her assistance? Had he known that Slayte had saved her? Was that why he'd chosen to take the credit? She knew the two had never liked each other and wouldn't put it past him.

Her chest ached. Her head hurt. She swallowed miserably, shaking her head in disbelief as her entire body seemed to pulse with negative energy, taut with tension.  _ Slayte _ had taken her home! Protected her from men whom Elissa assumed had intended to take advantage of her while she'd been in a drunken state. Even after everything she had said to Slayte in fury, the yawning chasm of distance she had placed between them and every effort Elissa had made to cut her permanently out of her life, she had still shown up to help her?  _ Why? _

Why was she so- so  _ impossible? _ So stupidly devoted to her? So ridiculously concerned for her well-being, even now?

And why did  _ she, _ Elissa, always fall prey to the webs of deceit others spun around her? She couldn't stand it. Just when she was trying so hard to pick up the pieces of her life again, the past returned to cruelly mock her.

She'd had enough of being naive, of never knowing just  _ what _ the real truth was.

The tears flowed freely down her face as she crossed the road, adjusting the strap of her leather satchel-bag that was slung across her chest. She paid little attention to her surroundings, too lost in the storm of her emotions and the turbulence of her thoughts.

The pounding ache in her head only seemed to be intensifying with every step, but she couldn't afford to stop, wanting to put as much distance between herself and Cain as possible. Slayte's hurt expression lingered before her mind's eye and it both infuriated her at the same time that it stabbed at her heart. While Elissa had been seeing only Itachi's accomplice, the girl who refused to spare even a shred of truth for her, the one who claimed to be her best friend but left her adrift in a sea of uncertainty, Slayte had been seeing another image entirely. One of herself, repeatedly facing danger, often brought on by her own recklessness. She shuddered to think of what the situation must have been like in that dark alleyway before Slayte had come for her. She hated the thought that while she had been furiously voicing her frustration with Slayte, Elissa had actually been cluelessly in the other girl's debt, and entirely ignorant of it.

Slayte had said nothing. Cain had deceived her. The very world around her seemed to be a web of lies closing in on her, smothering her. Was there no one who would be truthful with her? No one she could trust? And Slayte - Elissa squeezed her eyes shut as bitter regret swamped her being. What would have happened to her if Slayte had not come? If she hadn't been there on that miserable, drunken night? Or that day on the beach, where she had pulled her from the water?

_ Don't mention it. _

The words echoed in her ears, haunting her as she realized with painful clarity, how much sincerity was concealed behind them. Slayte had no intention of mentioning anything she did for Elissa's sake and Elissa had no way of knowing how many more incidents like the one Cain had covered up lay hidden in her silence.

It made her feel sick to her stomach, it made her want to throw up. It made her want to shake some sense into Slayte. A sob tore from her throat and she lifted her hand to stifle it, finally slowing her steps in defeat. The raging headache threatened to split her skull in two and confusion, guilt, and anger fused within her to an emotion so painful she wished the earth would swallow her whole.

She lifted a hand to the wall beside her, trembling as her sobs wracked her body, tears streaming forth ceaselessly even as she squeezed her eyes shut, willing them away. She stumbled along, only a single thought remaining in her consciousness through the searing headache and mind-numbing anguish.

_ Get away from Cain. _

She felt her foot bump against something only a moment before the sound of glass clinking and then shattering met her ears. Tearful eyes flew open to find that she had come up against a collection of beer bottles that had been lined against the wall - some empty, some full, most broken. The frothy, golden-brown liquid spilled over the cobblestone, disappearing into the cracks and Elissa stepped backwards in surprise, wiping away her tears and struggling to calm her tremors.

"You bitch…" a voice behind her slurred.

Elissa whirled around to find an aging, homeless man hobbling towards her. His steps were unsteady, and his complexion blotchy with bloodshot eyes, but the stench of him - a ghastly combination of alcohol and the nauseating, sharp reek of urine - was even more unsettling. His clothing was little more than layers of tatters, dyed by years of filth to more or less the same shade of pungent brown. His leering, washed-out blue eyes, that fixed decisively on her even as the rest of his body swayed unsteadily, filled her with dread.

"You gonna pay for that?" the man stalked ever closer, and Elissa hastily wiped at her eyes as she sought distance from him, stumbling over the remaining bottles. She was disoriented from her headache and felt lightheaded and dizzy.

"I'm sorry, it was an accident," she defended, her vision blurring from the intensity of the throbbing ache in her temples.

But the man was surprisingly fast on his feet for one so inebriated and he closed in on her, "Stupid bitch. Thinking you can…" he trailed off, tripping over his own feet before steadying himself, "... just do what you want…" Elissa felt darkness closing in on the edges of her vision and pressed a hand to her temples, blinking, willing the damned headache away.

A blackened, grimy hand shot past her line of sight and grabbed at her hair, jerking her head backwards. "Think you can break my stuff?! Think Horace ain't got no rights? I'm human too!" His voice grew increasingly agitated and Elissa was hit with the full stench of the alcohol on his breath. She realized, suddenly, that the man had picked up one of the broken, glass bottles and was gesturing wildly with it as he spoke.

"Let go…" she urged weakly, horror filling her as she realized she was helplessly at his mercy.

"Imma…" he hiccuped, "grown-ass man. No one touches my shit. Not even barbie bitches like you!" He brought the jagged edge of the broken bottle to her throat as he spoke and Elissa swallowed in terror.

Was this it? Was this how her life was going to end? At the hands of a homeless drunkard who thought he had the right to write an end to her story? She was done with other people scribbling on her pages. Done with them tearing her pen away. She was fed up of all the white-outs and the highlights and the asterisks and footnotes of the influence of outsiders. It was her life. Her pages. Her story. She was going to take the pen back one way or another, and not Cain, nor this homeless man, nor anyone else would ever take it from her again.

She didn't know where the burst of strength came from - fuelled by her anger, by her hurt, by her agony. She brought her hands up against the man's chest, a thousand images filling her head as she shoved him off.

Itachi's cold eyes.  _ An assumption on your part.  _ The shadow marks curled on her back, ones she would take to the grave.

Slayte and Levi's repeated appearances where she least expected them. Slayte's judgmental, disappointed brown eyes under the flickering violet lights of the nightclub.

Cain's smooth talk. His lines that didn't add up. His shifting eyes and steady smirk.

The open grave. Cami's trembling. The voices beckoning to her.

The wooden beam falling, growing closer faster than she could think, before crushing her entirely. Weeks of hospitalization. Cain's unruffled appearance.

His lies. His wordplay.

Her own naivete. Her helplessness.

"I said get the hell off of me!" she cried, her voice tearing from her lungs with all the force in her body.

She felt something shift - an odd rippling in the very airwaves around her - before an intense, dizzying gravitational pull tugged at her very essence, coursing through her body until it exploded from her hands with a blinding flash, followed by a sickening crack and a dull thud.

Elissa blinked, centering herself amidst her confusion. There was a ringing in her ears, a distant sound that slowly compressed to a sharp whine before fading completely. Elissa instantly felt lighter, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoulders. Her headache had disappeared and her mind was suddenly clear and sharp. She hadn't realized how much of a fog she had been in these last months but suddenly her surroundings were sharply defined, clear as crystal. From the crickets chirping somewhere nearby to the humming of motors in the distance. She felt acutely aware of every single star twinkling in the sky. Attuned to every blade of grass peeking through the cobblestone pavement. When had she last felt this alive?

Her eyes focused on the wall in front of her and the large, red splotch splattered there, trailing down to the floor confused her, at first. Following the trail, she saw the homeless man that had assaulted her, lying on the stone floor in a heap - motionless.

Fear seized the breath in her lungs. Had she done that?

Had she shoved him away with so much force that he had broken something against the brick wall? Despite herself, she rushed forward. His filthy appearance, his nauseating stench - none of that mattered anymore. Elissa desperately pulled the man over on his side, and pressed a shaking hand to his wrist, feeling for a pulse and - when she found none - cursed herself for being so unskilled. She reached for his neck, pressing two fingers to the vein there and waited. How hard could it be to find a pulse? Why was she so bad at this?

Understanding dawned and she turned to stone as she looked at the man crumpled on the floor. He wasn't injured.

He was dead.

She slapped a hand to her mouth, but it wasn't enough to stifle the sob that erupted from her lungs. Clamping both hands down on her mouth, her legs refused to carry her, as if they knew what she had done, and she fell painfully to her knees.

She saw now that his skull had cracked and was spilling forth blood faster than anything she had ever seen. There was nothing she could compare it with.

She screamed, struggling to stifle her own cries. She crawled backwards, horror consuming her. She gasped for air - choked and coughed as if she had forgotten how to breathe. Unable to tear her eyes away from the homeless man - no, the dead man. The man she had killed.

Her stomach turned and without warning emptied itself of its contents. Elissa held herself up on hands and knees. Long after her stomach was empty, she continued dry heaving as if it were her very soul she wished to cast out.

She grasped at her hair, pulling senselessly at it, as if the pain would somehow ground her.

"Mister," she whimpered, "I'm sorry, mister, please…" Wasn't there something she could do? Something anyone could do?

"Please don't die, mister." Tears streamed down her face. It was hopeless, it was over. Life was meaningless and fragile. A butterfly's wing.

She reached out for the homeless man, shaking his shoulder, hoping she was wrong, praying for some sign of life. His body felt oddly resistant to her touch.

"Elissa!"

The cry that sounded behind her gave her hope, even as it made her want to run away anew. Cain was a doctor. Surely, he could do something?

"Cain…" her lip trembled. Her hands were covered with blood. Vomit, spilled alcohol, and even more blood stained her clothes. Her hair was tangled and disheveled from the man's grip only moments before. Tears seemed to want to wash out her very eyes.

"Cain!" she cried again, reaching out for the hem of his long coat in thoughtless desperation as hysteria bubbled uncontrollably within her. "I-I don't know what happened!" she babbled tearfully. "I didn't mean to- I never- it was an accident!"

"Elissa," he regarded her with concern. "Slow down. What's happened?"

"I don't… I don't know! Help him, please!" she begged. "Do something! H-he attacked me, and I only meant to shove him off, but… I think he's… I don't think he…" Her breaths came in short, irregular gasps and Cain nodded, crossing over to the unconscious man.

It was a moment that stretched out for eternity. Time itself seemed to stop as Cain glanced at the man, his verdict had fallen even before he felt for a pulse. The blond froze, a grimace on his face. The man was putrid, filthy, and reeked something terrible. Had this man accosted Elissa? Cain turned back towards the brunette.

"Elissa, there's nothing to worry about," he began, and hope bloomed in her chest - "He's dead."

Elissa turned wide, hazel eyes towards the doctor in horrified disbelief. Judgment had fallen.

She was a killer.

She had robbed this man of his life. She was death itself. Death had not only taken from her so many that she loved, it had claimed her very being. Made her its own. She belonged to death. Was its agent. Was no better than it.

Her mouth fell open and a tormented, inhuman sound escaped as she clutched at her head. The sound morphed into a scream and Cain abandoned the old man, turning instead to the young woman succumbing to utter despair. He threw his arms around her and drew her close.

"There, there, darling," he cooed, "You've done nothing wrong. That man was going to hurt you. You acted in self-defense. Who knows how many other women he might have attacked."

He smoothed back her hair, tucking it behind her ear as he held her close, muffling her sobs against his chest. "Believe me, you've done the world a favor. The less scum like that we have on the streets, the better."

Elissa pulled away from his embrace as if he carried a deadly contagion. "What?" she breathed, tears still streaming down her face.

"Cain, I -" she swallowed, her voice dropping to a whisper at the gravity of the words she struggled to speak, "I killed him."

"Hush, Elissa, nonsense." He rubbed her back with that same, disarming smile she had seen him wear on so many occasions. Unruffled, unaffected. Just like when Itachi had made her lose all sense of self. The same expression he wore when she had lost her very best friends. That expression that she recognized when his own friends were trying to pump her full of drugs. That smile he wore when he visited her in the hospital, her body broken in more places than she could count. When had that smile ever meant anything good for her?

"You know me... and my father. I'll take care of this, don't you worry." He reached out to smooth her hair down again, but she slapped his hand away.

"This is a human life! This isn't some… some misdemeanor you can smooth over!" His callousness in the face of death made her skin crawl.

"Elissa," he patted her hand, "You've had a shock. I understand. Just take it easy, I'll take care of the rest."

Elissa had no more words for him.

He stood up and turned away from her, lifting his cell phone to his ear as he called up his colleagues from the hospital. Elissa scarcely heard a word he spoke, turning her eyes away from him, welcoming the sting of the cold night air on her. It was preferable to the deceptive warmth of his touch. Her eyes settled on the man lying on the floor.

He had a family surely? People who would miss him? People who would stand by his grave trembling as Cami had done? People who wouldn't be able to think of him without being choked by tears? People who would ask themselves what had happened? Who would look for someone to blame for his death? And who was to blame?

_ You are, of course. Murderer. _

Elissa closed her eyes against the sight and held her ears shut, but it was hopeless. How could she block out a sound that was coming from inside her head?

_ Killer. You're no different from any of them. Life is sacred? Don't make me laugh. _

_ Nothing is sacred. _

Elissa felt a helpless whimper cross her lips as new tears formed in her eyes. She wished she could open her eyes to discover it had all been a dream. Would life show her that mercy? She rocked back and forth, willing the voice away. Willing the reality of the situation away. When she opened her eyes, it seemed everything had faded away except for herself and the homeless man's lifeless body. Nothing but the two of them and stretching, gaping blackness.

She opened her mouth to call for help, for someone to get her out of there, but could not produce a sound. She watched his lifeless form, and mouthed unspoken apologies.

The sound of approaching sirens startled her out of her reverie. The ambulance slowed to a stop at the side of the road and paramedics spilled into the alleyway.

"Are you alright, miss?" a young man with wide eyes and thick glasses asked her.

She pointed helplessly towards the fallen man. What was wrong with everyone? Why were they asking about her? Couldn't they see what was right in front of them? She was a murderer. They should be taking her away.

Cain stepped in smoothly, as the paramedics closed in on the man, taking his vitals and then stopping abruptly, as they realized there was nothing more to be done.

"My girlfriend and I were on our way home, when we saw him," Cain explained easily, "She's in quite a state of shock. It was very unsettling for her. You don't think something happened to him?"

"Don't worry about it, Mr. Lockwood," a female paramedic reassured him, "He's a regular in our hospital. A severe alcoholic who was always getting himself hurt. It was only a matter of time before he had an accident like this."

Cain was doing as he had promised. Smoothing things over. Making it okay. Telling his lies. Apparently, she wasn't the only one who believed them. Elissa struggled to find her voice. She couldn't feign innocence. Not with a life on her hands. Whatever the consequences were, she had to face them. She deserved them.

She stared down at her bloodied hands, "No…"

The group fell silent and turned towards her. She caught sight of Cain casting her a warning glance.

"It was me," she announced, her voice breaking, her shoulders trembling, "I killed him. He was coming after me, and I pushed him … I…" She couldn't bring herself to continue.

"Sweetie," the female paramedic lay a gentle hand on Elissa's shoulder. "This kind of blunt force trauma? You would have had to hit him with a car to cause that kind of damage. I know it's shocking, but you'll be okay, don't worry. We'll take care of him."

Elissa turned despairingly from one set of sympathetic eyes to another. They didn't believe her. She opened her mouth but no words came out. It had been hard enough to confess once, but saying it again? Convincing them of it? How was she supposed to do that? She didn't even want to believe it herself. But she had to, an innocent man had died!

"Listen to me!" She insisted, "Please, it was me! This wasn't an accident, it was- it was-" Cain took hold of her and pulled her away from the medic.

"There, there, darling," he held her close to his chest, muffling her protests, "It's a lot, I know, but let them do their work."

He nodded at the responders, and they lifted the man onto a stretcher before carrying him into the ambulance. Cain held firmly onto her, waiting until the ambulance doors had been slammed shut and he heard the engine start. Elissa stomped her foot onto his instep, causing him to release her with a hiss.

"What are you doing, Elissa?" he seethed, "I'm trying to help you, and you're trying to - what, go to jail?"

"If that's where I belong, yes!" Elissa threw back, tears streaming from her eyes. "I don't need your lies to protect me, Cain. If I don't like hearing lies, I hate telling them even more."

"Alright, darling. As you wish," he relented, with a soothing smile that was not reflected in his eyes, "Let me get you home."

"No," Elissa lifted a hand, a desperate shield between him and herself, "I'll go on my own. Just, please, I need to be alone."

_ Leave me alone. Please. _

"Elissa, I don't think that's a good idea," Cain stepped closer, taking hold of the hand she held between them. "Let me help you, darling."

"You've helped enough," Elissa tugged her hand out of his grip and stepped backwards, "I need space. I need to breathe." Her eyes darted wildly around the alleyway for an escape. "Please. Just leave me alone."

_ No one can help me now. _

Something dark flashed in Cain's eyes, and he lifted his chin, disappointed but acceptant. "Alright, Elissa. Whatever you want."

She needed no further compliance and pushed past him, tearing down the street towards her apartment. She felt the eyes of the world on her back, millions of judgmental gazes, piercing through her. The word " _ murderer _ " echoed endlessly between her eardrums, a verdict nothing living would ever be able to overturn. One that was engraved on her very soul. A man had lost his life.

And she had been the cause.

Elissa didn't know how she made it back to her apartment. The short trip was little more than a blur in her memory. She staggered through the front door, dropping her things in the hallway, before pushing the door shut. Stumbling towards the bathroom, she tore off her clothes as if they were burning her.

She needed to be rid of it. To be rid of everything that had been touched by death. She turned on the shower and stepped inside, shivering. Although she turned the knob as far as it would go, setting the water as hot as was possible, she could not banish her trembling.

She watched the blood swirling down the drain through the steam, waiting for the moment the water would run clear, but it never came. Red stained her vision, the blood dying the water, the walls, the shower basin crimson. The red death seemed to flow backwards, against the water pressure, creeping ever closer to herself.

With a strangled sob, she sank to the floor of the shower, hugging her knees against herself. The burning hot water barely registered in her mind, as faint as a drizzle. Although she could subjectively see the way her skin turned red under the scalding spray, her mind was far removed. She rested her forehead against her knees, creating a small space where she could breathe, and closed her eyes, wishing the water would just wash her away as well.

She didn't know how long she stayed there, under the punishing spray. It could have been minutes, hours, days. At last, she reached up and shut off the water, forcing herself to her feet. She felt dizzy from the collective steam in the bathroom and wrapped a large towel around herself before somehow making her way to her bed.

Somewhere in the distance, Vetty meowed in concern, but Elissa scarcely heard her. She stared with eyes unseeing at the ceiling, feeling like little more than a corpse. Death had tainted every inch of her. No, she was worse than dead. She was a killer. She remembered the pale, blue eyes of the homeless man - recalled what they had looked like when the life had gone out of them.

_ I'm human, too! _

His voice rang in her ears and fresh tears resurfaced. Wretched sobs shook her body and she had no strength to hold them back. Shaking from head to toe, she wept bitterly. Wishing, praying, that somehow she wouldn't have to see the morn. Wouldn't have to look into the mirror and see a murderer looking back. She should have been the one to die, not that man.

He was a human, too. She had broken his possessions. Stumbled through his home. She was to blame. She was the trespasser. He had only been defending his territory, and she had killed him. She was the monster.

_ Think Horace ain't got no rights?! _

"I'm sorry," she whimpered into the night, before curling on her side, burying her face in her hands. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" The words were an endless refrain that sounded meaningless, even to her own ears. Empty apologies. She had no right. How dare she apologize, as if there were any hope of forgiveness?

She hugged herself, trembling and sobbing. Wondering where it had all gone wrong. Wondering why no one had thought to investigate his death. How they could have treated it like a good thing. Wondering if she shouldn't have done more to bring the perpetrator to justice. She wondered how she dared to live, when another had died at her hands.

_ Please, let me die. I'd rather be killed than be… this. I don't want to face this in the morning. I don't want this to be real. Take me, please. _

* * *

The words rang clearly in his mind. A prayer to the god of death, from one who had never addressed him before.

He recognized the voice, usually sweet, almost regal in its intonation, nothing like any other voice he had ever heard before. Now, she addressed him - directly for the first time since they had parted - broken and sobbing, like so many others before her.

He had seen the moment she had clung to the fallen man, searching for signs of life. Had stopped the crow that had gone to summon the nymph with a mere flicker of his gaze. He had witnessed her anguish and her torment and neither spoke nor moved to comfort her. Observing solemnly, instead, how one who so cherished life, found herself taking it.

He recalled her as he had first known her - wide, hazel eyes full of questions, full of fire. Her bold, determined regard for the sanctity of life, one that was always laced with the fear of those who had known death intimately. The sunshine setting her eyes alight, the river glittering behind her. The way she refused to succumb to the fear that her very soul should have instilled in her at the sight of him. Brave, innocent, pure.

The agonized screams that tore from her throat, the way she pulled at her own hair, her eyes fixed helplessly on the dead man - all evidence of the fact that she was forever changed. An innocence lost. She would never be able to return to the days where she had considered herself a champion of life. Protecting all those around her with reckless abandon, with nary a thought to her own safety. He saw it in her eyes, that she was irreparably broken, lost to a calamity she could not overcome.

The loathsome mortal had arrived to offer her comfort. He had taken Angelissa in his arms, soothing her, but the anguished state of her very soul made it painfully clear that she found no solace in his embrace.

She had confessed to the mortal medics, in a fashion so like herself, he could not but frown to witness it, that she had been responsible for the man's death. Had been wholly willing to accept the consequences, had perhaps craved them, even, to put her tormented conscience at some semblance of ease, but the medics paid her no heed, and the man who had lost his life, scarcely registered as a loss in their eyes.

All of this only heightened her distress, as she was deprived of any sort of justice that would have been a balm on her soul, that things had somehow been put to rights. There would be no such retribution. Not for one who did not even register as marginally of value to their society. One who they had written off long before his death. That was the way with mortals. Only the lives that produced anything they considered of value were actual lives in their eyes. The rest - the so-called scum of society - were merely dead weight.

It was Angelissa, he knew, who bore no such prejudices. Every life, truly, was sacred, worthy of protection in her eyes and to have taken one such life, albeit unintentionally, will have changed her forever in ways she would never heal from.

He recalled his own anguish, in a not too distant past, when the hands of the dying clung to the hem of his tunic, and the souls of the dead, in turn, to his cloak, screaming at him - shrieking, begging, pleading. He had been unable to distinguish their voices from one another. Had been helpless to acquiesce even a single request.

He remembered that first evening back in the Underworld. Staring at his own hands with eyes unseeing, questioning his very identity. He had remained at the banks of the Styx, torn between the surface world he had just left, and the palace he could not quite bring himself to return to. He recalled the way Cronus had chanced upon him, sneering, before turning away in disgust.

It was a similar horror reflected in Angelissa's eyes. What remained of the one who had taken a life? Nothing whole. Nothing intact. Merely a break - a crack - so deep, that only an ache remained. Nothing living. Nothing human.

He could only share in her confusion, in her contemplation. Could only listen to her soul ask him the questions he had asked himself many a time.  _ Am I a murderer? What had that man done to deserve this? Why did he have to die? And why am I still alive? _

He maintained his silent sentry on the rooftop. Listening wordlessly to her agonized sobs, her helpless whispers, her heart wrenching apologies. Knowing that she was well aware of their futility, and unlike her broken bones and injured flesh, for once, he was utterly powerless to heal her, or to help her.


	32. Part XXXI: Slippery Slope

* * *

**Part XXXI: Slippery Slope**

* * *

_Uchiha Itachi found himself looking up into the face of a woman taller than himself. She was undoubtedly beautiful, for a mortal, with haunting blue eyes and long, curly red hair. Those clear, cerulean eyes were filled with tears as she sank helplessly to her knees, clinging to his cloak, sobbing into it._

" _Please," she begged._

_There was something about her voice, something in the quality of it, that rang familiar to Itachi's ears but he could not quite place it._

" _Please," she lifted those startling cerulean eyes to his, taking his small hands in her own. "I have small children, scarcely older than yourself. I beg of you, think of my children."_

_Her entreaties fell on young, inexperienced ears. Although his expression did not reflect the torment that reigned within, Itachi realized with sudden clarity who the voice reminded him of. His own mother, singing sweet lullabies in the ancient tongue._

" _Have mercy," the woman sobbed, trembling with anguish. Through the doorway of the little hut, he saw small bodies aslumber, their chests rising and falling slowly with deep breaths. The woman spoke the truth._

" _I cannot," Itachi answered simply, his childish voice steady with wisdom beyond his appearance._

" _No!" she cried, "Surely, you can!" She crawled closer still, grasping at his tunic, "Surely there is a heart with feeling beating within that chest! Surely, you can spare me this once. If nothing else…" A steady stream of tears trailed down her cheeks. "If naught else, give me three days, please…" She sniffled in helpless resignation, "To bid my children farewell, and to entrust their wellbeing into reliable hands. Please, that is all that I ask. I beg of you. If there is anything with feeling within you. If you have a heart, please… If there is anyone you love and fear to lose," she choked on her own words. "I beg of you, my Lord."_

_Itachi was silent, angling his head towards the sleeping children. A thin wail broke the silence within the hut. He spied a small baby boy flailing in a basket and recalled a similar little boy in a splendid golden crib deep within the Underworld's Palace. Sasuke._

_If there is anyone you fear to lose…_

" _Three days," Itachi announced, and before she could so much as part her lips in gratitude, he disappeared._

_Three days he could endure, surely._

_However, the minute he set foot on the Underworld's banks - rather, the minute he turned away from the woman whose soul he was ordained to collect, he felt an unnerving unease settle over him. A searing pain seemed to shoot through the nerve endings of his fingertips and the soles of his feet, traveling along his neural pathways slowly, creeping ever closer to his heart. He stumbled towards his chambers, avoiding the eyes of his family, and succumbed to the pain, sinking into his silken sheets._

_The young deity curled in on himself, clutching at his heart as the mind-shattering pain pulsed through him, shooting through his body every second with renewed intensity. Three days he had promised. Three days he would give._

_The pain was accompanied by dizziness and nausea, followed by a loss of strength, a bodily weakness that weighed him down with the weight of Cerberus, it seemed. He remained curled on his side, pressing his lips together for fear someone should hear him cry out in pain, and counted the minutes go by, ticking off the allotted three days. As the hours passed, a deep cough took root in his lungs that persisted painfully and seemed to worsen with every passing moment, until he drew his hand away from his mouth and found it to be stained with his own divine blood._

_On the evening of the second day, his mother burst into his chambers, tear-stricken and adamant. He heard her raised voice admonish the servants, demanding to know why no one had informed her of his suffering._

_When she cried out that Erebus be summoned immediately, Itachi's hand shot out for hers. He opened his eyes blearily, meeting his mother's tearful dark gaze and shook his head quietly, before pressing his eyes closed once more. With grim, sorrowful resignation, she lifted a hand, dismissing the servants instead._

_She settled at his side, lifting his head into her lap, and stroked his hair with gentle fingers as he trembled silently in pain. Unable to understand what ailed her son, she cooed reassuring utterances and sang to him. As her beautiful, crystal-clear voice washed over him, he imagined the mortal woman to be doing the same, singing her children to sleep and was reassured that he had made the right choice._

_His mother never left his side until the third day had elapsed, and he rose to his feet with great self-discipline, never allowing his mother to see the weakness that plagued his body. He stalked out of the underworld with determination, and the illness that had tormented him seemed to abate with every step._

_As he approached the village that served as the mortal woman's dwelling, his ears were pierced by an ominous silence. It was fast approaching evening, but mortals at this hour should have still been out and about their business, slowly returning to their homes. He made his way towards the little hut from which he sensed the soul of the woman, noticing with a flicker of his onyx gaze that more mortal souls wandered the village, lost. As many as there had been residents. Lifeless bodies littered the roads, splayed haphazardly throughout the village._

_Itachi's lips set into a grim line. There was only one living soul in this dwelling. He sensed that clearly, and as he stepped through the wooden door of the woman's hut, as cleanly as a ghost, he found her sitting before the fire, her back turned towards him._

_He came to a stop at her shoulder, his eyes burning with wrath._

_The woman tensed, sensing his presence._

" _Why should I go alone?" she lilted, mirth in her voice. A giggle tumbled from her lips, as she turned her face towards him, azure eyes aglow with deranged satisfaction, "They deserved to die more than I did."_

_Itachi's gaze fell to the woman's lap, where a babe lay curled up in her arm, blood trickled slowly from his throat still, the majority of it long spent. The child that had reminded him of his brother._

" _They're my children," she hissed, angry at him now, her eyes narrowing in indignance, "I'm not leaving them behind. Obviously, they should be wherever I am!"_

_Itachi had heard enough. For this, he had spared her life? For this, he had suffered the past three days? Sparing the life of one had cost the lives of many. He was the executioner, not the judge, but for once, the lives lost weighed on his head, on his soul, on his conscience._

_Itachi raised a hand, pointing quietly at the woman's heart. He saw a sneer begin to form, saw her lips part to continue negotiations, but he yanked his hand back with such force his cloak fluttered at the movement - tearing the soul out of her body so mercilessly that an ear-splitting scream pierced through the air before she slumped forward over her dead child._

_Itachi understood, in that moment, what his predecessor had failed to grasp. In the role of Thanatos, there was no room for misplaced mercy. A mortal whose time had come, could not be permitted to tarry._

_Indeed, he would never permit it again._

Itachi blinked. Thoughts of the past were banished firmly as the young businessman on his knees before him came into focus. His face was buried in his hands and his shoulders shook with sobs. Desperate pleas tumbled from his lips, but they scarcely registered in the death god's ears.

Itachi raised a hand to the man's shoulder, in a farce of a comforting gesture, and the black-haired man lifted his face in surprise, tears flowing freely down his face. His breath caught in his throat as Itachi reached up for his mask, drawing it away unhurriedly. Catching sight of the raven-haired deity's face, the very soul within the man's body trembled in anguish, and a sound between a sigh and a gasp escaped his lips, releasing the dormant soul to Itachi's dominion. The man's eyes rolled back into his head as his eyelids fluttered shut and he tumbled to the ground, his glasses clattering as they slid over the tiled floor before cracking against the leg of a coffee table.

Itachi turned his back on the lifeless form, leading the way back into the Underworld, the soul behind him following in humble obedience.

* * *

Elissa's eyes flew open with a cry as she tore out of bed.

Her heart pounded painfully against her ribcage as a dream quickly fading from recollection still set her pulse racing. Disoriented, she blinked and struggled to regain a sense of her surroundings.

Winter sunlight streamed in through the window, filtered against the drawn curtains. She could hear birdsong chirping cheerfully in the cold outside, muffled by the frosted glass panes of the closed window. She hadn't covered herself with the comforter overnight, still lying flat on her back with her feet dangling from the side of the bed, and a veil of numbing coldness seemed to have settled over her skin, sinking into her flesh, into her bones.

_Think Horace ain't got any rights?_

Her eyes widened in instant recollection and nausea hit her like a savage punch to the gut. She stumbled towards the bathroom, only barely making it to the sink before retching miserably. Waves of nausea shook her body like the waves of revulsion passing through her heart. What had she done?

She ran the tap and rinsed out her mouth, tears dripping from her eyes. She stared at the water swirling down the drain, terrified to raise her eyes and see her own reflection. What kind of monster would she find there?

She turned away and switched off the lights, pointedly avoiding the mirror. She went around the apartment, drawing all the drapes shut, casting darkness over the area, over herself, then returned to her bed and allowed herself to fall into it. Turning on her back, she stared tearfully at the ceiling, recalling the events of the day before.

She could still smell the alcohol on the man's breath, still remembered the warmth of his chest underneath her palm for just a fraction of a second before she had shoved against it with an anger and desperation that she had never felt before. The reassurances of the paramedics meant little to her. She _knew_ somehow, instinctively, that she was to blame. That if she hadn't been so angry, if she hadn't lashed out so furiously that man might still be alive. She couldn't rationalize it, but as she felt fresh tears welling in the corners of her eyes, she knew it was true. Elissa lifted her hand, her eyes tracing the veins barely visible through her skin, the treacherous blood that pumped through her body, keeping her alive. Her, a murderer.

She dropped her hand to her face, and covered her eyes with her forearm as her entire body shook with the force of her tears. Her agonized gasps and sobs echoed throughout the room as she wept for hours until, at last, she fell into a fitful sleep.

It was a sleep that gave her no peace. One that consisted of endless dreams of the murdered man chasing her, screaming for hours, asking why she had done what she did, and when she was too weak to escape him he would take hold of her shoulders and shout into her ear, with a sound so shrill, it was more a shriek than anything. Demanding vengeance, demanding answers, demanding life. She could offer him nothing. That sharp voice pierced through her very soul and sent her pulse hurtling in terror.

The other half of her dreams consisted of herself chasing after the homeless man, begging for forgiveness. In these dreams, he was always beyond arm's reach, always turned away, always fading. Her throat was blocked and not a word could escape her. Her fingers brushed at nothing when she tried to make him stay and listen. Her limbs weighed down, heavy, lumbering, useless.

Days passed in agony. Drowning in guilt and self-loathing, she slept in sporadic increments throughout the day, one-hour naps brought on by the exhaustion that followed on unabating tears. Only to lie awake and stare at the ceiling unmoving, silently throughout the night. She neither ate, nor moved from her bed if she could help it. The days went by as she lost herself ever deeper to her regret until life was nothing but a swirling, descending spiral of darkness and she was caught somewhere in the center of the hurricane, the vortex crushing her but not allowing her the sweet relief of finally being extinguished, freed from the reality of the situation.

Elissa realized dimly, somewhere in her subconsciousness, that something was seriously wrong with her, that she gravely required help, that she needed someone to pull her out of the deplorable state she was in. But to ask for aid? She turned her head towards her nightstand. The phone screen had gone black; she hadn't bothered to charge it and had no idea how many days had gone by. Should she call someone? Should she reach out to someone? But to whom? She started reaching for her phone but hesitated, her hand hovering in midair.

_Murderer._ The word echoed like a deafening, damning sentence in her skull, one from which there was no hope of being exonerated. _Murderers don't deserve comfort_ , she thought to herself. _Murderers deserve to suffer. Murderers deserve to die._

She bit her lip. Horace couldn't call anyone anymore. No one would ever tell him everything would be alright. And whose fault was that?

Suddenly, her phone lit up and the piano tunes that echoed throughout her bedroom almost seemed to mock her. They sounded out of place, remnants of a phantom life and innocence that was forever shattered. She blinked at her phone before realizing that she was receiving a phone call. Lifting herself wearily to a seated position, Elissa reached for the phone, frowning when she recognized Cain was the one calling. The two had not parted on the best of terms, but he _had_ helped her the other night, when she'd had no one else.

_Stay away. Stay away. Stay away._

She could not rationalize the alarm bells ringing in her mind, but her very skin crawled at the thought of being close to Cain again, a great sense of unease churning within her stomach at the mere sight of his name. Shaking off the unwarranted anxiety, she lifted her phone to her ear.

"Hello?" she greeted hesitantly, surprising even herself with how weak her voice sounded.

"Elissa, darling! Where have you been?" Cain enthused. She could hear the sound of traffic in the background and assumed he was out of doors.

"I…" she began weakly, unsure what he wanted to know. He had been there, hadn't he? He had seen everything.

"I haven't heard from you in ages! I confess, I've been bogged down in work these last couple of days so I suppose I'm at least partly to blame," he chuckled and Elissa felt severely misplaced. How many days had passed? For Cain, life seemed to have returned to normal. Had she merely imagined the events of a few days prior? She glanced up at her bedroom mirror and winced when she saw her severely disheveled and tangled hair, her distressed pallor, her eyes blood-shot and swollen from ceaseless crying.

"Anyways, darling, I have some time off this afternoon. Would you care for a cup of coffee?" Cain continued casually.

"Coffee?" Elissa's voice broke. The word sounded foreign, the idea sounded ludicrous. In what world could someone casually go for coffee after having just killed someone? She couldn't believe her ears. "Cain…"

The doctor finally seemed to notice Elissa's subdued manner. "Elissa, darling, what's wrong? You sound quite out of it."

"Coffee…?" she repeated, blinking incredulously. Guilt clawed at her heart. "Cain I- I killed a man… and you're asking me if I want a… _coffee_ …?" Bitter tears stung at her eyes, and she swallowed thickly, feeling sick to her stomach. Her words were not as biting as they otherwise might have been. She was too exhausted for that, all of the life spent from her body, leaving her genuinely confused as to how such a suggestion was even possible.

"Don't be so melodramatic, darling," Cain threw back with a disbelieving laugh, clearly failing to appreciate and grasp the gravity of the situation. "It was an unhappy accident, but to say you _killed_ him? That's a bit of a stretch, don't you think?"

Elissa was silent, stunned by his indifference. For all the months she had spent trying to understand Cain's view on life, asking herself if he wasn't the one who actually had it all figured out, his current behavior made glaringly obvious what she had been overlooking all this while.

"It's been three days since then, nearly four. You need to get out, Elissa. Live a little, move on."

Elissa shuddered. The man she had killed those few days ago had been deprived of all opportunity to "live a little". She could hear his words, but they refused to settle in her mind. It seemed as though they were speaking different languages entirely. Had that always been the case? Had she only just become aware of just how different they were?

"Move on…?" she choked out, her vision blurring with tears. "I don't- how can you say that? How are you just expecting me to carry on like- like I don't have the blood of an innocent man's life on my own hands?!" She could not comprehend how those words alone failed to prompt the appropriate response from him.

She heard him sigh in frustration on the other end and her bewilderment only intensified.

"What?" she asked, desperation and irritation sparking somewhere within her. "What is it?"

"No, it's alright, Elissa. It's my mistake; forget I called." The annoyance in Cain's voice did not escape her notice.

"Say it!" she demanded.

A heavy moment's silence passed, and Elissa listened to the traffic passing on Cain's end before he finally sighed and continued. "Life is for the living, is it not? Isn't that what we said, Elissa? Even if that man died, he was hardly doing anything for anyone. If anything, as I've said before, he attacked you and he would have attacked others. You were only defending yourself. It was an accident that could have happened to anyone. Am I supposed to pretend to grieve over the death of a violent alcoholic? Have you been shutting yourself up at home because of this? I sincerely hope not."

The disapproval in his tone confounded her.

"Hardly doing anything for-?" Elissa sucked in a sharp breath in disbelief, horrified. "He was still a _person_ , Cain!" she could hear her voice rising. He wasn't listening to her. He didn't understand. "He was a human, with thoughts, feelings-!"

"He was a damned drunk, Elissa." Cain retorted. "A lost cause. How does it help him or anyone if _you_ stop living your life because of an accident?"

"Is that how you operate?" Elissa demanded, anger spiking within her. "You decide who's worth saving and who isn't based on whether they're a lost cause or not?! Him being a drunk doesn't make his passing any less meaningful!"

"He had it coming." Cain sounded like he was losing patience. "He was frequently getting in trouble; even if he hadn't died back then, his drinking problem would have caught up to him eventually. Do you know what he would have done if he'd hurt you? He wouldn't have spared a damn thought. So why are you?"

"You…" Elissa trembled, overrun with the force of her emotions. Cain was being so blase about the matter, and that was wrong, disconcerting, disturbing. Downright terrifying. "You really can't see this as a big deal…" she whispered.

"It isn't, because it was an accident. It's not like you got a knife and purposefully stabbed him in the heart, darling. _That_ would be murder. You acted in self-defence. You really are overthinking things. Now, come on. The sun is still shining, the earth spins faithfully on its axis, everything is moving on, you should too. Get dressed, come out, come back to me and I'll make it all alright. Let's just put this blasted talk of death behind us. It's so grim and depressing."

Elissa was silent for a long moment as she suddenly realized where the fatal flaw in her relationship with Cain was. Where it had always been. She had always thought that Cain had everything all figured out. Had been taken by his confidence, his fearlessness. His ability to go out and get what he wanted. But it seemed that she had overlooked one very fundamental issue. Just how very different they were. Too different.

"You're a doctor…" she said shakily. "And you don't care."

"I'm a doctor who is exposed to people dying regularly, Elissa, and let me tell you, if you care for every single loss of a life to the extent you clearly do, then you're only setting yourself up for depression. Accept it as an accident and move on."

"He's dead because of _me!_ " she gasped out. "It's not just- just some casual accident like… like breaking a plate! That's a life I took! Are you even listening to me?"

"It _was_ an accident. You almost died because of someone else, too, do you think that punk kid's life ended after _you_ nearly ended up in the grave? Wake up."

Elissa was rendered speechless. Cain suddenly seemed like an absolute stranger to her. Unsympathetic. Wholly unaffected by death. He had absolutely no regard or respect for it and was clearly numb to it entirely.

"People mourn death, fear it, respect it, but you don't even care," she shook her head. "Do you think it's something that only happens to others? Like it won't one day come for us, too?"

"You're far too preoccupied with death, darling," Cain snorted dismissively. "It's unhealthy. Let's just drop this."

Every word he was saying was increasing her agitation. Her self-loathing. Her anger and disgust toward him. "Do you have any idea how much it's killing me right now, knowing I took a life? ME, the very person who always goes on about how precious, how sacred it is! And you expect me to just drop it?!" Her voice broke as she near-choked on her words, her hypocrisy splintering her heart into further fragments as she fought back her tears.

"Elissa, what do you want me to say?" There was a hesitant, irked undertone to his smooth baritone. "I don't see why you'd ruin your life on account of a drunk who had already thrown away his."

"You don't understand me!" she cried. "You don't have a clue. You don't even care!"

"Elissa, really-" he began.

"No! I see it now. The two of us are far too different for there ever to be anything between us in the long term." She squeezed her eyes shut. The announcement neither pained her nor did it give her any satisfaction. It was a simple fact.

There was a long, tense silence on the other side of the line. Then his voice responded tightly, "What are you saying?"

"That I don't want you to call me asking me if I want to go out like everything's normal, Cain. I don't want you to stop by. I've done something unforgivable," she clutched at her forehead. "I don't know who I am anymore and I can't just move on. I just want to be left alone!"

"For goodness sake. Truly, after all we've been through together?" There was now a note of anger in his voice. "I was there for you when you had no one, Elissa, and I asked for nothing in return. Nothing. And this is what I get?"

Elissa bit her lip, but stood her ground. It was true, he _had_ done a lot for her. Loaned her his car, helped her look for a new job. Been a shoulder to lean on and a listening ear to talk to during difficult times. He had taken her to places and shown her things she had never seen before and yet, in the time with him she had been afloat, drifting away from who she really was. Trying to see the world through his eyes, she couldn't help but feel that all her efforts had left her blind.

"I'm sorry. I can't do this anymore," she answered miserably.

"So that's it, is it?" She could hear the disbelief in his tone. "You are shutting me out just because you accidentally contributed to some drunk's death? I'm the one being punished?"

"I'm not blaming you, Cain!" she exclaimed tearfully. Why wasn't he understanding that she needed space? But Elissa knew it was much more than simply wanting a break from him. The truth was, after finding out about Slayte saving her, and his consequent handling of everything, she didn't want to be anywhere near him.

"That isn't how it looks to me," he retorted accusingly.

"It's my fault," she said quietly, although she recalled her accident, recalled him covering up Slayte's aid, recalled the incident in the nightclub - a place, she had to admit, she would not have visited had he not insisted - and knew she had more than enough to blame him for, that there was more than enough that he was responsible for, too. The strength simply failed her to argue further with him. "I did this. It's me! I need space."

He heaved an irritated sigh. "Very well, I'll give you your space. We'll talk this over when you feel better and are more open to reason. When you realise I had no hand in the misery you're putting yourself in."

She was silent at that.

"Who are you going to turn to, then?" He added. "Your so-called friends? Your family? Who do you have but me, darling?" The endearment felt like an entrapment and Elissa blinked at his scathing tone.

"I can't do this right now, please, just leave me alone," she pleaded, pressing a hand to her temples where she could feel a headache brewing.

"As you wish, Elissa," Cain threw back, "Hope you get better soon. That bum isn't worth all this trouble."

Something inside her snapped, and a sudden rage exploded through her at his continued insensitivity, and with it, came the force of life.

"Wasn't," she hissed at him.

"Pardon?"

"Wasn't, because he's dead! And yes he _is_ worth it! He had parents. A family! Hopes and dreams!"

Cain released an incredulous laugh. "Darling. He's been in the hospital every other weekend for some kind of self-inflicted accident. The only hopes he had were to drink himself to death."

Once again, his complete apathy for the man's lost life made Elissa's skin crawl.

"What-?" Tears streamed down her face as she shouted into the phone, "What makes you think he's any less than you or me?! Is it because he doesn't have as much money as you? Because he didn't have a fancy car? Because he was an alcoholic? We don't know his story, and now we never will! No one will! Because I ended it! _Me_! I'm the one who tore out the rest of his blank pages, I took the pen away, I brought it to a close. It was me!"

She pressed a hand to her mouth as a deep sob threatened to escape from her chest. She didn't want Cain to hear it, to belittle her anymore and shoot down the significance of what had happened when clearly he didn't care at all.

"Be realistic, Elissa," Cain answered. "The most you did is end that man's suffering. You're shocked, I understand, but give it time. You'll see. I need to head back into work now, but I hope you come back to your senses. Don't do anything foolish, alright?"

Elissa hated him at that moment. She hated the callousness with which he disregarded the loss of life. She hated the condescending way he spoke to her. She hated how he simply could not understand what was so blatantly obvious.

She did not answer him and withdrew her phone from her ear, ending the call.

She knew what Cain wanted from her. He wanted her to put this behind her. Just as he had wanted her to put the accident behind her. To put losing her job behind her and put losing her friends behind her. He wanted her to devote her time and herself to him. To make herself available to him in ways she was now certain she didn't want to.

She recalled his prim and polished appearance in the hospital, his easy smiles no matter how hard she was crying, and realized bitterly, that her feelings, her grief, her suffering, never once truly registered for Cain. They were all things he wanted her to ignore, to put down, and provide him with her undivided attention instead. It made her feel small and foolish.

_You'll understand when you meet someone with ill-intentions. People can do a hell of a lot worse than lie to protect you, believe me._

Levi's words echoed in her head with resounding clarity, her experiences of the past few months giving them new meaning. She had never felt so alone. So lost. Burying her head in her hands, she allowed her grief to consume her.

She had finally voiced aloud what she had done and although it shattered her very soul, now that she had, she realized what she needed to do. It was obvious. It was the only chance at redemption she had. The only way she could attempt to honor the man's death.

* * *

The young woman standing on the other side of the counter was a sight to behold, and the officer at the reception raised an eyebrow as she introduced herself. Shadows had collected under her eyes, the clothing beneath her coat was wrinkled and looked slept in, her hair was tangled and pulled back in a careless ponytail and her eyes shone with a frenzied desperation even as she clutched at her shoulder bag nervously. The young woman had foregone both a hat and gloves in the freezing December weather and her pale face was blotched with red where the icy winter wind had stung her cheeks.

"Miss… Caelum, was it? What was it again that you wanted to confess to?"

Elissa stared at the police officer in wide-eyed panic. The weight of what she was about to repeat hit her full force. She opened her mouth to answer, feeling that her throat was clogged, as if it couldn't quite form the word again. This was it, she knew. Once she confessed, she'd be taken in, her family would find out about her crime, and her life as she knew it would be over.

She gulped, the gravity of the situation washing over her. In her mind, she knew that her life had already ended the moment she had killed the man.

"I…" she answered shakily. Somehow, speaking it to a law-enforcing police officer brought the unforgivable horror of her actions into even sharper relief. Quivering, she forced herself to choke out, "I killed… a man, I…"

She could not bring herself to meet the police-woman's gaze, torn between guilt and the necessity of having the officer believe her. They wouldn't turn her away or think her a babbling lunatic, would they? Were they even allowed to, legally?

"Right," the woman continued doubtfully, "and you want us to take your statement?"

Elissa nodded mutely, her eyes welling with tears.

The short-haired police officer regarded her dubiously. "Miss Caelum. Are you sure you're presently sound in both mind and body to make a statement today?" She pressed gently, suspecting the contrary.

"Y-yes," Elissa stammered, clutching at the leather strap of her purse more firmly in an attempt to banish her trembling. Murderers needed to be punished. It made no difference if she was the one who was guilty of that crime.

She watched the woman with the sharp eyes and angular haircut purse her lips together thoughtfully. It was obvious she had her doubts about the entire situation and Elissa could all but see her mull it over.

"Cadet," a warm, deep baritone sounded from Elissa's right, and she whipped around to the source of the sound.

She found a muscular, broad-shouldered man approaching. He wore his short blond hair combed neatly back and a neutral, stoic expression that made it impossible to guess what went through his mind. When he came to a stop beside Elissa, she found that he was so tall he towered easily over her slight frame.

"Cadet Bernstein," he repeated, "my guest has arrived. Would you be so kind as to bring some tea up to the office?"

"Yes, of course, right away Mr. Smith," the receptionist all but jumped to her feet, visibly nervous.

"No, that won't be necessary. A citizen clearly has a matter that needs tending to, first." He glanced towards Elissa and his clear blue eyes took in her distressed state.

"Is anything the matter?" he questioned, directing his words at Miss Bernstein.

"No, sir. Miss Caelum here would like to make a confession." The woman stood straight as an arrow as she answered him.

"A confession?"

"To murder, sir." The policewoman's incredulity was apparent in her tone.

Erwin Smith looked from the woman in question to the cadet at the counter. His perceptive gaze formed an immediate, accurate estimate of the situation. The young brunette, clearly distressed, had come here guilt-ridden to make a confession and Cadet Bernstein was expressing her disinterest, or rather, her disbelief, quite openly.

"I will take Miss Caelum's statement," he announced, handing over the files. "Please bring tea over to the back office and go through the identification with my guest."

"But Mr. Smith, your jurisdiction -" the woman stammered helplessly.

"Yes?" The query was spoken gently, but the blank, unassuming expression that accompanied it had the woman snapping her mouth shut. It was not her place to question a direct command from a superior officer.

"Yes, sir."

"Very well. Tea, not coffee, if you please, Miss Bernstein." Turning to Elissa now, he gestured down the hallway he had come from, "Miss Caelum, if you would follow me."

Elissa allowed herself to be led down the hallway, focusing on the sound of their shoes clicking down the tiled floor to keep her nerves at bay. Within her chest, her heart was racing fitfully. She was doing the right thing. There had to be some sort of justice or she would never be able to look herself in the eye again. She had to try, somehow, to make things right.

He opened the door to an office and gestured for her to enter. Sunlight streamed in from the windows at the opposite end where a large desk stood supporting an attached computer and any number of files. In the middle of the room was an oak table surrounded by four chairs of the same quality, padded with blue corduroy.

"Please, have a seat."

Elissa did as she was instructed while the taller man gathered forms and a pen. "Coffee? Tea?" he called over his shoulder.

"No," Elissa whispered automatically, interlocking her fingers in her lap nervously. She almost immediately regretted her decision as her throat had gone dry with apprehension and was relieved when Mr. Smith set a glass of water before her.

"Your identification card, Miss Caelum."

Elissa fished into her bag with trembling fingers. It took her several attempts to retrieve the required document. Erwin watched her actions with experienced eyes, easily surmising her mental state. She handed him the card, and as he accepted it, she immediately burst into tears.

"I'm so sorry," she wept inconsolably. "I- I'm s-so sorry, it was an- an accident, I didn't m-mean for it to happen and I-!" She lifted her hands helplessly. "I don't know how, I only pushed him to get him off me and he- I'm so sorry, o-officer, I-!"

"Miss Caelum," he interrupted. "I need you to calm down so that I can take your statement accurately."

His words only caused her to sob and sniffle harder, and she lifted an arm, burying her face dejectedly into the crook of her elbow. Erwin quietly copied the information off of the card before sliding it back toward her. He then waited patiently for her weeping to subside.

"I'm s-sorry," Elissa hiccuped at length, and took her card back, snivelling, her eyes already blurring with fresh tears.

"Are you ready to proceed?" he questioned.

Elissa nodded miserably, wiping her nose with a tissue.

Erwin nodded. "Now, Miss Caelum, I hope you are aware that you are under no obligation to provide us with information that would incriminate yourself in any proceeding of law. Whatever you choose to tell me today, is wholly at your discretion, and your silence on any question in the matter cannot be held against you."

Elissa nodded mutely, wiping her sweaty palms on her knees.

"Very well then, Miss Caelum. Why don't you tell me what happened?" Erwin leaned back in his chair and, despite his commandeering stature had a down-to-earth manner. Perhaps it was because he was the first person to finally take her seriously that she found her tongue and began her story. She relayed everything, doing her best to dampen the emotion that threatened to rise up and block her throat as she conveyed how she had been distressed on her way home, how she had stumbled through the alleyway, how the man had accosted her and then, how she had shoved him off furiously, the sickening crack she had heard and then - the certainty that he was dead.

She lowered her gaze and couldn't banish the tremors that ran through her body. Retelling the experience had been no different than reliving it in a way, and his large, unseeing eyes floated in her mind's eye, blood trailing from his lips as he rasped, " _Murderer, murderer, you killed me…"_

"-Miss Caelum." a voice broke through her thoughts.

Her head shot up, "I- sorry?"

"I said, did you inform the first responders of the events that had taken place?"

"I- yes, I tried, but they- they didn't believe me and I... I didn't know what else to do. I …" she bit her lip. That was a poor excuse. "I should have tried harder. I'm sorry. I don't know what took me this long to- I wanted to- I couldn't-" she broke off, her words muddled, too upset to continue.

Erwin leaned back in his chair and considered the young woman in front of him. It was obvious to him, in his years of experience, that the most they could try for in this case, provided the hospital corroborated the young woman's claims, would be an involuntary manslaughter. Any lawyer worth his salt would have that charge thrown out on account of self-defense.

For the young woman however, judging by her unkempt appearance, the shadows under her eyes alluding to sleepless nights, the trembling shoulders - guilt plagued her and her desire to turn the matter over to the authorities, to see justice done was understandable, admirable even. It was unfortunate that honesty never went unpunished.

"Miss Caelum, I assure you we will pursue your claim to the full extent of the law. Unfortunately, due to the severity of the allegations against you, we will need to take you into custody for the duration of the initial investigation. If the charges are cleared, you will be released within 48 hours. However, if your claims are confirmed, it is possible you will remain in custody until the date of your trial. Do you understand, Miss Caelum?"

Elissa nodded numbly. She knew this was coming. What else had she expected? Forty-eight hours was nothing in comparison to the sentence that would surely follow.

A disembodied sensation came over her as she got to her feet and followed the officer out the door and down the hallway. She was received by a younger, female officer and led by the elbow to a check-in station where her purse and phone were taken from her in a singularly dehumanizing experience.

She watched in silence, reminding herself that this was only what she deserved. No, in fact, she deserved far worse.

"Miss Caelum, would you like to make a phone call before we take you in?" The blond woman asking the question spoke in a gentle tone of voice and Elissa hesitated, considering.

Who could she possibly call? Certainly not her parents. She didn't want them to worry and the thought of them learning what she had done made her stomach clench with a terrible anxiety. Not her brother Gabe, either. She didn't want to even imagine his reaction. Definitely not Cain, this was likely precisely the type of foolish thing he had meant when he told her not to do anything foolish. Who, then? Slayte?

She bit her lip, recalling what she had only recently learned about the girl who was once her best friend. How she had come to her rescue that night and who knew how many others? She recalled the older woman's crestfallen face, as the words Elissa now regretted bitterly had burst from her mouth.

_Protect me? From what?! You're unbelievable!_

_You stay the fuck out of my life, Slayte! I want nothing more to do with either of you!_

Elissa dropped her gaze, and shook her head quietly. She had no one left to call, and no one to blame for that but herself. She would bear all the consequences alone, because that was what she deserved.

She was led to a cell and a shudder passed down her spine as the barred gate slid open, metal scraping against metal. She entered, as was expected of her, and when the gate was slid back shut and locked, the other woman left without so much as a backward glance.

Trying not to succumb to her tears, Elissa dropped on the provided cot glancing briefly at her barren surroundings, before lifting her feet onto the cot and hugging her knees to her chest. She rested her head against them, weeping quietly, and reminded herself that this was the right thing to do. This was how it needed to be. This was just the beginning.

* * *

_**Several hours prior** _

A knock on the door summoned Erwin's attention. He glanced at the phone, he wasn't expecting any visitors, and the receptionist had not informed him that someone had come for him. Despite that, he had a vague idea of who it could be.

"Come in," he answered evenly.

The door swung open, revealing none other than Levi Ackerman standing sullenly in the doorway.

"You called? I'm here. Let's get this over with."

"Good to see you again, Levi." Erwin leaned back in his chair, a small smile playing on his lips. "I wasn't expecting you so soon."

Levi shot him a look and closed the door behind himself, "Didn't want to give you the opportunity to lord this over me for who knows how long. Give me the files and I'll have a look."

Levi stopped a moment before seating himself at the provided table and gave Erwin an incredulous look. "What's with your uniform? It doesn't match." He indicated over his shoulder, referring to the other police officers in the building.

"Ah, yes. I'm the Director of the Organised Crime Command of the NCA, now. A somewhat different position from the last time we met." Erwin explained offhandedly. "I'm only here for a short time, investigating some corruption charges."

"Is that even something you should be telling me?" Levi frowned.

"Well, as you know, I hope to tell you a lot more than this. I am sure you are aware I now find myself in a unique position to surround myself with those I find most suited to the needs of my department. The post I've held open for you remains."

Levi stared blankly at the man opposite him. It never failed to surprise him that Erwin simply refused to give up. For all Levi's insistence over the years that he had no interest whatsoever in switching sides, Erwin had never stopped trying to recruit him.

"And unless you're getting as old as you look, I'm sure you still remember that I said no." Levi settled into the seat at the table and crossed his legs, lifting his arm over the backrest. "Last I checked, I'm the one who decides. Don't you have people who are actually trained for that job? Just how broke is the NCA that you won't stop hounding me?"

"I need someone I can trust, Levi."

"Don't talk to me about trust," Levi threw back. "You barely know me."

"I know enough to know that if I could win for myself whatever loyalty it is that still binds you to that criminal organisation, I will have found myself a most promising ally. Of that, I have no doubt." Erwin's piercing blue eyes met Levi's own and for a moment, Levi hesitated.

"I'm not trading one shithole for another. How is this any better? Both sides robbing people to finance their own crap. Your lot just has fancier uniforms, but the filth I've seen here is no different from that on the other side."

"I won't deny that there are people of dubious virtue in places of power. Which is why it is all the more important that people like ourselves do not sit back and allow it to happen. Help me, Levi. Get rid of the filth for me. I will give you the power to do so."

Levi hesitated. He thought of the ones he had left behind. The people working for that gang, who considered him a brother, still, despite the fact that he had turned his back on them. People he owed a debt of gratitude to. And in addition to them, the single individual he owed his very life to. He didn't have it in him to betray them for his own personal gain and beyond that, accepting Erwin's offer meant making enemies. Powerful enemies. Any one of them would be on his back, ready to strike at his weaknesses.

Large, soulful brown eyes appeared before his mind's eye, brimming with helpless adoration. An easy, abashed smile. Impossibly long, black hair. A warm embrace. A voice calling his name like he was all that mattered in the world.

"No means no, Erwin," he determined with a scowl, "And don't hold your breath because I won't be changing my mind. I asked for a favor, you wanted me to pay you back, so I'm here. Do you have those files or not? I have a business to run."

"Right," Erwin agreed with a smile as he rose to his feet.

"Oi," Levi narrowed his eyes at the man, "What are you laughing about?"

"The pauses." Erwin responded easily. "Before you decline. They are starting to get longer. It's amusing."

Levi frowned in response. "Like I said, don't hold your breath. You'll keel over."

Erwin chuckled and shook his head, "Let me get those files for you. Thank you for your assistance on this case."

"Hn," Levi responded, which was as much of a " _you're welcome"_ as Erwin was likely to get.

It surprised Levi, then, when instead of Erwin, a wiry young woman appeared in the office, bearing a tray of tea and a manila folder under her arm.

When Levi extended his hand for the file, she ignored him and set down the tea instead, pouring out a cup for him.

"Mr. Ackerman," she began, "It's a pleasure to meet you. Let us begin with the identification procedure as Mr. Smith intended."

She flipped open the file and Levi frowned in ill-concealed irritation.

"Oi," he began, leveling a withering stare at her, "give me the file, or I'm leaving. You can explain it to your boss. I won't be back."

She blinked at him, taken aback.

"You have five seconds."

She knew that Mr. Smith was rather unorthodox and employed unusual methods but always exhibited unparalleled results. Could she take responsibility for driving away their informant? Could she take responsibility for having disclosed a confidential file? Something about the man's irritated, intent stare gave her the feeling he knew what he was talking about and she mutely handed over the file.

Flipping through the pages, Levi skimmed over the attached profiles and photographs. He scanned the progress of the investigation, the method of operations, the chain of crimes and corroborating evidence. When a photograph of a blond with glasses, a full beard and a smug smirk met his eye, he pulled it out of the file and tossed it onto the table.

"There's your guy. Give Erwin my regards." Without another word, Levi rose to his feet, ready to make his exit. He paused in the doorway, one hand resting on the golden doorknob, before turning back to the young woman staring nonplussed at the photograph, two cups of untouched tea steaming on the table.

"By the way, if you're going to be on your phone while making tea, it's going to end up tasting like piss. Just so you know."

The younger woman's mouth fell open in indignant shock and Levi turned to leave the room, shutting the door behind him.

He stalked down the hallway, stuffing his hands into his pockets. A debt repaid. Now, he could go back to his own business and hopefully wouldn't ever have to see the inside of this shitty building again. A glance at his phone revealed he had been gone for about two hours. Slayte had been covering for him more than he was used to, lately. He owed her one.

He looked up when he saw Erwin approaching him from the opposite end of the hallway and his eyes widened at what he saw taking place behind the taller man. A policewoman was leading another, younger brunette away by the elbow. He recognised that hold, and knew where she was being taken. He hesitated, wanting to be sure, but under the few seconds of scrutiny he had, he was instantly certain. It was none other than Elissa being led away to a holding cell.

The last time he had seen Elissa had been on less-than-friendly terms, but he knew that the younger woman had been through more than her fair share of difficult times - that she just needed time to find her way back into her own headspace. Slayte's words echoed back to him with resounding clarity. That the one who had gotten involved in Elissa's life, the catalyst that had turned everything for the young woman into a neverending trainwreck, had been the god of death himself. A coward who refused to reveal his identity to their friend. By the looks of it, Elissa's situation was going from bad to worse, and there was no way he was going to let Elissa be caught in the inside of that cell that he, himself, had spent what felt like an eternity in.

"Oi," the intensity of his tone stopped Erwin in his tracks. Levi nodded down the hallway, "What's up with her? What happened?"

Erwin glanced over his shoulder. "An acquaintance of yours?" he asked.

"How much is bail?" Levi turned to the blond, cutting straight to the point.

"We've just taken her in, but it's likely to be 100,000 pounds." Erwin watched as Levi turned towards the reception.

The woman at the counter seemed surprised to find him standing there. "Can I help you?"

"Angelissa Caelum. You've just taken her in. I'm posting her bail."

"Um… just a moment," the receptionist turned to her computer screen, pulling up the file of the person in question. She turned to a stack of paper on the dividers behind her and pulled out a few forms. "Just fill these out, please."

Levi picked up the pen provided and set to filling out the indicated paperwork as Erwin stood silently beside him. He had always known Levi to be a lone wolf, with very few friends to speak of and none that he didn't know.

"How are you acquainted?" Erwin asked again in mild curiosity.

Levi ignored him, flipping the page to fill out the rest of the paperwork. How was he supposed to explain what Elissa was? She wasn't just a friend. She wasn't just his girlfriend's best friend either. Somewhere along the road, she had turned out to be almost like their adopted child, as ridiculous as that sounded. One with a rebellious streak who had run away from home. Nothing unusual about that.

"She's family," Levi answered at last, pushing the clipboard back over the counter towards the receptionist. 100,000 pounds wasn't chump change, but he was fairly certain his savings would cover it.

Erwin blinked, taken aback. "I didn't realize you had any family."

"Oi," Levi knocked on the countertop, calling the receptionist's attention. "You have your shitty paperwork. Let her out. Now."

The receptionist looked up at Erwin, who only nodded in response, prompting the young woman to sprint down the hallway and relay his instructions.

Elissa clutched her belongings to her chest as she stumbled down the hallway. She felt disoriented and weak from crying. She knew dimly, somewhere in the back of her mind that she must be a sight, that no one who knew her would recognize her, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

They had taken her in, only to release her an hour later. Someone had posted her bail? They would inform her of the results of the investigation? She was still making sense of it but her mind was bogged down, likely by the lack of sleep and nutrition from the past three days of self-deprivation. She wished the verdict would fall and she could just accept whatever fate awaited her. Hanging in limbo this way, neither here nor there, was torture.

What would the consequences of her actions be? She wanted justice done but she couldn't deny that she was afraid. Would she spend the rest of her life in a jail cell like the holding cell she had just left? Her eyes did not seem to dry out, as fresh tears resurfaced at the mere thought. What would her parents and siblings say?

Clinging to her belongings, she stumbled through the glass doors of the police station. Who had posted her bail? Who even knew she was here? Had Cain somehow found out and… ? The thought made her feel sick to her stomach. No, it wasn't possible. Cain would still be there if he had, wanting to receive her gratitude. She knew that much about him, at least.

She lifted her eyes to the road and saw a raven-haired man, arms folded across his chest as he leaned against a wall of the police station. The angular face was as familiar as the piercing grey irises that observed her from the corner of his eyes.

"Levi…" she breathed, stunned, as clarity crystallized in her mind. He had been there. He had posted her bail. He had saved her. Yet again. She couldn't bring herself to question what he had been doing there, she was so overwhelmed by sheer gratitude at seeing him at all. A familiar face. One of her own. Someone who actually cared.

He pushed away from the wall and unfolded his arms, his gaze both wary and concerned. Elissa could not, in that moment, clearly recall all that had fallen between them before. The hurtful words, the bitter shouting, the grudge she held against him - there had been many, she knew. But more than anything else, she needed a friend, one who wanted nothing from her in return. Guilt and grief, both at the events of three days prior as well as everything she had said to her closest friends blocked her throat as her eyes welled with tears.

"Levi!" her voice broke in a cry, as she let her belongings fall to the floor and rushed forward, wrapping her arms around him and sobbing miserably, pathetically. She heard him sigh and pat her head comfortingly, one hand resting loosely on her back.

He said nothing, letting her cry it all out. He suspected these tears were a long time in coming. Elissa had gone down a spiraling road of despair and rash decisions, bogging herself ever deeper in a filth she failed to recognize. Although he had told Slayte to leave Elissa to it, that move had largely been to separate the two girls that seemed to be incapable of coexisting at that point without deeply hurting one another. So long as the consequences remained within limits, it was fine for Elissa to see and learn where her actions led. But this - he had to draw the line here.

He was acutely aware of his own newfound knowledge - of the danger that lurked in darkness, its eyes ever fixed on their friend. As well as the identity of the mysterious masked stranger that seemed to have his own, unfounded interest in Elissa as well as captured Elissa's attention - if not her affection. The dark mysteries and manipulative shadows that had ensnared the younger woman's entire life… the cruelty of that was not lost on him.

Elissa clung to him and cried for who knew how long. Levi allowed it, the comforting way he patted her head, somehow casting an illusion that everything would be alright. He cast a cold look at passersby, a warning that scared them off.

When her sobs finally subsided, reduced to an incessant hiccupping, he drew back, casting a look at her tear-stricken eyes, her reddened face.

"Tch." She was in a state unlike any he had ever seen her in before. Was this the same Elissa they had known, ever impeccably dressed and styled as if she were about to be photographed at any moment? Her hair was disheveled, her clothes wrinkled and her face sickly pale. Had she showered in the last week? He doubted it.

"Have you looked in a mirror lately?" he scolded, "You're a sight."

She shook her head and wiped at her eyes, shoulders still trembling. Levi looked up the walkway at the people milling in and out of the police station. He pulled a packet of tissues out of his pocket and handed it to her.

"Here, blow your nose," he instructed, before turning away, muttering to himself under his breath, "Always getting snot on my shirt."

He collected her purse and phone from the pavement in front of the doors to the police station, tilting the phone in the sunlight to ensure the screen hadn't cracked, before returning to Elissa's side.

"C'mon," he took a hold of her hand and led her out of the courtyard, "Let's get out of here."

Elissa allowed herself to be led away, grateful not to have to think about what she should do next or what was going to happen to her, more than willing to let someone else take over.

"You here on foot?" Levi asked over his shoulder, and when she nodded mutely, still sniffling, he led her to the familiar black jeep parked at the side of the road. He opened the door on the passenger's side and handed her her belongings before climbing into the driver's seat.

"Looks like you've gotten yourself into trouble again," he began, turning the ignition.

She nodded, the simple words bringing on a fresh bout of tears. She raised her hands to her face and wept miserably. Levi cast her a glance but said nothing further as he turned the vehicle smoothly onto the road. Minutes passed in silence as Elissa wept.

"... I don't like it…" she mumbled through her tears.

"Huh?" he dragged his eyes away from the traffic to the miserable brunette.

"The slippery slope…" she sobbed, "... I don't like what's at the bottom."

To this, he said nothing and frowned grimly. She wasn't entirely at fault. She hadn't made decisions that were any dumber than someone else her age might have. For Elissa, however, the consequences were somehow entirely out of proportion to the mistakes she made.

"You're not at the bottom," he answered easily, "We're not ever going to let you end up at the bottom, Elissa. Don't be stupid."

When the car slowed and pulled to a stop, Elissa looked up to find that they had come to a stop at an isolated rest stop on the highway, overlooking the Vauxhall lake in the distance.

"Where are we?" Elissa questioned, looking up in surprise.

"Neither here nor there." Levi answered, reaching towards the back seat where he retrieved a thermos cup of tea Slayte had prepared for him that morning. "Here," he handed it to Elissa, "You're going to swallow your pride and tell me what's going on before I decide what to do with you."

Elissa clutched the insulated tumbler, allowing the warmth to seep into her frozen fingers. When she did not move, Levi reached over and flipped open the lid.

"Drink," he instructed, eyeing her warily.

Elissa inhaled and the sweet smell of black tea with honey and ginger met her nose. She could almost hear Slayte's monologue about how good honey was for you, and how ginger fought off colds. She frowned miserably before taking a sip and wanted to cry again as the sweet, refreshing flavor flooded her senses, the warmth banishing the cold from her bones. It tasted like home, tasted like happier times, tasted like Slayte's senseless love.

"Tell me what happened." Levi repeated, his gaze fixed on the body of water glistening beyond.

Elissa frowned and squeezed her eyes shut. Images rushed back unbidden. Wide, unseeing blue eyes. Blood. Flashing blue and red lights. The callous reactions of the paramedics. Cain's cruel comments.

She shuddered. Levi was as unshakable as a mountain, though, wasn't he? Always unruffled, nothing ever surprised him. If anyone could help her…

"I… I killed someone," she whispered so quietly, she scarcely heard herself.

Looking up at her friend, the soft look in those otherwise cold, grey eyes made apparent that he had heard her. He said nothing, his demeanor unchanged, as unsurprised as if she had announced she had caught a cold.

His calm patience and his wordless support broke the dam and the words tumbled out of her mouth one after another. The evening with Cain, her distress, her desire to be alone, the fact that he had lied to her - what exactly the falsehood entailed, she kept to herself, still unable to process the truth of it and what it implied for herself and her friend - and then the fury with which she cast off the homeless man. The terrifying moment she realized the life had gone out of him, the unfeeling reactions of the paramedics.

When the words were spent, having left her in a rush, she fell to silence. Her tears still streamed steadily from her eyes as she stared unseeingly at the leather surface of the glove compartment before her.

She released a shaky sigh and pressed a hand to her forehead. "I should have been the one to die. I had no right, I…" she trailed off, not knowing what else to say.

"Alright," Levi said finally, his narrowed eyes settling on the frozen lakeside. "Let's say you're right."

Elissa blinked up at him.

"You killed a man. You're a murderer. You're trash, you deserve to die. That's your point, right?" He angled his head to meet her eyes.

"I mean…" it was the first time someone acknowledged that she had in fact, killed the man instead of trying to soften the blow and talk it down. It cleared her mind somehow, to not have to convince him of the fact, but to have him simply accept it.

"What would you change if you could go back in time?"

"I… I wouldn't have touched him! I wouldn't have retaliated, and whatever the consequences…" she protested desperately.

"He had a broken bottle to your throat," Levi reminded her, "So, you would have let him kill you?"

"I …" she shuddered, "I don't know if he would have really done it."

"You don't have any reason to believe he wouldn't have, either." Levi watched her patiently, waiting for her to connect the dots.

"If that was my fate, yes. I would have rather accepted that, than… than…" she bit her lip to fight back the tears that were threatening to flood over again.

"Okay, fine, you let him kill you. A virtuous martyr. A saint, you are, Elissa. Everyone will hold a standing ovation at your shitty funeral. Your parents bury another daughter. Your brothers lose another sister. But hey, you almost died a few months ago, anyway, so they at least warmed up to the idea already, right?"

His tone was so neutral, so calm and even, Elissa couldn't tell if he was being serious.

"Levi, I…" confused, she looked up at him helplessly. "How can you say that?"

"Not me." He pointed towards her, "You're the one saying it."

Elissa didn't know what to say to that and stared at him, perplexed.

"Does your 'every life is precious' schtick not apply to yourself? Every time you choose to protect something, you are risking something else. That's how it works. If you don't want to hurt anyone, you can't protect anyone, either."

"You killed that guy, in exchange for sparing your mother the loss of another daughter. Your brothers the loss of another sister. That's the exchange you made. They get to sleep in peace at night because you protected yourself. No one's calling them up, telling them to plan a funeral."

She dropped her gaze to her clenched fists in her lap. It made logical sense, but why did it feel so wrong?

"Before you say things like you should have let him kill you, think about whether or not that's the advice you would give your family. Is that what you would have wanted them to do? You did what you were supposed to do. Your DNA is wired that way for a reason. Always fight to survive. Nothing is worth laying down your life for."

When she still said nothing, he frowned. "Oi, are you listening?"

She nodded mutely, still confused. Although, when she put her mind to it, if she had to weigh her options, she would never choose to put her family through that pain again. If those were her only options, to suffer for what she had done, or to put her family through the agony of loss again… she would rather be this way, not able to look herself in the eye, a monster in her own sight.

"Let's get you home," Levi decided, starting the car again. "Will you be alright on your own, or would you rather come to the tea shop?"

Seeing the panicked way she turned to him suddenly, he turned his eyes back to the road. "Tch, stupid question."

The drive back to Elissa's apartment passed in silence as Elissa mulled over Levi's words. In the past, when they had spoken of death, she had thought his point of view stemmed from a place of ignorance, that he had not dealt with it as intimately as she had. That he did not respect it enough. Now, however… she realized with shame that she had judged her friend unfairly. The calm, decisive way he spoke. The unsurprised way he dealt with her situation indicated he may have been through more than she had ever suspected.

She lifted her eyes to him as he made a smooth left turn.

_That's the funny thing about death. The one it touches is a saint, and the one who deals it is a devil. But is that always true?_

She frowned to herself. She couldn't live with the knowledge of what she had done, but she couldn't take it back, and she had no other choice _but_ to live with it. She wondered if Levi's perpetually resigned expression stemmed from a similar pain.

When he slowed to a stop in front of the apartment building she handed him the empty mug with a quiet thanks. Levi accepted the cup, depositing it into the cupholder before unbuckling his seat belt.

"You're not off the hook, yet." He nodded towards the building, "Come on."

Elissa bit her lip, but relented. She didn't have it in her to argue with him. He was like a beacon of sanity at the moment, one she couldn't bring herself to relinquish.

When she pushed open the door, Levi followed on her heels and she suddenly grew aware of the general state of chaos of her apartment, and how dark it was, with all the drapes drawn shut. She cast a nervous glance at Levi, knowing how he was about disorder, but for once, he made no snide comments as he quietly stepped out of his shoes.

Vetty appeared in the hallway in front of her, mewling pitifully and Elissa was suddenly reminded of the last time Levi had brought her to her apartment. The desperate way Slayte had been attacking Vetty. The very cat whose entry into her life marked the beginning of all the strange twists and turns that had plagued her since. What did Slayte know about Vetty that Elissa didn't? How desperate to protect her must Slayte have been to be driven to kill Vetty?

_There are friends for good times, friends for bad times… and then there are friends that would kill for you. Don't screw this up._

She frowned, recalling Levi's words, realizing for the first time that Slayte's attack on Vetty had been a sacrifice of sorts, as well. Taking a life meant sacrificing one's own humanity.

No, she didn't want to think this way. She didn't want to justify taking a life in any way, shape, or form.

But if she hadn't… she would be dead now, wouldn't she? Who would feed Vetty? Who would break the news to her parents? Who would tell Slayte she was sorry? Would Itachi ever come to know what had happened to her? Would he care?

No! Why were all these selfish thoughts springing up in her mind?

It was Levi's lecture, she realized, making her feel like her life mattered more than it did. It was the height of cruel arrogance to think her life was worth more than the one that was lost.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, steering her towards the bathroom. "Go take a shower, you smell like you haven't so much as seen water in a week." Leaving her in the doorway to the bathroom, Levi turned towards the kitchen, adding over his shoulder, "And do something about your hair."

Self-consciously, Elissa lifted a hand to her hair, before exchanging a look with Vetty, and doing as she had been told. When she met her reflection in the mirror, she was surprised to see just what a mess she was. Had she gone out like this? She shook her head. No, that didn't matter. What did it matter what a killer looked like? She tried to summon the crushing, debilitating guilt that had all but broken her shoulders from its weight, but it refused to resurface with the same force that it had before.

* * *

When she exited the bathroom, her wet hair wrapped up in a towel, dressed in an oversized, lavender sweater and a pair of black leggings, she saw that the apartment had been picked up. There was no sign of the chaos she had left it in. Levi had cleaned, in record time, and thrown open the curtains filling the space with dim winter sunshine.

The smell of something delicious wafted over from the kitchen and Elissa's stomach rumbled in response. She hadn't felt hunger in days, but she couldn't deny the appeal of whatever Levi was cooking up. Clean and hungry and alive, Elissa frowned. Did she really have a right to live? Despite everything Levi had said, she wasn't sure. It was her job to fight, he had said, to survive.

When she entered the kitchen, she saw that he had prepared a portion of fried rice with vegetables, whipping up something delicious out of whatever he had found in the fridge. He looked up at her as she entered and motioned for her to be seated at the table.

He set a glass of water on the table and filled a plate with the rice, before setting it in front of her. She took the spoon he offered her with mixed feelings. She was hungry but this was the first meal she would be eating since the terrible accident three days prior. It felt wrong. Fuelling her own life with a delicious meal when she had ended another only days ago. She glanced guiltily at Levi, wondering how to express her feelings when he narrowed his eyes at her, reading her mind.

"If you want to be rid of me, then eat." He crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against the kitchen counter. "I'm not leaving until you do."

She relented and lifted a spoonful of steaming rice to her mouth, swallowing her guilt before taking a bite. It was delicious, just like everything he cooked, and her eyes filled with guilty tears.

"Oi, there's enough salt in there. Cut it out." His reprimand drew a bitter laugh from her and she stopped immediately, pressing a hand to her mouth. She had no right to laugh. What was wrong with her?

"Stop it," she protested, dropping her gaze back to the plate in front of her.

"You can't live and not live at the same time, Elissa," Levi sighed. "Eat, sleep, and laugh. You will sooner or later, anyway. Not like you can help it."

She nodded miserably, and set about clearing her plate.

"Alright, while you're busy, let's set some things in the clear. What were you doing at the police station?" He was suddenly all business and matter-of-fact and that sidetracked her sufficiently to eat without thinking too much about it.

"I was there to confess."

"Are you stupid?" The incredulous tone of his voice, openly irritated, surprised her.

"Policemen are not your friends. They're not there to help you figure things out. You give them a confession, they'll tear you apart like starving dogs. You can forget your phone, but don't forget your brain when leaving the house."

He ran a hand through his hair, his mind racing as he reevaluated the situation.

Elissa glanced up at Levi. This must be what Slayte liked about him. His laidback nature until the world came crashing down. The way he then took charge and set things to rights. He was reliable, kind, and she didn't deserve his help.

"Listen up, you are not ever going back there. Not without a lawyer. The next time you do something stupid, call me first. Or someone else you trust. Don't make rash decisions on your own, especially not if you're in a shitty headspace."

Elissa frowned. She couldn't afford a lawyer. She hadn't thought about it. She simply wanted justice done. She had wanted to be punished for her actions, wanted someone or something to ease the agonizing guilt.

Instead of voicing all this, she nodded quietly instead. "Okay."

When Levi's phone sounded with an incoming message, he paused to read it and type out a brief reply. Elissa watched him answer the message, knowing who it likely was. Her heart clenched with an inexplicable emotion. She missed Slayte so terribly, it physically hurt. But what could be done when she had pushed her away herself? When she had spoken such cruel words to her?

Slayte was in league with Itachi. She knew what was going on in her life and had stubbornly refused to reveal even the faintest scraps of that knowledge. The truth of that still stung, it still hurt to know that Slayte would never be honest with her and yet… Elissa didn't know if that justified the terrible distance that had grown between them. Could they ever reconcile? Would Slayte even want to? How could she show her face to Slayte, with the way she had been shunning her while Slayte had only been trying to protect her? There were arguments, she knew, somewhere in the back of her mind. Slayte had been in the wrong, too. Stalking her, lying to her, deciding over her head… but were they worth losing her friend over? She wasn't so sure anymore. Worst of all, she wasn't sure if the moment to decide hadn't already passed.

When Levi pocketed his phone, Elissa raised hazel eyes to his imploringly. "Please don't tell Slayte about this."

Levi hesitated. He wasn't the type to go and tell Slayte every little thing that happened. At the same time, he didn't like the idea of someone telling him to intentionally keep something from her. Would it do Slayte any good to know about this, though? She would probably race out of the tea shop and move in with Elissa until she felt better, whether or not that was something the brunette actually wanted. Probably not, given the request she had just made.

"I don't want her to worry," Elissa added, when Levi failed to answer.

Levi frowned, his decision made. With all the secrets that were being kept from Elissa, he supposed she was entitled to a few of her own.

"Why would I mention you to Slayte if I could help it?"

Elissa blinked, the response harsher than she had expected. "Right," she acknowledged, lowering her head guiltily.

Slayte was still a sore point between them. They had been on the same page in protecting her, from herself when necessary, and trying to keep her generally happy between them, until everything had taken a turn for the worse and instead of being on the same page, Levi had found himself protecting Slayte from Elissa.

"Let's not talk about Slayte. I won't be mentioning this to her." Levi offered, not wanting to pick a fight with Elissa as miserable as she was.

Elissa nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. "Thanks."

Picking at her food, she blinked through the tears welling in her eyes. She didn't know what to say. Didn't know how to bridge the gap that had formed over the past few months.

Levi pocketed his phone and pushed away from the counter, satisfied to see that Elissa had finished her meal.

"Alright, I'm headed out. Let me know when you get mail about your little confession. I'll see what I can do. Get some sleep for now." Levi nodded at her in parting and Elissa suddenly felt desperate for him to stay, even though she knew she had no right to ask that of him.

"You need us, you know where we are." Levi intoned, "If you don't want to deal with Slayte, just send me a message and I'll come around, but don't do anything else stupid."

Elissa nodded, not trusting herself to speak, afraid she would ask him to stay if she opened her mouth.

He ruffled her hair as he passed by her, "It'll get better, give it time."

She swallowed thickly, choked out a thanks, and then he was gone.

* * *

Fog rolled in in waves, coiling around Nyx's ankles. She blinked at the white mist, feeling out of place but without quite recognizing where she was meant to be. Dark-green foliage hovered over her head, an ominous canopy. She glanced at the darkness overhead with a disapproving frown. She was queen of the underworld and had nothing to fear.

She pushed through the mist. Even if she wasn't sure where she belonged, it was clear she couldn't stay here. Her midnight blue skirts rustled as she walked and she refused to look over her shoulder as she made her way across the dewy grass, the smell of pine trees in the air.

A distant, sniffling sound met her ears and her mother's heart shook with trepidation. Pressing a palm to the treacherous organ, she slowly turned on her heels, her eyes searching for the crying child. Was it Itachi? Sasuke? No, they were both grown. She no longer had a child that would weep in such a manner.

The child's voice continued, sobbing miserably. Wailing and whining in despair, the thin voice pierced her ears, refusing to be ignored. Pressing her lips together, Nyx strode purposefully in the direction she had come from, determined to have a world with the child. What was the meaning of disturbing the general populace with her grievances?

When she, at last, discovered the child, both hands pressed to their face, shrouded by their long, midnight hair, dressed in a disheveled blue chiton, she frowned and scanned the area. Where were the parents? What were they thinking, leaving this child unattended? She would have a word with them, sure as she was Goddess of the Night. Such irresponsible behavior.

"Child," she masked her irritation with a soothing tone of voice. "Why do you weep?"

The child paid her no heed, and only wept more bitterly, pressing the heel of their palms against their eyes. What and who was this child? God, mortal, nymph? Nyx could not recognize them. How had they come to be in the underworld at all?

She clicked her tongue. "Such behavior," she admonished. "Surely, your parents would not approve. Return to your home at once."

The child sucked in a breath before lifting their chin and releasing another blood curdling wail. The more Nyx attempted to soothe the child, the more fervently it wept, its cries growing ever louder.

All pretense of kindness forgotten, Nyx's ire with the lost child grew with every passing moment, with every assault on her ears. "Cease your incessant weeping at once! Your queen commands you!"

The child paid no heed, wailing without pausing for breath.

"What is the matter with you?! What do you fear so terribly?!" Nyx pressed her hands to her ears to block out the irritating, grating sound.

At last, the child responded, lifting a hand to point towards the fog straight ahead, even as their tears and cries went on, unabating.

Narrowing her eyes to see more clearly through the mist, trepidation shot through her as she saw an imposing, dark silhouette approaching. She watched the figure approach with bated breath and breathed a sigh of relief when she finally recognized him. Long, spiky black hair. Intense, vermilion eyes. Tall and broad-shouldered.

She released an incredulous laugh. "Foolish child," she turned towards the little one, "Why, that's only our Lord Cronus. What is the matter with -" Nyx froze as surely as the women collected at the bottom of the oceans as the child turned slowly towards her and she recognized suddenly who she was looking at.

It was herself.

Her own, tear-stricken onyx eyes. Her disheveled, midnight hair. Her trembling shoulders and endless tears. " _Please,"_ the child begged soundlessly, the words sounding within Nyx's consciousness.

Cronus grew ever closer, step by step, and her child self fell to her knees, clinging to the hem of Nyx's dress.

Nyx could not tear her eyes away from the child's own, _her_ own, filled with tears and terror. She watched aghast, paralyzed, as the child mouthed two words, over and over, until her fear penetrated through Nyx's heart as well, settling into her bones.

" _Save me."_

* * *

Nyx awakened with a start. Her heart raced, her head throbbed dully, and she was drenched with cold sweat. Struggling to catch her breath, she swallowed thickly, her eyes darting around the room for a sign of the danger her dream had seemed to want to warn her from.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she pressed a palm to her chest, seeking to calm her erratic heart beat. She turned on her side, blinking in wide-eyed surprise when she found Erebus beside her, lying awake and observing her quietly.

He reached out to gently stroke her soft cheek, before wrapping an arm around her and drawing her in close.

"A nightmare?" he murmured the question into her hair, rubbing her back comfortingly. His large, warm hand seemed to dispel the thick, cold fog that had permeated the land of her dreams, settling over her mind even as she awoke.

"What is it that you fear, wife?"

She curled into him, burying her face in the warmth of his broad chest. She swallowed, trying to convince herself of her words, before parting her lips to speak.

"I have nothing to fear."

She was the queen of the underworld and yet, that title bore little weight and provided little solace against her grievances. She believed in the power of dreams. That they were communications from the Fates. Wasn't it a dream that had warned her of Itachi's prolonged solitude, prompting her to serve the Fates in order to receive the Prophecy in the first place?

Whatever else was uncertain, one fact was painfully clear. Cronus' intentions were dubious at best. She could not ascertain why he had offered her his assistance or what his true plans with the child of prophecy were.

No, it was time to take matters into her own hands.

* * *

She watched the lamps illuminate through the windows, and was overcome by a strong sense of trepidation and urgency. Once more, she had managed to slip out of the Underworld undetected, but time, she knew, was of the essence. She saw no other way than this to acquire the girl. Her efforts to draw information from Cronus had proven fruitless, leaving her frustrated and concerned and following her nightmare the previous night, the thought of waiting any further to take the girl home filled her with anxiety.

Erebus had cautioned her to wait. She could not possibly wait any further. She had no idea what Cronus intended for the poor child who had just stepped out onto the balcony high above her. What if he meant her harm? How could she trust his judgement when she did not know the reasons behind his orders?

_No_ , Nyx thought to herself fiercely. This time, she would _not_ lose her chance. She could not. The girl was within reaching distance, there in the flesh, there for the taking. Surely Cronus would understand if she acquired the Child of Prophecy and brought her home? Had that not been what they had been working to achieve all along? What possible reason could there be for the delay? Her precious eldest son's happiness depended upon it, and she had already waited long enough.

Home. The girl would surely come to see it as such. Perhaps she would be upset and resist at first, but surely once she came to understand her destiny, surely once she recognised that she was the Child of Prophecy and intended for the God of Death himself, she would accept her fate without a fuss. Surely her heart would feel kindly toward Itachi, once she came to know his gentle nature.

Nyx had such plans, such hopes for the sweet child. She was the key to unlocking a future in which Nyx's entire family would be safe. She could not risk any harm befalling the mortal.

Her heart pounded in her chest as she willed the girl to look her way, sending forth a bird forged of shadows to fly up and capture Elissa's attention. Nyx noted from her body language that the mortal seemed distressed, upset; she was resting her head in her hands forlornly as if deeply afflicted with troubles.

The bird reached her, and as Nyx had intended, the girl's tearful eyes lifted to look at it. The shadow-creature flitted about, until it perfectly aligned the girl's sight with Nyx's, where she was stationed on the ground beneath a tree far below the apartment block. Crimson glinted in the dark, meeting hazel across the distance for just a fraction of a minute.

That fraction was all Nyx needed, to capture her mind and command the girl to her.

' _Come to me, child,'_ she communicated to the girl telepathically, and watched with satisfaction as she swayed uncertainly on her feet, before moving away from the balcony. Nyx waited expectantly, and just as intended, the mortal made her way down and stepped outside the building a few minutes later, looking around her, as if in a daze, searching for something unknown. There was bewilderment on her fair face. Her eyes were red-rimmed and her cheeks were streamed with tears. Any pity Nyx might have once felt for her, was non-existent. She thought only of her Itachi. Of her plans to bring peace and prosperity to her family. To free the Underworld from a most tyrannical reign.

' _This way,'_ Nyx gently beckoned, pulling at her mind through the powers of hypnosis her Sharingan afforded her. She moved as silently as a shadow in the darkness, leading the girl to a nearby alleyway, where a vortex of darkness materialised noiselessly in the ground. She saw the way the girl blinked at it in confusion - and then fear suddenly caused her to snap back to attention. She backed away in fear and horror.

Nyx pursed her lips, displeased. Her mind control abilities over such a distance were limited, nowhere near the proficient, powerful level commanded by her nephew, Shisui. Already she had lost her grip on the girl's mind and there was no way to reaffirm it unless she drew closer and made direct eye contact with her.

Nyx could not risk being seen, but it appeared the girl would not come quietly. Then she had no other alternative but to force the girl into the portal by another means. She could not reveal herself just yet. She had only one other option.

She lifted a finger to her lips, and whispered her command.

'" _Do not harm her. Kill anyone who interferes."_

Immediately, creatures of the night appeared around the girl, stepping out of plumes of darkness.

* * *

Elissa had been gazing forlornly out at the street from her balcony, contemplating another day spent holed up indoors staring vacantly at the walls in her apartment, wallowing in the continued guilt and grief of her actions and an innocence forever lost. After Levi had departed the previous evening, she had spent another night tossing and turning restlessly in bed, until exhaustion had dragged her into fitful, sporadic bouts of slumber. She had awoken groggily the next day and done her best to force herself to eat, to busy herself with something, anything to drown out the deafening remorse that consumed her mind, but to no avail. She couldn't shake off the feeling that she had been unjustly spared in making bail. It didn't feel right. _Nothing_ in her life felt right anymore and she had no hope of knowing what she could possibly do to make anything better, to fix it so that everything was alright again.

Those were her troubled, haunted thoughts as she'd looked out into the night, as if its hushed shroud could somehow reveal answers to her that her sleep-deprived eyes were failing to see - when the strangest sensation had suddenly crept over her, filling her with the abrupt desire to step outside her apartment building and take a late night walk. She'd thrown a grey cardigan hastily over her pyjama top and casual lounge joggers, put on her converses and made her way down to the street, her body seemingly compelled to walk toward a secluded side alley some distance away from the block.

As she walked into it, she snapped abruptly out of the peculiar trance that had befallen her and blinked, looking around her in confusion, unable to fathom how in the world she had even gotten there. Her eyes were then snagged by some movement in the right corner of her vision and she turned her head toward it, blinking slowly at the ground before her in a stunned daze, unable to comprehend what she was looking at.

It appeared to be a dark mass, one that seemed to be alive, pulsing with strange, uncanny black energy, swirling like a shadowy whirlpool. She felt a strong, eerie gravitational pull emanating from it. Elissa stared at it, her brain struggling to register the bizarre reality of the situation. Was she dreaming? Imagining things? Had she finally reached the point of hallucinating in her extreme state of psychological distress and mental exhaustion? And yet she knew, without doubt, that she was indisputably awake. The biting coldness of the winter night air against her skin, her breaths condensing into the night as she exhaled, the unpleasant pounding in her chest, were all evidence of that.

Instinctively Elissa shrunk back, terror seizing her as she gaped at the unknown occurence in disbelief. What in the world _was_ that thing? How was it just appearing there before her very eyes? Things like that didn't just _happen_.

She continued to back away, alarmed, ready to bolt out the alleyway. But as she turned, she saw that another similar hole had started to appear in thin-air directly behind her, too large for her to move past without touching. Elissa's heart jumped into her throat and her eyes widened in panic. Her breaths began to escape her lips in frightened, quick bursts. Instinctively she turned away and leapt over the vortex in the ground, sprinting further down the alleyway.

More otherworldly black-holes opened up around her as she ran, and she zig-zagged to avoid them. Elissa didn't know what they were, or how it was scientifically possible that they were appearing, but something told her that she couldn't, under any circumstances, afford to be caught up in any of them.

She screamed when a gaping mass of darkness swirled into being in the wall right beside her, tripping over some trash cans in her haste to escape. As she stumbled to her knees, she watched, in horror, as one of the cans rolled into the gravitational vortex and vanished straight through the ground.

Elissa gulped, heart hammering against her rib-cage, waiting for it to somehow reappear. It didn't. Against all possibility and logic, it had been dragged into a black-hole of sorts.

"Wha- what the…?" she panted, hysteria clawing at her chest. In a blind panic, she scrambled back up to her feet - when the sound of low, ominous growls echoed around her.

Before her very eyes, a pack of five dark hounds with silver, glowing eyes slunk out of a cloud of dark mist, heading straight toward her. Elissa froze in disbelief, the blood in her veins turning to ice. They were large, muscular, powerful canines with razor sharp teeth and - her jaw dropped in horrified disbelief. Two heads. They each possessed _two_ heads. She blinked rapidly, pulse hurtling, trying to dispel the impossible image, but the gruesome sight would not change before her wide eyes. They were truly there. She wasn't seeing things. They were advancing menacingly toward her, saliva dripping from their mighty jowls.

She drew in a breath and screamed in fear - right at the moment they lunged toward her, barking and snarling, in angry, blood-thirsty pursuit.

* * *

Slayte had just finished placing a stack of dishes neatly away when she heard a familiar sound outside the kitchen window. The steady tap-tap-tap that heralded the arrival of Thanatos's crow. Her stomach lurched with dread and she froze in surprise. _Again?_ Elissa was in danger once more so soon?

Without a second thought or a moment to process the fact, she dropped the mug she had been about to wash carelessly into the sink, disregarding the way it cracked cleanly in two, and hastily yanked off her apron as she moved out of the kitchen. Frantically she dashed around the counter, missing the way Levi's eyes lifted to her, noting her blind panic.

"Oi," he called, following after her. "Slayte."

_The side door_ , she told herself distractedly. She would meet the bird in the alley and it would take her straight to Elissa. Her mind spun with horrific scenarios, each one worse than the other. What had happened this time? She prayed that she wasn't already too late, as she had been during the previous accident, that she wouldn't once again discover Elissa's poor, fragile mortal body lying prone, bleeding and in a terrible state somewhere.

"I'll be back-!" she called unthinkingly to Levi, yanking the door open that would lead her out into the alleyway where they deposited their trash. Sure enough, the crow swooped down, cawing loudly at her, and Slayte leapt forward, reaching out to it, feeling the familiar pull as it drew her into its shadowy, transportational vortex-

The sound of feet pounding on concrete behind her reached her ears. A strong hand suddenly grabbed at her shoulders just before she made it through.

"Like hell I'm letting you go alone this time," Levi's voice spoke right behind her, and then everything was swirling to black, the world blurring around them as the crow conveyed them swiftly to Elissa's location.

They touched down in another dark alleyway. Slayte gulped, immediately turning to Levi, horrified that he had tagged along, her lips parting automatically to question him - but the sight that greeted them left no time for talking.

They spotted Elissa running ahead, chased by a pack of two-headed, rabid dogs. To Slayte's disbelief, black-holes were opening up in the ground and walls around her. She didn't recognise what they were. They were nothing like anything she had ever seen before, and seemed forged of chaotic dark energy.

"Elissa!" she cried, and bolted forward. Levi fell wordlessly into step beside her, showing no visible reaction to the supernatural entities surrounding them, and was immediately practical, drawing out the large knife he'd grabbed from the counter the moment he had seen Slayte race past him with the familiar look of stupid desperation on her face that he knew she only wore whenever Elissa was in danger.

Without hesitation they sprinted after the pack. Slayte lifted her hand, fashioning a blade of shadow as two of the dogs turned to confront them. Elissa had almost reached the end of the alleyway and Slayte could see that another dark vortex was starting to appear at her feet. The fear on her friend's face sent Slayte hurtling forward to close the distance, desperate to reach her in time.

"Elissa!" she called to her in warning. Elissa's gaze lifted to hers, her eyes glazed with panic.

"S-Slayte-?" she choked out in disbelief, halting in place, the brief moment of distraction allowing one of the hounds to close in and leap at her, knocking her to the ground.

"No!" Slayte gasped, and slashed at the nearest dog with her shadow blade. She ducked just as another lunged at her, its deadly jowls extended - only for Levi to step between her and the hound. He stabbed his knife straight through one of the twin heads' jaws, sending dark blood spurting into the air, before wedging his blade between the eyes of the other, taking the creature out within seconds, his movements agile and lightning quick.

"Get Elissa!" he yelled to Slayte.

Slayte dashed forward, eyes widening at the sight of her best friend being dragged back toward the gravitational vortex behind her. Elissa screamed in terror, clawing helplessly at the ground, trying to stop herself from being swallowed up by the black hole as her feet began to sink into nothingness. Slayte's blade dissipated into black mist and she summoned shadow ropes which shot out and wrapped around Elissa's slender wrists. With all her might, Slayte heaved on the threads, engaging in a terrible tug of war with the vortex for possession of her friend.

"Slayte!" Elissa sobbed hysterically as the icy coils of shadow bit into her flesh. "Help me!"

Slayte grit her teeth in determination, her heart thundering so hard it quaked her entire body, shaking her to her very core. "I won't… let you... have her!" she ground out fiercely, beads of perspiration forming on her brow as she summoned shadows to her feet and rooted herself to the ground.

Levi leapt fluidly into the air and aimed a well-placed, crushing kick to the side of another approaching hound's head. It snarled, knocked off balance, and he used the moment of weakness to drop low and drive his knife savagely up into its throat, before yanking it out and hurtling the dagger at the nearest mutant dog that had turned away from Elissa and prepared to pounce on Slayte. It embedded ruthlessly into the side of its head and Levi cursed the fact that he'd only had enough time to bring one weapon with him. He could have dealt so much more damage with twin blades.

"Tch," he uttered. It seemed like he would have to get his hands dirtier than he'd anticipated. He sprinted forward until he reached the writhing hound, grabbed at the handle of his blade and slashed across its mouth. Its jaw fell open, weeping blood, spattering onto Levi's grey shirt. He regarded the felled monster with distaste, kicking at its twitching body with his black combat boot.

"Levi!" Slayte cried, struggling to haul Elissa, who was now almost waist deep inside the vortex out even as she continued to summon more shadow-ropes to grip onto her friend's arms. "Help me!"

He lunged forward and grabbed onto the ends of the rope - only for his hands to pass right through them, grasping at nothing but freezing mist. It bit at his skin, scalding him with ice. Gritting his teeth in determination, he instead wrapped his arms around Slayte and pulled her back. Together, they managed to drag Elissa forward and she was finally able to scramble onto her knees and escape the pull of the hole which dissolved away behind her.

Slayte and Levi then reached down and yanked the tearful girl up, positioning her protectively between them as they stood back to back to face the new arrival of two-headed hounds that slunk out of plumes of smoke, prowling menacingly toward them from both directions.

"What's happening?!" Elissa screamed. Demonic dogs? Vortexes in the ground? Slayte wielding weapons that seemed to be forged out of dark mist? She was unable to comprehend what she was seeing.

"Explanations later," Levi quipped. "Just stay close!"

"Look out!" she cried fearfully, as the creatures barked and charged at them, their eyes glowing with fury.

Slayte lifted her hands, sending a spiral of cycloning shadows up from the ground which tossed the dogs up into the air. They yelped and howled as they landed, hard. Levi lifted his leg and slammed his knee violently into the side of a hound and slit its throats, twisting around to meet another, stabbing his knife into its chest before kicking it aggressively away. He ducked and dodged and took down one after another, hacking, slashing and stabbing at their vital points, but still the damned things kept coming.

What the hell were these things, he thought to himself, and what did they want with Elissa? His instinct to protect both his girlfriend and the girl who was the closest thing to a younger sister he had known caused him to lash out with renewed brutality as he rammed an elbow into another hound's side before stabbing his knife straight through its heads, immediately incapacitating them. No sooner had they fallen to the ground, the wounded dogs melted away into a liquid black pool, no trace of the supernatural creatures left.

Elissa felt a rushing coldness at her feet and cried out, realising that another vortex was about to appear right under her. Levi's head jerked toward her, but another cluster of hounds pounced at him, forcing him to direct his attention back to warding them off.

"Shit!" he cursed.

Slayte grabbed hold of Elissa's arm and shoved her out the way, calling into being five shadow rods that simultaneously impaled the dogs surrounding them into the ground. They howled in agony, struggling to break free, but the undeniable force of Thanatos's divine powers, adeptly commanded by Slayte, held firm.

Elissa landed roughly against the wall, the air knocked out of her lungs, and turned her head just in time to see another snarling hound rearing back to charge at her. Her eyes widened, her mouth falling open in a soundless scream of horror - when a blur of movement intercepted its attack. Faster than was humanly possible, Slayte had thrown herself protectively in front of Elissa, turning her back to the hound just as the menacing creature lunged at her. Its twin-heads bit down, one set of jowls puncturing the back of Slayte's left arm, the other clamping onto her left side. A piercing cry of pain escaped her lips, the sound puncturing through Elissa's own heart as she lifted her eyes to meet Slayte's briefly. She saw the pain etched into her face, and then the hounds were mercilessly tearing at Slayte's body, caught in the clutches of their razor sharp teeth, shaking her as if she were nothing more than a ragdoll. They tossed her violently against the wall and she hit it with a sickening smack, falling onto the ground limply, unmoving.

"Slayte!" Elissa screamed in terror. "SLAYTE!" She rushed forward on instinct, without a thought for the danger she was in, to shield her unconscious friend from the lunging attack of another hound, desperately grabbing onto the nearby lid of a trash-can to use as a makeshift shield. But as she lifted it, Levi intercepted. Outraged, he decapitated two of the demonic dogs cleanly and slammed his knife into the mouth of another hound with such savagery that it came out the other side of its head.

A loud caw filled the air as Levi continued to fight off the remaining canines. Elissa gripped onto Slayte's shoulders, sobbing her friend's name - when a sudden, freezing sensation crawled up her back. She stiffened in dread and turned her head to find that another vortex was appearing directly behind her.

With a burst of adrenaline she yanked the unconscious Slayte up into her arms and dove desperately aside, landing roughly on the ground, grazing her elbow against the hard concrete. But the pits of black followed her, and she was forced to move away from Slayte to avoid them.

"Levi!" she shrieked, glancing wildly in his direction to see that he was still battling with an onslaught of monstrous hounds. They fell all around him, and he yelled at her to run.

Elissa bolted around, but failed to see a vortex appear to her left. Immediately she was dragged toward it, and screamed, trying to grab onto something - anything - to save herself, but there was nothing except thin air all around her.

"No!" she screamed. "Levi! LEVI!"

Levi kicked a dog roughly aside, his eyes flicking briefly to his motionless girlfriend and then he lunged forward, his heart wedging itself into his throat as he gauged, almost immediately, that he could not afford to lose even a second to have any hopes of getting to her.

_Shit, shit, shit-!_ Her wide, haunted hazel eyes were all he could see as he lifted his hand, reaching out to her as he scrambled to her side - but another hound that seemed to materialise out of thin air from straight above him intercepted his path, costing Levi the vital few seconds he needed to save Elissa in time.

"Elissa!" he shouted, impaling the obstruction savagely in its brain, but she was already falling back, being swallowed by the darkness.

Another echoing caw resonated in the air and there was a flash of movement as something dove swiftly down in front of her, streaking across her vision. Elissa thought she briefly glimpsed a black bird - and then the strangest sensation of swift, weightless motion enveloped her. A heartbeat later, she fell to her knees, blinking in shock as she found herself beside Slayte once more. Her heart hammered within her as she watched raven feathers rain down around her in bewildered confusion.

What in the world had just happened? Had she just somehow... switched places? How was that even _possible?_

She turned her head, just in time to find that the vortex she'd miraculously evaded had disappeared. She gaped at it for a moment incredulously. Then, trembling violently, she reached down to Slayte's prone form, gathering her up into her arms, struggling not to hyperventilate as she held her friend tightly against her, ready to shield her with her very life. All thoughts of their past quarrels were forgotten, rendered completely irrelevant when faced with the real, dangerous possibility of death.

Another caw filled the air. All of a sudden, the hounds stiffened and withdrew, retreating away with rumbling growls. Elissa blinked through her tears, watching in repulsed disbelief as they vanished before their very eyes, melting away into shadows. Then she turned her eyes to Slayte and pressed her palms against her friend's grievously wounded side. Warm blood pooled through her top, seeping out to cover Elissa's hands. So much of it, Elissa noted numbly, shaking uncontrollably, her entire body overcome with jittery static. Slayte had gotten hurt because of her. Once again, Slayte had protected her.

_Please stop,_ she pleaded at the wound, choking in terror even as weeping crimson stained her fingers. _Please, please, please, stop it, stop it, stop-_

"Slayte," she wept. "L-Levi!" she cried out in panic, and a second later he dropped to his knees beside her.

"Shit," he cursed, his cool eyes burning with anger as he studied the extent of Slayte's injuries. She'd been reckless, just as she always was whenever Elissa's welfare was at risk. He had no time to think about or even process what he had just seen - the evidence of everything that Slayte was, her ability to wield unnatural weapons forged from shadows, that monsters were indeed hunting Elissa - his priority was to ensure that she was safe.

"L-Levi," Elissa blubbered hysterically. "She's bleeding! We need to call the ambulance! We need to-"

"Shut up," he interrupted. "We're not calling the ambulance."

"W-what?" A dazed looking Elissa blinked at him incredulously. "She needs to go to the hospital!"

"We can't do that, Elissa." He turned narrowed, stormy eyes to her. "Did you not _see_ what shitty things just attacked us? How are you planning to explain any of that?" Even beyond that, Levi was certain, any doctor examining Slayte would quickly come to the conclusion she wasn't human. They couldn't afford that. It was likely the last thing she wanted and would lead to unnecessary complications for all of them.

Elissa cried harder, not understanding why he was refusing, not understanding anything that she had seen, her hands still pressed desperately against the wounds on Slayte's left side, trying to stem the blood as Levi tended to her arm. She could still feel her friend's warm life-force pouring out and continued to will it, with all her being, to stop. It _had_ to stop. She begged and pleaded with it, because if it didn't, if it didn't, then Slayte would...

_No_ , she thought, as she squeezed her eyes shut. Not Slayte. She couldn't lose Slayte. Not her best friend. Not when they hadn't spoken in months, not like this - not ever.

She had just killed a man with her own hands. Had death found her again so soon, had it now come for the girl Elissa viewed as her sister? Had death come to take Slayte away forever? Was she once again responsible for the loss of another life?

She couldn't bear it. She couldn't stand it. She would sooner face death herself, give herself willingly to it than have her heart ripped out like that. Elissa felt physically sick, her entire body prickling cold, her heart thundering within her chest, as if she were on the verge of throwing up.

"Please, Slayte," she wept, smothered with a crippling pain deep within her chest, the terror of losing her best friend seizing her in a choking hold of ice. She could barely breathe from panic. "Please, I'm so sorry…"

Levi swallowed, tearing aside the fabric of the sleeve of Slayte's top to find that her wounds were already closing. Relief flooded through him. Just as he had anticipated and hoped, she was recovering - albeit at a faster speed than he had expected. He could see that she was breathing steadily and would likely come around without medical interference. Still the sight of the blood trickling from her forehead made a cold, displacing stillness wash over him. He swallowed, shaking the sensation off. She was a fighter. She was fine. There was no way a pack of stupid rabid dogs could break her.

"Levi," Elissa's voice sounded very young. Pained. Frightened. His eyes shifted from his girlfriend's face to rest onto her best friend's, the very individual he knew Slayte wouldn't hesitate to lay down her life for. How many times had Slayte gotten hurt for Elissa, with Elissa entirely oblivious to the sacrifices she had made?

At least this time, Levi thought with a grim sense of satisfaction, the stupid girl had witnessed it with her own eyes. He hoped that it had gotten through her thick skull, and that she would start to show some awareness and much overdue gratitude after months of acting like she'd washed her own brain down the drain.

"We're going back to the tea shop," he said with finality.

"What?" Elissa wiped at her eyes unthinkingly, smearing blood against her cheek. "No! Levi, she's hurt! Those things bit her! Please, let's just-"

"Oi." He snapped. "You really gonna suddenly start telling me how to look after her right now?"

He saw the open hurt flash across Elissa's distraught face, the way she sank her teeth into her lower lip tearfully and bit back her response, her eyes lowering in something akin to shame. Despite himself, he felt a twinge of pity for her. This hadn't come as much of a surprise to him, following his reconciliation with Slayte, her confessions and everything he had already deduced about her. But for Elissa, he knew the event was a complete shock. She was the one in the thicket of all the danger surrounding her - and yet she was oblivious to the fact that she had kept company with a grim reaper death god himself. She was the one who deserved to know the truth the most - and yet she knew the least about anything out of everyone.

He could read the bewilderment and fear in her face, evident from the disorientated, anxious look in her eyes. She was barely holding it together. Levi couldn't blame her. Black holes appearing out of thin air in the ground to suck her away to an unknown place? Rabid, two-headed dogs? Seeing Slayte summoning shadows? A crow teleporting her out of danger before Levi's watching, incredulous eyes? Was it any wonder she was in such a dreadful, disturbed state?

He told himself he would address it later. For now, they needed to get out of the alleyway, he knew. There was no telling whether those creatures - or others - would be back to finish the job and he didn't want anyone else running over to find out what the cause of all the noise had been.

Scooping Slayte up into his arms, he nodded to Elissa.

"Let's go."

* * *

In the shadows, she cursed, her slender, pale fingers closed into tight, frustrated fists. She had been so close! So close to acquiring the Child of Prophecy, and yet once again, the meddling raven-haired nymph had foiled her. And this time, she had brought along another human. Nyx's displeasure burned with the ferocity of the flames of Tartarus themselves, fuelling a wild desperation within her - and yet her hands were tied. She had been forced to draw her minions back the moment she had heard and seen the crow gliding in the night sky above the scene of conflict, snatching the girl out of the vortex that had nearly succeeded in swallowing her whole.

It had been no ordinary surface bird, no. Nyx had recognised it immediately from its shadow-bound essence; it had been her own eldest son's summon - and sure enough, her seeking eyes had found him, alighting gracefully on a nearby rooftop with his cousin by his side, no doubt alerted to the disturbance by the crow itself. The two had watched the melee far below for a brief moment before Itachi had lifted a hand. It had been his direct intervention that had dragged the girl out of the black hole, his command sent to the crow to warp the Child of Prophecy away from what he had perceived to be great danger.

He remained stationed in position, his faithful summon perched upon his shoulder, scanning his surroundings in quiet sentry, clearly seeking out the origin of the threat in the darkness. Nyx saw Shisui communicate something to him and then her heart leapt before constricting painfully in her chest when searing, displeased crimson eyes glowing like embers in the night flicked right over her. Everything she did, she did for him, to secure his happiness, and that of their family's, and yet, he could not know it.

Evidently he had assigned his summon to watch the mortal girl, and the nymph wielded powers that resembled her son's own. Was it a coincidence? Nyx thought not. Rather, it seemed more likely that the nymph was perhaps in service to Itachi. Was that why he had told Nyx not to interfere with returning her to the Underworld? Had her son commanded the runaway Lampad to protect the Child of Prophecy on the surface in his stead?

And if that was so - if Itachi cared enough to shield this mortal maiden - why then did he retain his distance and watch from the shadows? Why would he not step forth and claim the girl whom Nyx knew to be intended for him?

She watched, bitter and frustrated, as the unfamiliar mortal man lifted the unconscious nymph from the ground and walked away, the tearful Child of Prophecy staying close to his side. Shisui and Itachi shadowed the three from the rooftops, monitoring them closely as they left the scene. Nyx swallowed, accepting that she had been foiled. Her heart raced at how close she had come to being discovered, relieved that the mastery of her element meant that she could conceal herself from even _his_ perceptive gaze. The creatures she had summoned had been called forth with forbidden magic, and not her own element of darkness. A necessary precaution she had taken to cover her own tracks. She knew that her son and nephew would not guess as to their nature so easily.

How could she possibly seize the Child of Prophecy now? Nyx's disappointment burned in her chest. All she wished for was to transport her to the Underworld, to keep her safely hidden away until she had made all the necessary arrangements to keep her out of Cronus's clutches, for she could not possibly trust what he intended for her.

Silently she melted away, returning to the Underworld, knowing that so long as the crow followed the mortal girl then her son was never far.

* * *

"What now, cousin?" Shisui's voice carried behind him. Itachi's heavy-lashed, narrowed eyes tracked the movements of the mortal man carrying the unconscious nymph in his arms, a visibly distressed, tearful Angelissa hovering close to his side. A crow flew on ahead, following after them at his command - but Itachi hung back, seeing no further need to intervene. He could switch places with his summon in an instant if required, but it was evident to him that the threat to Angelissa's safety had already passed. For the moment, at least.

Not, however, before he had witnessed it with his own eyes. Dark hounds reminiscent of those found in the Underworld had set upon Angelissa, and yet they had not been made of shadow-elements. Black vortexes of energy, forged of forbidden matter, had swirled around her with the clear intent of dragging her into alternate planes of existence. Just where had they intended to take the girl? What could anyone want from an innocent, unassuming mortal, to haunt her steps in such a constant, persistent manner?

"We have seen it now with our own eyes," Shisui stated quietly. "And so has she. There can be no more diverting or avoiding the matter, not anymore. You must tell her the truth, Itachi." His voice was grave, its tone insistent. "Heed my counsel. Her mind will break if you do not."

"..." Itachi was silent. His gaze lingered on Angelissa's retreating form, his aloof expression betraying nothing of the troubled thoughts afflicting his mind. Still the answers to the mystery surrounding the mortal girl and the reasons why she, in particular, was being targeted eluded them. Now that he had seen an attack with his own eyes, seen the malicious intent toward her, and how desperate someone or _something_ was to acquire Angelissa, he realised the severity of the miscalculation he had made. What good had the distance he had placed between them done at all, when she remained in such terrible peril? His lips tightened, forming a thin, displeased line. Was this what the Fate Atropos had meant, by keeping her close? Would she have been spared half of the horrors that had befallen her, had he done precisely that, instead of pushing her away in a bid to spare them both from any further, deeper entanglement?

He had tried. He had tried to take what he had sincerely believed to be the right course of action. Not just for his sake, but for _her_ wellbeing, purposefully manipulated the situation to keep her protected. To keep her ignorant, as mortals ought to be, of his existence before death, of his forbidden realm and everything it encompassed. Of all the things her eyes ought not to have seen until her natural demise. And yet, he was no fool. Witnessing the danger she had been in had called into being the instinct to shield her from harm, stronger than it had ever been.

He acknowledged, grimly, that their parting had done little to abscond their thoughts of one another, to weaken and undo the attachment formed by the riverside. He saw, all too clearly in that very moment, what he knew he could deny no longer; that no matter where he turned, or which paths he chose to tread, every single road led right back to her.

As if they were destined to cross one another, no matter his greatest efforts to turn her back to an oblivious mortal life.

Itachi's hands closed into fists as he registered that he was running out of options, patience - and, he realised with an abrupt start - time itself to postpone what now seemed to be inevitable.

* * *

They finally arrived at the tea-shop without any further incident. Elissa watched in silence as Levi gently lay Slayte down onto their bed and went to collect some items from the bathroom. Returning, he carefully peeled her top off and dipped a sponge into a bowl of warm water to wipe away the blood staining her flesh. Elissa peered anxiously over him, biting down on a thumb nail nervously, trying to catch sight of the severity of the wounds - only to suck in a sharp breath when she saw that they had unexpectedly and completely healed, leaving nothing behind but dull scars.

She blinked in open-mouthed astonishment, her thoughts screeching to an abrupt halt.

"What the hell?" she whispered to herself in disbelief. Then, aloud to Levi, she gaped, "Where did her wounds go? She was hurt, I saw it! I felt it!"

"Not now," Levi dismissed flatly.

"Then when?" Elissa's eyes widened, wondering why he was so calm, why he wasn't disturbed by anything he had seen, how he wasn't disturbed by Slayte's miraculous and unnatural rate of healing. "Levi. I was just attacked by… by two-headed dogs! And- and black-holes just appeared in the ground! I somehow switched places in the middle of being dragged through one and Slayte was bleeding to death and- didn't you _see_ any of that?!"

"You think I'm blind?" he snipped, irritated at the dirt that marred his girlfriend's skin.

"But- but!" she rambled on frantically. "You're not freaking out. How are you okay? Where'd you even learn to fight like that? And Slayte- what were those shadowy _things_ she used to grab me? How did she just make them appear like that?" Elissa raised her hands to her hair, pulling at the locks in frustration. "How are her wounds just gone? What's going on?!" Her breaths escaped her lips in panicked bursts. She was overwhelmed. She had accidentally killed a man days earlier - and now she had just seen something unbelievable, something completely supernatural, transpire before her very eyes. It was too much.

A part of her thought that she shouldn't be so surprised; after all, hadn't Slayte called Itachi her 'Master'? And hadn't Elissa seen with her own eyes, things that couldn't be rationally explained about him? Hadn't Shisui told her that they weren't human? Didn't shadow-like marks cover her own back? And Slayte had just wielded shadow-like weapons before her very eyes. Slayte, who claimed that Itachi was her Master. Itachi, who had left the shadow wisps on her back. Elissa's mind was running on overdrive, trying to connect everything together when nothing was making any sense. She covered her mouth with her hand, watching as Levi squeezed the sponge over the bowl, and continued wiping the blood off Slayte's body gently.

"Oh my God," Elissa got out in a choked voice, pacing the room senselessly. "This is crazy. This can't be real. This isn't _happening."_

Levi blinked, hearing the mounting hysteria in her voice and turned his head, regarding her steadily for a moment. She had no idea about anything that was going on and was a mess of confusion. It was understandable - but he didn't want to deal with it at that moment. It wasn't his place to give Elissa explanations pertaining to Slayte or the shitty death god she claimed was her superior. That was something Elissa and Slayte would have to talk over. Following the events they'd all just witnessed, Levi couldn't imagine how the truth could be kept from the girl any longer. He could see, quite clearly, that Elissa was on the verge of having a nervous breakdown. Surely Slayte would have to come clean, grim reaper's orders be damned?

"Tch. Still can't figure it out, huh?" Levi muttered beneath his breath. He finished cleaning up the last of the blood from Slayte's forehead, and tossed the sponge back in the bowl, dried her with a towel and then wiped his own hands with cloth as he rose to his feet to retrieve an oversized T-shirt to cover her with.

Elissa's frightened eyes followed him. "Figure out what?!" she cried, struggling not to freak out. "Levi, how are you so calm about this? What aren't you telling me?"

"You haven't been listening in months," he retorted bluntly. "Finally washed the stupid out your ears?"

"I-" Elissa bristled. She knew she deserved the harsh words, but that made them sting no less. "I never wanted any of this! I never wanted her to get hurt!"

"No?" Levi levelled.

"No!" She turned mournful eyes to him. Her life had been nothing but a catastrophic mess ever since she'd taken in Vetty and subsequently met Itachi and Shisui. Since that point, she had encountered one disaster after another, with no breaks in between and everything had quickly spiralled completely out of her control. Her life, always so quiet and unassuming, had turned into a living disaster. She had lost her best friend. Her job. Her own sense of identity and worth. She had almost lost her own life numerous times. Killed a man. Almost been sucked into a supernatural vortex. Now Slayte had nearly died trying to save her.

Unexplainable things were consistently haunting her, tormenting her sanity, pushing her to a breaking point. Everything was going horrifically wrong and she didn't know how to stop any of it, how to slam the brakes to get off the train-wreck intact. She had no answers and nobody to turn to for them who was willing to answer her.

"How did you both even appear out of nowhere?" she asked Levi. "I don't understand! I don't know why all these horrible things keep happening to me. Please! Just tell me what's going on. _Please,_ I can't take it anymore!" Her voice broke.

Levi returned to Slayte's side, and began to pull the T-shirt carefully over her head. Once he was done dressing her, he turned to Elissa, and placed a hand on her shoulder. He could feel the fine tremors wracking her body as she lifted inconsolable hazel eyes up to him.

"Oi." His gaze narrowed at her. "You listening?"

She released a trembling breath. "Yes," she all but squeaked out.

"Good. I need you to stop freaking out."

Her breaths escaped her lips in rapid bursts and her glazed eyes met his. Levi scowled and squeezed her shoulder, willing her to focus.

"Oi. Now. Okay? Breathe."

She blinked. Sucked in an unsteady, deep breath. "...Okay," she agreed numbly.

"Elissa." His eyes narrowed. "I mean it. Get a grip."

"Okay," she echoed blankly, feeling faint, nauseous. "I- I think I'm going to throw up."

"No. You're not. Shut up, sit down, and wait for her to wake up," he instructed harshly.

Levi's stern, grounding words registered, slicing through the bubble of hysteria that had closed around her, and Elissa gulped down her rising panic, fiercely, desperately telling herself that losing it wouldn't help anyone. It was taking every last fibre of will-power she possessed to keep herself grounded, to stop herself from losing her mind entirely. A scream was brewing in the base of her throat, but she somehow feared that if she let it loose, she would be unable to stop screaming.

Blinking back her tears, she gazed down at her unconscious friend, slowly lowering herself to sit on the side of the bed, hugging herself in a futile attempt to calm her quivering body. Guilt gnawed away at her, eating her alive inside, and she hesitated, a strong wave of regret and sadness overcoming her. Slayte was in such a state because of her. Even after everything she'd done to push the raven-haired girl away, still she had been there for Elissa when she'd needed her the most. She didn't deserve her. She didn't deserve anything good in the world. Maybe that was why horrible things just kept happening to her. Maybe all the near-misses and close calls were a chilling, ominous sign that death was looming around her, shadowing her footsteps, closing in on her, that she would soon be next on its list to be taken.

"I'll be downstairs," Levi gathered up the bowl and sponge on his way to the doorway, "Let me know when she wakes up."

Elissa nodded numbly, at a loss for words. She turned her gaze back to the slumbering form of her best friend as she heard Levi's footsteps descending the stairs.

Slayte's peaceful expression and the steady rise and fall of her chest - a sign she was breathing, alive - were all the comfort she had. It felt like ages since she had seen Slayte last, and Elissa drew her knees up to her chest as she watched her friend sleep. The close encounter that had nearly cost Slayte her life still sent trepidation through her. She couldn't make sense of any of it, but she felt innately, that this was likely not the first time that Slayte had risked her life for her. Levi's subdued, matter-of-fact reaction made that painfully apparent. Slayte protecting Elissa and getting hurt, it almost seemed like it was routine to him.

Elissa swallowed thickly as she buried her face in her hands. Was it? How many times had Slayte gotten hurt for her? She had no way of knowing. Had she been attacked by unnatural things before? Is that what had truly happened? On the beach? At the bridge? Is that why Slayte had been shadowing her? Is that how she had ended up intercepting the men who had accosted her? Only Slayte had the answers to those questions.

Elissa had lost a lot of things over the past few months. Friends, her job, innocence, and in many ways, her sanity, but losing Slayte… she lifted her head to look at the raven-haired woman again, to be sure she was really there. She could not bear to lose Slayte. Not talking to her was one thing, but if Slayte were to die… Elissa bit back tears, not wanting to even consider the horrendous thought.

But she could think of nothing else as the minute hand crept around the clock, marking an hour and still, Slayte had not awoken. Elissa wept quietly into her folded arms, burying her face in the crook of her elbow, praying to whoever would listen that Slayte would wake up, that she would be alright, that she would never be hurt for Elissa's sake again.

"Elissa…?" a groggy voice broke through her thoughts and Elissa's head shot up at the sound of it, instantly lowering her knees as she gripped at the duvet cover.

Slayte had finally opened her eyes, and was blinking blearily at her. At a loss for words, Elissa stared numbly at the raven-haired girl, her tea-brown eyes so full of open concern and affection.

"You're hurt." Slayte's voice wavered in concern, almost in complaint.

Elissa blinked, speechless. Following Slayte's gaze, she saw that the blood had dried on her elbow, where she had grazed it against the concrete. The image of Slayte being shaken like a ragdoll by those fearsome two-headed dogs was still very vivid in Elissa's mind and the mere comparison, that Slayte would forget about her own injuries and instead focus on this - this _nothing_ of a wound, sent fresh tears pooling in her eyes.

"Slayte, you…" she lifted a hand to her mouth and choked back a sob, "You're the one who…"

Slayte stared tiredly back at her, not understanding.

"You were the one who was so badly hurt!" Elissa shook her head, "What those things did to you, I-"

"Please, don't worry about it, Elissa. I'll be fine." Slayte gingerly lifted herself into a seated position, only now remembering her own injuries. She reached for the hem of her shirt, dimly noting the change of clothing, to see the extent of the wound herself, only to stare blankly at the faintly scarred skin that met her eyes.

How had that happened?

Although she healed far more quickly than mortals, such a severe injury should have taken days to heal. Unless there had been intervention… but Thanatos had not been present. She would have noticed, if he had, and he would surely have stepped in to save Elissa, as close as their call had been.

Who, then, had healed her? Slayte struggled to recall what had happened. The last thing she remembered before succumbing to unconsciousness was Elissa holding her, weeping bitterly. What had happened after that?

"Your wounds…" Elissa said shakily, gesturing at them vaguely. "They healed so fast. I- I don't know how."

Neither did Slayte. Trying to piece it together, she glanced at Elissa, taken aback to find a steady stream of tears flowing from her eyes as she bit her lip to keep from making a sound. Her shoulders trembled with the effort of holding back the sobs welling in her chest.

"Elissa!" All weariness flew from Slayte's body as she leaned towards her friend. "Oh, no, Elissa, what's wrong?" Unthinkingly, she threw her arms around the brunette, holding her close as she wept. "What happened? What did I miss? Oh, Elissa, I promise I'll make it okay."

This was all wrong. This wasn't how it was supposed to be, Elissa registered distantly. She was supposed to be the one profusely apologizing, she was supposed to be trying to earn back Slayte's affection, she was supposed to be bridging the gap. But already she was selfishly accepting the comfort Slayte offered to selflessly. As she clung to the raven-haired woman, sobbing bitterly, she realized that for Slayte, at least, there had never been a gap. Despite all of Elissa's efforts, Slayte had never stopped considering Elissa her friend. That knowledge only hurt all the more in the face of everything Elissa had done.

Her own words kept echoing hauntingly in her head. Every time she had lashed out at Slayte. Every time she had tried to push her away. As Slayte rubbed Elissa's back, murmuring words of comfort as she held her close, Elissa desperately wished she could take them all back. She realized there had not ever been a single person in Slayte's absence who came close to taking her place. Who, besides Slayte, was so carefully observant of Elissa's wellbeing? Who took Elissa's pain for their own? Who could Elissa rely on to stand by her side through thick and thin, without regard for the consequences? That had only ever been Slayte.

And how had Elissa repaid her for her friendship? By shutting her out, by breaking her heart. Guilt crashed over Elissa in waves as she clung to her best friend. "I'm sorry, Slayte," she sobbed, "I'm so, so sorry. I never…" She choked out her words, "I did everything wrong. I'm just a screw up. I'm so sorry for everything."

Wrapping her arms around the taller woman's waist, Elissa buried her face in Slayte's shoulder and bared her heart. "Everything I said, everything I did. I don't deserve you, I don't- when you threw yourself right in harm's way to protect me like that, I really thought you'd- I was so scared that you-" she broke off, voice clogged with emotion, unable to continue.

"Elissa," Slayte interrupted, her voice unsteady, dismayed to feel the violent trembles wracking her friend's body. "Stop."

Elissa drew back to find that Slayte's eyes had filled with tears as well. With a quivering lip and red-rimmed, watery eyes, Slayte shook her head. "It's not your fault. There was so much going on, how were you supposed to -"

Elissa wiped at her eyes. "No!" she exclaimed. "Don't. There you go again, making excuses for me! You've spoiled me and I didn't even realize it. I was being a sightless brat. You've spoiled me with your love, with your friendship."

"I'm sorry," Slayte offered, tears of emotion spilling forth.

"No," Elissa groaned, "I'm the one who took it for granted and was too blind to see it! I'm the one who should be sorry. Why do you always forgive me? Why do you always make excuses for me? Why do you always apologize when you're not even wrong?" Elissa's complaint left her in a miserable wail and Slayte smiled through her tears as she patted her friend's back.

"You're my friend, Elissa. I love you. You're not stupid, like me. You know what you're doing."

"I _am_ stupid!" Elissa protested, "I need you to tell me, Slayte. Please, don't let me think I'm right when I'm not. I've been so stupid, so reckless that I've hurt and pushed away the very person who cares so much about me. The best friendship that ever happened to me. I almost lost you! You almost died - you-! You almost died and if you had, I could have never forgiven myself and I-" Elissa hiccupped, her words sporadic and jumbled as she struggled to convey the regret in her heart.

"Shh," She drew Elissa in, letting her cry on her shoulder as she smoothed down her hair, as if she were a child. "I'm not going to die on you." Slayte comforted, "I promise. You don't have to worry about me. I'm here. I'm with you. I always will be."

Although guilt and regret clawed at her heart, whispering into her mind that she didn't deserve any comfort, that she had no right to seek solace, she let herself believe Slayte's words, let herself be soothed by her friend's embrace and sobbed heart-felt, sincere apologies into her shoulder, crying it all out until her sobs finally subsided.

Levi, standing in the hallway just beyond, made a silent retreat, bringing the tray of tea he carried back downstairs. It was for the best, perhaps, if he left the two girls to it. The tea could wait.

After the tears abated, the two young women sat side by side on the bed in awkward, swollen-eyed silence.

Elissa stared at her feet, trying to make sense of everything. The realization that their friendship had been far more one-sided than Elissa had ever thought it to be, hurt her deeply. She always tried to be there for her friends. She was the one planning the get-togethers, the surprise birthday parties, picking them up at odd hours but with Slayte, she now realized, she had always been on the receiving end.

Whether it was supporting her in her writing, helping her pick up the apartment before a spontaneous visit from her family, helping her plan a birthday party for a friend Slayte didn't particularly care for, a party Slayte would not even be attending, or more recently, this, the attempts on Elissa's life and safety that she had been entirely ignorant of - she had selflessly given and given and Elissa had selfishly taken and taken.

Elissa swallowed thickly, determined that from now on, Slayte would be on the receiving end of her care and consideration. Unlike her other friends, Slayte had always been entirely too unconditionally accommodating. Always seeing the sacrifice itself as a sort of reward and Elissa had stood back, thinking it was what Slayte wanted. She cringed in self-loathing. How could she have been so ignorant? She should have known better. Stopped to really listen to and check in with Slayte, instead of assuming everything was perfect in her life, that their friendship had been equal.

"You must have a lot of questions," Slayte began hesitantly.

Elissa lifted hazel eyes to Slayte's but said nothing. With a sigh, she dropped her gaze and nodded. Not knowing what was going on or why terrified her so deeply, it shook her to the core. Elissa did not even know where to begin to sort out the mess that was her life. All the crazy, supernatural events? The yawning black chasms that had tried to swallow her whole, the two-headed dogs? The murder of an innocent man? The terrible things she had said and done to her own best friend?

"I… don't even know what to ask you, where to begin." Elissa said helplessly. "Nothing makes any sense and I don't know why all these things are happening to me."

Slayte regarded her with concerned, sympathetic eyes. She could see that Elissa was emotionally overwhelmed, not in a good mindset - and she couldn't blame her.

"Would you… even be able to tell me anything?" Elissa turned hopeful eyes to her friend and Slayte bit her lip, considering her words carefully. Her friend had now seen the supernatural with her own eyes. Surely Thanatos couldn't expect to conceal things from her any further? Hadn't enough harm come from the keeping of secrets? Their very friendship had almost been left permanently in tatters.

"Honestly, Elissa…" she began. "I've been wanting to tell you for a long time already. I believe you should know what's going on. Truly, I do. I believed that from the very start. You already know that Than- Thane isn't human. You know that those marks on your back are something he did to heal you. You know a lot already. Although I want to fill in all the blanks, I was forbidden from doing so. Otherwise, I … that is to say…" Slayte trailed off, feeling like she was offering feeble excuses in the face of Elissa's very real anguish.

Elissa stared at her, stunned. Slayte had been forbidden from telling her the truth? Understanding slowly dawned upon her, suddenly allowing her to see what she had so blindly overlooked before. "Wait…" she breathed. "Itachi is your master, you said…"

"Yes," Slayte agreed.

"Then… _he's_ the one who doesn't allow you to tell me the truth...?"

Slayte nodded, casting her a regretful look.

"If you tell me…" Elissa frowned, able to think more clearly now that all her anger had faded. "If you ignore his order, what would happen?"

Slayte's mouth opened, but she hesitated despite herself.

"Slayte…" Elissa insisted, feeling sick to her stomach with dread. "What would happen? Would he…" she forced herself to voice the unthinkable, Itachi's admission that he ended lives at the forefront of her thoughts. "Would he hurt you…? Would he… kill you?"

Slayte stared at Elissa wide-eyed, surprised at how quickly she had pieced it together, before biting her lip and nodding. "Yeah, that's what he said."

Elissa released a horrified gasp and when Slayte averted her gaze, her own eyelids lowered as well, in understanding and hurt. How had this explanation never even occurred to her before? That the truth of it was, Slayte had been helpless to act? Itachi, then, was the one to blame for the lack of answers. She remembered how Slayte had wavered in indecision everytime Elissa had demanded answers, and realized now that each time, Slayte had been weighing her own life against Elissa's happiness.

Elissa rubbed her face wearily. It had all gone so wrong, and resentment toward the enigmatic, masked man she had met at the river burned within her throat, leaving behind a bitter taste in her mouth. To think that he would threaten to hurt her own beloved best friend! That his insistence for Slayte to keep silent had nearly resulted in Elissa's friendship with her to be permanently undone! Fresh tears of betrayal stung at her eyes. If she had felt Itachi had wronged her before, the feeling had just been multiplied ten-fold following Slayte's honest confession.

"Thank you for keeping quiet, then. You did the right thing, Slayte." She laced her hands together, willing their shaking to stop.

Slayte frowned at the hardwood floor. "I don't know about that. You deserve to know but, unfortunately, I just… I'm not the one who can give you the answers. You should ask him, Elissa. He cares. He really does. I don't think he could refuse now."

Elissa was silent for a long moment, contemplating. "How can someone who threatened to kill my best friend care?" She demanded, notes of anger in her voice.

"Well, not about me, but he cares about you." Slayte chuckled awkwardly.

Itachi _cared_? About her? After everything he had said and done, the way he had cut her off so unfeelingly? Elissa found that difficult to accept, and yet Slayte was his servant, wasn't she? Her opinion had to hold weight.

The words were as bittersweet as they were tormenting and she found herself wondering why Itachi didn't for Slayte. Elissa could not understand it. What had Slayte done so wrong that he was so callous towards her, despite the fact that they remained in contact and she clearly followed his instructions loyally? Why would Itachi so cruelly threaten to end her life? She could not imagine it. Did disregarding orders really warrant such a harsh punishment? Elissa frowned as she realized that ever since Itachi had stepped into the picture, Slayte had changed, was constantly on edge and tripping over her own words and explanations. She hadn't been like this before…

Suddenly, realization dawned and guilt swept through her with the force of a tidal wave. That night Itachi had walked her back to her apartment from the river. The night he had first set eyes on Slayte.

"You ran away from him," Elissa breathed, "That's how you ended up here."

Slayte, not following the change in topic, agreed hesitantly. "Yeah, I did."

"Because you wanted to be free."

Slayte nodded grimly.

"And now you're back to serving him." Elissa's hushed whisper resounded in the room and Slayte did not answer, unsure where this was headed. "Because I led him straight to you. It was me."

Slayte fell silent and lifted a hand to offer reassurances but left it hanging awkwardly in midair. There was nothing she could say to that.

"That's why you were so scared when you saw him." Elissa squeezed her eyes shut against the memory, "And I, like an idiot, not knowing anything, I brought him to you and caught you in that trap again. Even though you kept telling me to stay away from him."

She covered her face with her hands, ashamed and regretful beyond measure. How could she have been so careless? So inconsiderate? She couldn't blame Cain for everything. She had been ruining things long before he came around.

"Elissa," the gentle hand on the brunette's shoulder brought her attention back to Slayte. "It's not your fault."

"No, Slayte. It _is_. You warned me, but I -" Fresh tears welled in her eyes.

"Elissa, listen to me. I warned you but not because of myself. I warned you for _your_ sake. He has been my master for a very long time. That wasn't ever going to change. He would have found me sooner or later. It's not your fault. Whatever else you're sorry for, please, this isn't on you. This is a lot older than you." Slayte spoke in low, soothing tones that made Elissa want to believe her.

And yet, for five years Slayte had lived like any of them. Doing whatever she wanted. Itachi's entrance into their lives had changed everything. Elissa could not shake the feeling that Slayte's predicament was her own fault, however much Slayte tried to convince her of the contrary.

"You need to talk to him. He has all the answers. He's never stopped watching over you." Slayte held Elissa's astonished gaze imploringly.

Elissa could scarcely believe it. Itachi had been watching over her? Why? Her heart thumped almost painfully in her chest. Why then had he lied to her, only for her to now discover that he'd been monitoring her all along? She thought back to the time outside the nightclub. The shattered bottle of vodka. She had certainly thought she had seen him, multiple times. At the funeral with Cami. She had felt him nearby even more often than that. Something in the air, a wistful sensation in her heart, a flurry of crows taking flight. The ones lingering on her balcony. Little things that had always reminded her of him, no matter how hard she tried to banish all thoughts of him from her mind.

But nothing she had seen had ever been concrete. Nothing she could say was actual evidence of Slayte's claim. And yet, Slayte was in touch with him. Received orders from him. Who would know better than Slayte?

"Oh…" she placed a despairing hand to her forehead. Her head pulsed from the chaotic rush and endless onslaught of conflicted, bewildered thoughts. From nothing being as it appeared to be.

"I know you're angry with him," Slayte continued. "And I wouldn't dare suggest that he's made all the right choices thus far, but he cares. If you insist, he will answer you. He has to. Just don't back down, don't accept his excuses. I don't think he can say no to you."

Elissa's stomach knotted in an apprehension that was almost akin to fear. Did she even _want_ to see him? Knowing that he was as dangerous as Slayte had always claimed? Knowing that he had threatened to kill someone as kind and genuinely good and loving as Slayte was?

But there had to be more to the story, surely? What was it that they were keeping hidden from her that made someone as seemingly gentle and soft spoken as Itachi threaten death if it were to be revealed? What was so awful, so serious that he had compelled Slayte to keep silent, disregarding all the consequences of such a command?

Elissa would never know unless she demanded answers. But could she even find him again? Would he even listen to her? Would he finally lend ear? The thought of him dismissing her coldly terrified her. It was a humiliation she could not bear again. She was already so near the breaking point. She had already suffered so much more than she had ever thought she could handle. If Itachi sent her away once more, closing up coldly...

What would happen to her? How would she survive that?

Slayte read the open uncertainty and trepidation on Elissa's face, and laid a gentle, reassuring hand on hers.

"I…" Slayte began. "I can come with you, if you want me to. I won't let anything happen to you, I promise."

There it was again, the glimmer of apprehension in Slayte's eyes. Fearless Slayte who would glare down anyone. The Slayte who was scared of nothing and no one. Who broke alley thugs' hands like it was nothing. That same Slayte was scared of Itachi, and Elissa had no way of knowing why. Regardless, she was ready to stand by her side, as she always had, unwavering and loyal.

Elissa was touched by the sentiment of her offer. But one thing she did know was that her best friend would not sacrifice herself for Elissa's sake any more. Of that, Elissa was certain. She simply would not stand for it.

"No, it's alright, thank you." Elissa squeezed her hand gratefully. "I just… I don't know if I'm ready for this. To speak to him and..." her voice trailed off, heart pounding against her rib-cage in agitation at the thought of meeting with Itachi once more. What if he did tell her the truth? Was she truly prepared for it, whatever it was? What if he didn't? What then?

"Elissa," Slayte's voice was suddenly serious, "You have to. This can't go on any longer. You have to know what's going on. If he still doesn't tell you… then I will. I promise."

Elissa hesitated, knowing what that promise meant. There was no way, she told herself, that she would allow Slayte to place herself in harm's way on her count. Not again. "Slayte… this isn't the first time, is it?" She voiced quietly, glancing up at her friend. "That you've saved me or gotten hurt doing so?"

Slayte's lips pressed into a thin line and she withdrew her gaze from Elissa, a sure sign she was withholding information or trying to avoid a question.

"You saved me from those thugs in the bar, didn't you…?" She coaxed.

Slayte blinked at her in surprise. How had she found out? She was certain Elissa had been incoherent at the time.

Elissa shook her head bitterly. "All this time, I thought it was that jerk, Cain. But it was you. You've saved me so many times, and I never saw it. And just earlier… you _did_ something… used some dark mist… what was that?"

"Wow," Slayte breathed, her eyes aglow. "I can't believe you just called him a jerk. Can you say that again?"

"Slayte, does that matter right now?" Elissa blinked at Slayte in surprise. Was this any time for jokes?

"Oh, it matters. It matters so much. One more time, please." Slayte repeated, closing her eyes to listen more intently.

Elissa was taken aback, but relented, "He's a jerk, okay? You were right and I was wrong. He was terrible. Manipulative, selfish, and… just an all around jerk. Is that enough?"

Slayte laughed, a pleasant sound, one she hadn't heard in months - even if it felt somewhat out of place. "Yeah, for now. I'm going to want to hear it again, though."

"Sure, Slayte." Elissa humored her friend, although she didn't quite understand what there could possibly be to laugh about in the given situation. "So… that dark mist?"

"I…" Slayte began carefully. "I was given those gifts. So that I can better protect you."

Given supernatural gifts? Elissa met her eyes in alarm. By whom? It did not take long for realisation to slam into her, stealing the very breath from her lungs.

"Itachi," she whispered simply in understanding. Those shadowy ropes and weapons Slayte had summoned in the fray had borne a curious, frightening resemblance to the smoke-like tendrils that blemished her own back. Marks that Itachi had permanently left inked on her flesh.

Slayte nodded, wordlessly confirming that her master had assigned her to watch over Elissa.

Elissa's mind raced, struggling to accept that despite shutting her out and severing ties between them, Itachi had still apparently made provisions to see to her safety. She suddenly found herself wondering how much he might have intercepted without her knowing, just as Slayte had. Whether he knew why all these things were happening to her. Those were answers she knew, however, that she could only obtain from him.

She hesitated. "And… those dogs? Those holes in the ground…? Do you know where they came from, why they were after me?"

Slayte looked down at her hands. "I'm sorry Elissa," she answered helplessly, regretfully. "I don't know what that was, or why this is happening to you, either. I wish I knew what I was protecting you from."

Elissa gulped miserably, staring at her friend, slowly processing her words. Something then occurred to her. Slayte answered to Itachi, who was not human. She had fled from whatever place she had been at, serving his family in the past. All the facts Elissa's mind had pieced together pointed to one logical conclusion, that was now impossible to ignore. Something that made all of Slayte's strange quirks and confusing irregularities over the years make complete sense.

"You... aren't human either, are you?" Elissa asked her friend directly, pulse hammering in the base of her throat. She already knew the answer and yet somehow, she needed to hear it confirmed aloud.

A look of hurt flashed briefly through Slayte's eyes before she lowered her gaze and shook her head. "No, Elissa. I'm not. So don't worry about me. You do what needs to be done. I'm on your side, always."

She lifted her gaze anxiously, trying to gauge Elissa's reaction, a sliver of dread whispering through her veins. Would her friend hate her for admitting it, for keeping the truth from her for all these years? Would she reject her?

But to her astonishment, Elissa was staring at her openly, with nothing but acceptance in her tearful eyes.

"Slayte. Why didn't you ever tell me…?" she whispered.

Slayte smiled ruefully. "How could I, Elissa…? How would you ever have believed me?" she questioned gently.

Elissa shook her head. It was true that prior to all the unnatural events that had occurred in her life - ones she had seen with her own eyes - it was unlikely she would have accepted such a confession.

"And Levi? Does he know…?"

"Only very recently," Slayte wiped at her eyes. "I'm sorry. I told you, I just wanted to leave my past behind. All of it. But now, we all deserve the truth. Please. Speak to him. He'll explain everything. He has to, now. I'm sorry I can't say anymore. It's best you hear it from him."

Elissa reached out, and took both her hands in hers, once again overcome with the unshakeable feeling that she had contributed to that, was the one responsible for directing Itachi's attention directly onto Slayte and shackling her to all her burdens once more.

"It doesn't matter to me. You're still my friend." She answered reassuringly, trying to understand the look of hurt she had spied on Slayte's face. "You'll always be my friend. No matter what you are. No matter what I say. Okay?"

Slayte lifted her head, tears filling her eyes at Elissa's words. She nodded and opened her mouth to agree but only a broken sound escaped her lips. She drew her hands back and raised them to her eyes, entirely overcome, and wept bitterly. Those were the words she had wanted to hear. The words she had needed. They were friends. They would always be friends. Nothing was ever going to tear them apart.

All the months of missing Elissa seemed to crash down on her at once and she could not stop herself from crying miserably, her shoulders shaking as the relief of Elissa's simple words swamped her being.

"Has -" she choked out, her mind still stuck on words spoken long ago, words that had never left her heart. "Has being friends with me been painful for you?"

Elissa's chest constricted painfully. She had forgotten those words spoken in anger, in what felt like an eternity ago. So much had happened since then. But it was just like Slayte to linger on them, to take them to heart, to be tormented by them.

" _Not_ being friends with you has been so painful for me, Slayte." Elissa answered quietly, but Slayte could not bring herself to meet her friend's eyes, she was so overcome by finally laying the hurt out in the open, by finally hearing the words that put the broken pieces of her heart back together.

She felt Elissa's arms wrap around her, felt the younger woman sniffling against her shoulder, and knew that Elissa was crying, too. The two women wept together, reestablishing a bond that ran deep and true, that held strong regardless of how long it had been neglected between them.

Minutes passed, and two tear-stained faces shot up at the sound of a knock on the open door to see Levi standing in the doorway bearing a tray with a steaming teapot and three mugs.

"Oi. Drink something, you babies. You need to replenish all that salt water."

Slayte, Levi, and Elissa by Vetty  
(https://vettyart.tumblr.com/)


	33. Part XXXII: Breaking the Ice

* * *

**Part XXXII: Breaking the Ice**

* * *

The jingling of keys brought Slayte's nose out of the book she was reading to distract herself. Had Levi already returned from dropping off Elissa? Seeing Levi's figure in the doorway, laying the keys down on the sideboard, she rose to her feet and took a few steps toward him, before stopping suddenly in the middle of the room.

He had heard everything about her circumstances from her already, but now he had seen it as well. Seen with his own eyes that she was anything but human. That had to be different, right? From simply hearing it? Did that change anything?

When his piercing grey eyes lifted from the sideboard to catch her own, pinning her in place as they always did, through no effort on his part, her breath caught in her throat. His gaze wandered down her form, before coming to rest on her side.

He approached her wordlessly and when he came up against her, so that she could look right into those misty, silver irises, she forgot entirely whatever she had been contemplating before he had closed the distance between them. His long fingers trailed up her hips, reaching for the hem of her white, oversized T-shirt. His touch was practical, succinct and yet it sent a shiver across her skin.

Pulling the soft jersey fabric upwards, his hands came to rest on either side of her ribcage, keeping her shirt in place as he held her at arm's length. His eyes trailed over the faint scars that still marred her skin and Slayte averted her gaze, a blush dusting her cheekbones.

She knew his movements were objective, clinical almost, as he got a better look at where the wound had been. Levi was either on or off with a very clear distinction between the two. At the moment, as he frowned and traced the scars with elegant, gentle fingertips, he didn't have a thought in his head besides her injury, she knew. Unlike Levi, however, she was more like a flame - sometimes a raging inferno, others flickering low like a candle, but always burning for him.

"Isn't this faster than usual?" He murmured quietly, finally breaking the silence as his brow furrowed in thought.

Slayte cleared her throat, attempting to keep her voice steady. "It is," she agreed, "I'm wondering what happened, too. Was there - did Elissa say anything about someone else being there?"

"No," he answered evenly, pulling the hem of her shirt back down to cover her. "Why? You suspect something?"

"Not really, I mean, Thanatos could have healed me, but I don't think he was there and it would have been out of character for him anyway." She dismissed with a wave of her hand.

"How so?" He questioned with a frown.

"I don't think he would intervene unless I was dying or he wanted to teach me a lesson," she explained.

"Lesson?"

"Yeah, it's happened before."

"At the beach?"

"Yes."

Levi paused, considering, "What was the lesson?"

"Oh, you know… that I'm not human, not to get so freaked out over everything because I can always heal. Be more willing to take risks."

" _ More  _ willing to take risks?" Slayte missed the note of irritation in his otherwise cool voice.

"Yes. He's not wrong," she added, seeing his expression, "If those dogs had gotten you or Elissa we wouldn't be standing here right now, having this talk."

"Has it always been monsters? Your 'alleycats' too? Were they shitty two-headed zero-brained dogs?" Levi scowled.

"Well, they were… more like birds. But yes, generally monsters so far." Slayte provided lightly.

"I don't like this." Levi sighed and ran a hand through his hair, his gaze dropping to the ground beside her.

"Why not? What part?" She looked up at him earnestly and his steel-grey eyes shifted to meet her dark brown, consuming irises. Eyes that could swallow him whole.

"Why does it have to be you?" He muttered, annoyed.

"Why not me? Who else could do it? Who better to protect Elissa than me?" She countered.

To this, Levi said nothing. He still remembered the days she had clung to him, weeping bitterly, claiming the responsibility was too much for her to bear. That Elissa would die and she would be helpless to stop it. He recalled the night she had returned with her shoulder torn open, the day they had come back from the beach and she had been so anguished - paralyzed with terror. Apparently, she had been hurt that day, too, but Mr. Grim Reaper had healed her, somehow.

Why was she expected to let herself be torn apart again and again - simply because she would heal? Surely, that didn't mean it hurt any less? And it didn't sound like this shady character appreciated any of the sacrifices Slayte was making. It didn't sound like he could be trusted with Slayte's safety at all. He recognized the mysterious man's decision-making. Slayte was disposable, to him. A human shield - or a whatever she was … nymph-shield.

"What happened to you on the beach? Before you were healed?" Levi wanted to know.

"Uh…" Slayte evaded, her mind feeling thick and numb. There was no good way to tell Levi she had lost an arm. No way to mention it at all. She could only imagine how angry he would be and she was not at all inclined to see it.

"You hurt your arm, didn't you?" Levi narrowed his eyes, already seeing Slayte's fingers inch towards her shoulder as they always did when she was nervous. Ever since that shitty day.

With a jolt, Slayte drew her hand back. "That was ages ago, it doesn't matter anymore."

"Let me be the judge of that," Levi retorted, stepping closer.

Slayte automatically drew back, "I … um…" She retreated as Levi approached, thinking frantically of a believable lie. A way to lessen the impact of what had happened.

When her heels bumped into a dresser behind her in her mindless retreat, she almost stumbled over it, but Levi caught hold of her elbow and pulled her back to safety.

"Out with it," Levi demanded, his intonation even. He never needed to raise his voice to capture her attention.

"Uh, well… it was kind of… snapped off." She floundered, wincing as she recalled the way the vine had cleanly whipped through her arm - skin, flesh, bone and all.

Levi froze. Remembering the almost psychotic way Slayte had taken to clinging to the limb, her traumatized demeanor - it all suddenly made sense. A dim emotion flickered briefly in his grey eyes as he reached out and held her shoulders, gently stroking his thumb against her phantom injury.

"And that Reaper-guy healed you?"

"Yeah, told me to stop thinking like a human."

"Tch." As much as Levi bore a grudge against the mysterious stranger, he could not deny that he owed him a debt of gratitude for healing Slayte, regardless of the reason.

"What were those black vines you were using to fight? Why couldn't I touch them?" He questioned instead.

"The shadows?" Slayte replied, "Thanatos gave them to me. I told you about them. I suppose mortals would call it… umbrakinesis? Or something like that… I read it somewhere."

"Shadows?" They had felt so cold, gripping tightly onto Elissa, but impalpable between his fingers. Certainly not like regular shadows that one passed through without being any the wiser.

"Yes, they belong to Lord Thanatos."

"Show me." Levi's demand was met with surprise, but Slayte bit her lip. She hoped Thanatos wouldn't mind her using her powers without any real danger at hand. Would he even know? Probably. There was little that escaped his notice. It made no real difference to Slayte. It wasn't like she was going to say no to Levi, regardless of the death deity's disapproval.

She lifted her hand, palm facing upwards, and summoned into existence a faint wisp of shadow, hovering over her outstretched hand like the flame of a lighter.

"This…" Levi began, regarding the shadow tendril with veiled curiosity. "... is what you're made of?"

Slayte had never thought of it that way before. That the shadows she wielded were her own very essence, but it was true. She nodded her agreement.

Levi lifted his hand over hers, observing the way the wisp of shadow separated around his hand, floating past it, between his fingers, intangible to his touch. The tendril was freezing cold, but provided no resistance, his hand passed through it until it met Slayte's own, smooth palm. He closed his hand around hers. She claimed to be a shadow, and yet - she was tangible, she was warm, she was entirely different.

"You were pretty cool out there," Slayte offered with a small smile.

Brought back to the present, he held her hand firmly. "Yeah?" he asked with a raised brow as he lifted his gaze from her hand to the open admiration written in her expression. He knew Slayte held him in ridiculously high regard, but he never tired of hearing it - within reason.

"I would have lost her back there without you. Thank you so much for your help. Really. It makes me feel like… I should have confided in you a long time ago," she confessed sheepishly.

"You think?" Levi drawled sarcastically, driving the point home.

Slayte merely nodded, embarrassed. All her concerns now felt so insignificant, in retrospect.

"You weren't too shabby yourself," Levi returned the compliment, pulling her in with his free hand to kiss the top of her head.

"That's how it has to be, working together. Don't forget it," he reminded her earnestly.

"I won't," she promised, her eyes fluttering shut in his embrace as she squeezed his hand fondly.

They were a team. Elissa was safe, the crisis had been averted. They were friends again, not to mention, both of her dear friends had accepted her for who she was.

Life was good. It truly was, for once.

* * *

A little over an hour later, Elissa found herself standing outside of her apartment building, looking up at the window that led to her bedroom.

Levi had dropped her off, at Slayte's insistence and despite Elissa's protests. His parting words, a reminder not to take no for an answer, she had acknowledged with a nod before bidding him goodbye.

Her heart was full to the brim with a multitude of feelings. Regret, guilt, grief… but also gratitude, love, and despite herself, hope. Reuniting with Slayte and Levi had felt like coming home - long overdue. Who was to blame for everything that had happened? Part of her blamed herself and another… she frowned and tore her eyes away from her window, making her way to the front door.

Itachi - for all his wisdom, for all his grace and elegance, for all he seemed to have all the answers, had simply refused to allow her the simplest solace of knowing what was going on in her own life. Had forbidden Slayte from revealing it - even going so far as to threaten her with death! Elissa shook her head as she unlocked the door, unable to make sense of it. What could possibly be so important? What could warrant such drastic measures?

With a sigh, she took the stairs to the seventh floor, trying to both push her thoughts away and sift through them at the same time. Exhaustion both mental and physical left her feeling weary and weak. She wanted nothing more than to fall into a long and deep sleep. Perhaps an endless one. Elissa bit her lip and shook her head. No, she could not succumb to such thoughts. A long one would do.

Unlocking the door to her apartment she stepped inside and shrugged off her jacket, stepping neatly out of her shoes as she hung her keys on the key board. When she turned towards the hallway she froze, seeing Vetty sitting in the darkness in the middle of the hallway, her black, bushy tail swishing back and forth.

It was an ominous image and Elissa took a deep breath, banishing her nerves. Slayte had said Vetty was alright in the end, hadn't she? That must mean she had been wrong in the beginning, right? An inkling in the back of Elissa's mind told her that surely, Vetty, too, was somehow linked to the supernatural, for it was only when Vetty had made her sudden appearance in her life that all this chaos began. One near-death experience after another, as well as her meetings with Itachi… it had all begun when she had picked up one cold, wet kitty in the rain.

Elissa didn't want to believe that Vetty was anything other than what she appeared to be. She had been a constant source of comfort throughout these past few months. She was familiar, affectionate, and Elissa registered dimly that in her heart of hearts she considered the two of them as something of a small family. If Vetty was anything more than a simple cat, Elissa didn't want to know it. Not now, at least.

"Evening, Vetty," she greeted quietly, "Sorry I'm late." She petted her cat briefly as she passed by, on her way to her bedroom. She pulled open the pajama drawer absentmindedly, removing the first thing her hands grasped, a soft, silky white mid-length nightdress that grazed just above her knees. Changing into it, she tugged the thin straps over her shoulders.

"I made up with Slayte," she mumbled, collapsing face-first into the mattress. She turned her head to the side and released a long, weary breath. "I don't know if that's good or bad news for you."

Vetty hopped up onto the bed and curled against Elissa's side. Elissa lifted her hand, recognizing Vetty's unspoken demand for more petting. "It's good for me, though," she whispered.

She was so tired, she needed nothing more than some sleep at that moment. Too many thoughts were swirling through her mind just like the many swirling vortexes that had sought to capture her and - do what? Crush her? Transport her somewhere else? Kidnap her? What would have happened if she had been caught in one of them?

She didn't want to think about it. She told herself to sleep as she squeezed her eyes shut, scarcely noticing when Vetty leapt down from the bed until she heard the cat mewling miserably in the distance.

Elissa blinked, the sound bringing her back to consciousness. With a groan, she pulled herself up. What did Vetty want now? Why had she left at all? Elissa stumbled out of her bedroom, making her way in the direction she had heard Vetty's voice.

"Vetty," Elissa complained, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she approached the balcony doors the fluffy cat was pawing at, "What do you want?"

She unlatched the glass door of the balcony and pulled it open, allowing Vetty to escape into the cold night air.

The frosty winter air swirled into the living room curling around her bare calves, breathing a ghost of a chill across her skin. Wrapping her arms around herself, Elissa stepped out onto the balcony, suddenly taken with a desire to see the starry night sky. She ignored the chill of the icy tiled floor and approached the railing.

Snow had fallen while Elissa had been at the tea shop and the frosted landscape was a wonder to behold. The snow lingering on the many buildings, on the forest treetops, and on the nearby roads glistened in the moonlight making for a surprisingly bright night. The crisp stillness in the air that accompanied freshly fallen snow was soothing to her mind that had up until that very moment still been racing to connect all the pieces of her shattered life.

With a sigh, she leaned against the railing, ignoring the sting of the icy metal as she lifted her eyes to the sky overhead. The stars above shone crystal clear in a black velvet sky through the still falling flurry of snow. Elissa took a deep breath of the clear, winter air, cherishing with almost an air of desperation the fleeting moment of serenity.

Turning her head towards Vetty she froze in place as something else caught her eye. Only a few feet away, perched on the very same railing she was leaning on, was a crow, angling its head curiously to meet her gaze with glittering, black eyes.

Elissa sucked in a cold breath. Why were the crows always lingering by her? On her balcony? She had never seen them by her neighbors. And yet, everywhere she went it seemed a crow hovered nearby. On her way to work, on her way back home from the Hidden Leaf, even here in her very own four walls. What could it mean? Was it somehow related to all the supernatural mysteries surrounding her as of late?

Suddenly she recalled with startling clarity the moment by the riverside when she had found Itachi standing still, his head angled towards the crow on his shoulder almost as if in communion with it, before turning and meeting her eyes with his own dark, impenetrable gaze.

Were the crows somehow connected to Itachi?

No sooner did the thought strike her than the crow flapped its wings, suddenly taking flight and swooping down into the treetops beyond. Elissa rushed forward, clinging to the railing and leaning over the balcony to better see where the bird had disappeared to when a startled gasp escaped her lips.

There, just beyond the beginning of the forest, a pair of glowing crimson eyes stared back at her from the shadows. She supposed she had ought to feel frightened, terrified that those bloodshot eyes were staring back at her from the darkness, but she felt nothing of the sort. She recognized those eyes, despite herself, despite the distance.

There was a tenderness in them, a wistfulness, a mournful longing - for what, she could not say. The silhouette the eyes belonged to, cast in shadow, only confirmed what she had suspected. It was Itachi. It had to be.

She was overcome by a myriad of emotions. That familiar gaze, fixed on her so powerfully, that it contradicted almost every word that had crossed his solemn lips. The intensity within those irises that assured her she had not mistaken his identity, filled her with a longing she could neither describe nor rationalize.

Fear lingered somewhere in the back of her mind, warning her that she had been hurt once and she could be hurt again, if she failed to distance herself from him. If she failed to wall off her heart as she had ordered herself to do more times than she could count.

But that voice faded in light of the hope sobbing in her chest, pleading with her to seek him out. He was the only one who could make sense of it all. His words alone were the ones that had given her solace, offered some reprieve from every grief that had tormented her up until the day she laid eyes on his ethereal, aristocratic figure.

He was as seductive as darkness, and shrouded in mystery, and although every rational thought pointed to the logical conclusion that he was dangerous, that he could not be trusted - she  _ did  _ trust him. She trusted him with a foolishness, a naivety that caused her stomach to turn in self-loathing. She trusted him with her life, if need be. In that very moment, finally meeting his eyes again, she thought she would not even mind if he were to take her soul if it meant he would finally look at her properly again, offer her wise words of comfort again in those low, delicate tones that had always washed over her with the peace of gentle ocean waves.

She admonished herself for the foolish instinct that roared to life within her. The instinct to cast herself over the railing - straight into his waiting arms, surely? She cursed herself for a fool. Cursed her heart for a traitor, and in that moment of distraction, the glowing red irises blinked out of existence and the silhouette disappeared.

Aghast, she turned helplessly in search of him. She had not even had the chance to speak a single word to him! To ask him a single question! But he was nowhere to be found. Nothing but falling snow and bare trees and abandoned roads met her searching hazel eyes.

All at once, a flurry of black wings lifted up from the forest below as a murder of crows made their way through the snowfall in a direction she clearly recognized.

"The river," she breathed, both hopeful and terrified all at once. But there was no time to waste. If she waited too long, he might disappear entirely, never to be seen again. There was still so much left unsaid between them. Even if he chose to hurt her again - she shuddered at the thought - she would let him. Just one more time. Once, was all she asked.

She whirled back into the apartment, not even bothering to shut the balcony door as she sprinted to the coat closet, withdrawing an oversized, tan faux-fur coat - hoping that the shaggy fur would keep her warm enough despite the thin fabric of the slip she wore, because she had no time to change into something else. She stepped into a pair of fur-lined tan boots and tore open the front door, flying down the stairs.

When she burst out of the apartment building, the winter wind immediately rose up to meet her, an icy gust tearing at her wavy brown hair, but she paid it no heed. She raced down the side road between the buildings - the one she knew led into the park and inevitably, to the river. That fateful place that had changed so much. Where she had both found peace as well as heartbreak.

Her own voice seemed to shout into her mind. He had threatened to kill Slayte! He was dangerous - she knew it, she felt it, the apprehension he kindled to life within her seemed to be etched into her very bones. And yet, she could not bring herself to truly lend ear. She had so much to say. She wanted so badly to hear his answers. She wanted just one more conversation like the many they had shared at the riverside. One that would put everything into perspective. One that would breathe new life into her very soul.

She heard the snow crunching underneath her boots distantly. Her chest heaved with exertion as she did not let up her pace, eager to reach the riverside as quickly as possible - before he disappeared.

When she finally saw the body of water approaching she slowed to a stop and turned desperately, her eyes seeking him out like the damned sought salvation. She pulled her coat closed as she whirled around, hoping against hope to find him. Panting, her breath left her in cold puffs of condensation. She bit her lip, her eyebrows furrowed as she struggled to calm her racing heart.

He wasn't there. Of course, he wasn't. What had she been hoping for?

She felt a sob bubbling within her but she choked it back. What was there even to cry over? They were nothing - as he had said. Not friends, not even acquaintances.

_ An assumption on your part. _

She felt the icy winter air sting at her bare calves but ignored it as she turned towards the river. Her eyes widened in surprise and her heart skipped a beat at what she saw.

A familiar broad back. A billowing black cloak. Long raven hair bound in a ponytail, the soft strands blowing gently in the wind.

"Itachi!" The cry burst from her lungs before she had even put conscious thought to it.

He walked over the river's surface, the ice beneath his feet obviously thick enough to support his weight. Elissa could not find his footprints in the snow that had fallen over the frozen river. Had they been filled by the falling snow already? He paused for a fraction of a second - so briefly she might merely have imagined it - before continuing on his way.

"Please!"

Elissa approached the riverside, pausing just before the ground gave way to ice.

"Don't shut me out!" she called. "You know things. You know everything and I know nothing. That's just the way you wanted it, isn't it?" She pleaded, clutching her hands to her chest.

"Everything -" she sucked in a breath. "Everything has fallen apart. Is this how you planned this? Is this what you wanted for me?"

When he refused to answer, refused to stop, refused to turn around - she let her hands fall to her sides in defeat.

"I killed a man," she whispered, knowing he couldn't hear her across the distance, her own guilt and regret finally pouring from her trembling lips, as her eyes filled with bitter tears. "I'm just like you now. Don't turn me away anymore."

Unexpectedly, his footsteps stopped but still, he did not turn.

"To cherish life, but be the one to have taken it," her voice escaped her throat in a tortured whimper, "I understand."

She lifted a hand to her mouth, desperate to hold back the sobs that demanded release when slowly, Itachi turned in the distance.

Her mind blanked, her heart raced in - what was it? Hope? Alarm? Anticipation? How could he have possibly heard her? His aristocratic profile came into view, what she could see of the tip of his straight nose, his full, solemn lips, his smooth, angular jaw. His regal stature, his imposing figure, his hair darker than night and smoother than water.

But most of all, when he angled his head towards her and met her eyes with an onyx gaze that sucked in everything around him, leaving nothing and no one but that impenetrable gaze that seemed to command her very being, her very self seemed to fade from existence. Why did he have this effect on her? Why was she so drawn to him? Why did all rationality flee her when she was faced with him?

"Death lies not in your hands."

His voice - still so familiar after all the time they spent apart - dark, imposing, hypnotizing, was a comfort to her even as she failed to understand his meaning.

"It does," she protested tearfully, lifting her pale palms up to his midnight gaze. "I killed him, Itachi. It was me. I killed a man." She choked out the words she had not even wanted to think to herself. Speaking them aloud tore at her heart, syllable for syllable. "Why? Why is all this happening to  _ me? _ What have I done, to deserve any of this? Please!" she sobbed, her voice breaking in anguish. "You're the only one who can help me understand. You have the answers, I know you do! Please, I'm losing my mind."

"You are not the bringer of Death," he repeated, his voice carrying clearly over the frozen river despite the gap between them. "You are merely its witness."

"What?" she questioned, hiccupping as she wiped at her eyes. "What does that mean...?"

"Return," Itachi's smooth command reached her ears in oddly rhythmic tones, putting her in a daze that almost had her turning on her heel mindlessly. "This is not your place."

The syllables rolled in and crashed against her ears in waves, settling over her mind like a layer of fog, confusing her. She needed to return to her apartment. She lowered her gaze, confused and torn even as she automatically turned away. Elissa saw her apartment door clearly in her mind's eye and recognized it as her destination.

The snow crunching beneath her feet was all that broke the silence and Elissa bit her lip, wanting to cry aloud. It wasn't fair!

What wasn't fair?

She wanted to see him, to speak with him! She had told herself she wouldn't back down. Hadn't Slayte and Levi told her not to take no for an answer? Whatever else had happened, whatever he had done wrong, she couldn't blame him quietly without at least once bringing everything out into the open. She had only seen him for a moment. She wanted to see him. She  _ needed  _ him. She didn't want this! She didn't want to go home!

With a great burst of resolve she came to a sudden halt, wrenching herself back around with furious determination, only to find he had disappeared even further into the falling snow. Like an ethereal ghost melting away into the night.

He was going to disappear forever.

With a desperation like a physical ache, she cast all doubts from her mind and chased after him. The thick ice beneath her feet held her weight. She slipped on the smooth surface of the frozen river and nearly fell, but caught herself and pushed on.

"Wait!" she begged. "Itachi!"

It happened too quickly for her to make sense of it. The terrible, bloodcurdling screech of ice cracking, the whirl of Itachi's cloak billowing around him as he slowly turned towards her, just as the ice gave way, meeting his dark gaze for a fleeting instant before her body plunged into the freezing waters below, her hand outstretched for him as he stood mere feet away from the opposite riverbank.

The frigid waters stabbed against her skin with the pressure of a thousand icy needles. She gasped in response at the mind-numbing cold paralyzing her body and her mouth filled immediately with the freezing water. Opening her eyes, she saw the glistening moonlight fading on the river's surface as she sunk ever deeper into it's icy depths. She could not bring herself to move. There was no way to fight her way back to the surface.

It was all over. She was dying and Itachi would watch her lose her life unmoved, with his back turned. Perhaps it was better this way. A life for a life. Those who have killed should die, wasn't that what she had always said? Maybe she would finally find peace on the other side. She watched the bubbles escaping her lips, even as the pressure on her lungs increased, and closed her eyes, resigned to her fate. Too exhausted, too hurt to fight anymore. She had suffered enough, and willed the nightmare she had been living in for months to end.

Something grabbed onto the back of her coat, yanking her backwards with force and then she felt a strong arm wrap around her waist, hauling her up out of the water and onto cold, solid ground. She gasped and coughed to fill her lungs with oxygen, feeling a hand cradling the back of her head. She clung thoughtlessly to someone as the winter air assaulted her, her nightdress glued to her wet skin and her coat heavily saturated with water. It was pulled off her body a second later, and the cold bit into her bare skin before she felt the warmth of dry fabric drape over her shoulders.

The arm that supported her to sit upright, warm and firm in its hold, did not leave her side. Blinking through her blurred vision, Elissa opened and lifted her eyes to find Itachi was holding her close against his chest, the chest she was clinging to. Those onyx eyes that transfixed her as he beheld her down the length of his nose were aglow with something akin to anger.

"I- Itachi," she stammered, her teeth chattering violently, "Y- you saved me."

"Silence," he admonished, clearly displeased although the word was spoken softly. He took in her appearance as he knelt by her side on the ground, her wet hair plastered to her skin, her complexion tinged blue with cold, her lips purple and trembling, and frowned in disapproval. Why had she chased after him? How had she broken through the layer of illusion he had cast on her mind to ensure she returned safely home? Why did she continue to be so reckless with her own safety?

Elissa had so much to say, but she could hardly piece her thoughts together. She was numb with cold and closed her eyes, huddling against him with her face buried into his chest, trembling uncontrollably. She couldn't feel her limbs and breathed in short, erratic gasps, her body going into shock.

She felt a large hand settle on her chest, just over her heart, where the organ fluttered in a desperate effort to pump blood through her frozen from. Slowly, warmth seemed to pool there, before traveling outwards across her chest and down her limbs until the shivering ceased and she felt none of the cold that had robbed her of her breath. A pleasant weightlessness came over her instead and her eyes fluttered open, to find Itachi leaning over her, his ebony eyes only inches away from her own stunned, hazel irises.

"You saved me," she repeated in distant wonder, unable to fathom how he had taken the cold away. "You keep saving me, so why…?"

Gingerly, she lifted a hand, too overcome to consider the inappropriateness of her actions, and tentatively cupped his cheek, wanting to feel that he was there and as alive as she was. He froze and held her gaze, allowing her simple touch.

"Why do you push me away if you keep coming back to save me?" Her whispered anguish was reinforced by the sheen of tears he spied in her eyes.

"..." He offered no response, his lips pressed thinly, his heavy-lashed gaze burning into hers, displeasure still evident in them.

"Tell me you were lying," her eyes searched his forbidding, ebony irises, hoping to find any trace of the emotions that pained her, reflected back to her. "Tell me you were wrong. Tell me you didn't mean it," she breathed, hoping against hope for her words to find their way into the recesses of his heart as tears blurred her vision. "That it wasn't an assumption."

"Angelissa," hearing her name spill from those elegant lips at last, in that mesmerizing voice, after so long, sent a thrill through her numb heart. "You know not what you seek."

His hand lifted to take firm hold of her own and draw it away from his face. Her fingertips brushed against his golden earrings as they came away. His cheek was smooth and warm, the strands of hair framing his face tickled the back of her hand. He was so real, so close - and at the same time, so impossibly distant and foreboding. What could she do to bridge the gap between them? Was there any hope at all?

"Then tell me."

A moment's silence stretched between them like an eternity, as Itachi held her imploring hazel-eyed gaze. She could almost see him weighing her request.

"Please." She entreated tearfully. "Tell me who you are. It won't change a thing. Tell me why it is that things only make sense when you're here. Why do I only ever feel alive when I'm with you?" Her hushed request met his ears like a fatal verdict.

Itachi's eyes traced over her tormented features. Her sincere words stirred within his chest a feeling that he had tried to bury away and yet it stubbornly refused to be uprooted from the deepest chambers of his heart. She knew not what she said. Shisui's gentle wisdom replayed in his mind. The many tribulations Angelissa had had to face, causing him to waver in his resolve. Knowing what he knew about his identity, his role, and the path he pursued, it was wholly irresponsible to burden a frail mortal with that knowledge. But was it more irresponsible than leaving her to her own devices and allowing her to stumble into one catastrophe after another?

The truth of what he was, the magnitude of it - although she hoped for it to be the answer that would allow all the pieces to fall into place - in truth, it was more likely to be the revelation that shattered her very being beyond repair. Those wistful eyes fixed on him in something akin to a prayer would never again look at him the same way.

The moment she discovered that he, himself was the object of the hatred she harbored in her heart, she would never again cast eyes upon him but with fear and disgust. It was an inevitability, and yet - it was her good right. It was time, he knew, and he could no longer delay it, ignore it. She had already grown so entangled with his realm there was no real hope of returning her to the life she had once known.

Elissa's eyes widened when, instead of pulling away from her, Itachi leaned in even closer bringing his lips to her ear. "Will you bear it, Angelissa?" The murmur against the skin of her ear caused her to shudder.

_ No.  _ A voice protested within her.  _ No, run away. You can't handle this! It isn't safe!  _ Elissa could not place the alarm shooting through her veins with an unparalleled urgency. The little, foreboding voice begging her to rethink. She cast aside all her doubts and met his eyes with bold determination.

"Yes."

She was a fool, Itachi thought to himself. There was no other explanation. Surely, she, like all other mortals, had a soul that recognized him. A soul that warned her of the danger his presence indicated. Why did she not heed that warning? Why did she still seek to be close to him?

It was time to put an end to matters once and for all. Time to put an end to her misdirected affection and replace it with the hatred he was truly deserving of.

He hesitated uncharacteristically, then fluidly rose, pulling her up to her feet before drawing away from her. She stood unsteadily, hugging herself, wondering what the sudden distance meant. There was a flicker of cold detachment in his eyes, as if preparing himself for what he knew was to follow.

A last cry of alarm screeched through her consciousness. Warning her that it was the last chance she would get to take back her words, but Elissa stubbornly ignored it, spellbound as she watched Itachi's elegant, ringed fingers lift towards his mask, dispelling it in a cloud of golden dust that floated away amongst the falling snow.

He withdrew his hand, revealing his face in its entirety to her wide eyes and the moment her gaze fell on his unmasked countenance, she froze. Realization shot through her with the force of a lightning bolt and the air instantly stilled in her lungs, catching in her throat. She knew who he was. She must have known it all along. She had felt him in the air of the hospital room as Evangeline drew her last, dying breaths. He had been on the wind blowing past her at her grandfather's funeral. He had called to her from the open grave when her grandmother passed shortly after.

He lingered amongst the shadows. He was poised between her body and her soul, between each inhale and exhale - ever ready to claim what was his at a moment's notice. She recognized him clearly - had come to know him intimately.

How could she not know death?

Elissa stumbled backwards, her mouth falling open, her eyes widening further in horror as a silent scream strained to tear from her throat, unable to drag her unseeing eyes away from the face he had revealed to her. She fell to the surface of the frozen river, terror sparking through her trembling body, screaming at her to run. She scrambled backwards and back onto her feet, gasping hysterically, and cast one last anguished look at him before turning away and bolting across the river's surface, skidding unsteadily as she ran.

Death. He was Death.

Death had come for her. Had held her close. Had conversed with her, a sure sign that she was next on his list. Death was finishing what it had left undone for so long.

The frenzied thoughts ricocheted around her head, filling her with mindless, suffocating, blind panic, the likes of which she had never felt before. A choked sob erupted from her throat and she pressed a hand to her mouth, stifling a fearful cry as she fled from him. If he heard her, it was over. He would swoop in and claim her life. She was doomed.

_ Run! Run! Don't turn back! _

She pushed herself further, her eyes blurring with tears. It didn't matter how swiftly or how far she sprinted, it seemed as though she couldn't escape fast enough.

_ Never see him again! _

The stray thought pierced sharply through the thick fog of horror clouding her mind, causing her numb legs to falter in their movements. She blinked, exhaling as a sudden realisation struck her. If she ran from him now, she  _ would _ never see him again. He would leave and never return - and she would never have her answers. Somehow, she felt it in her very bones, knew it in her blood.

But he was Death! He had been Death this whole time. Responsible for all the suffering on earth. He was going to tear the breath from her lungs, the soul from her body!

_ Death, himself, is your protector. _

Her mind spun, reeling from the implications of his identity. She didn't understand it. Why had he chosen to stay and speak with her, so many times? Why had he been so kind to her? So gentle? Why had he just saved her from the ice? What was going on? Why her? She didn't  _ understand. _

She shivered violently from head to toe and shook her head. No. It didn't matter. She didn't want to know!

Still, her feet finally trudged to a stop. She knew, instinctively, that leaving him now meant they would not meet again, she would not have an opportunity to talk to him again, even if she called out to him until her throat bled.

He had just saved her life. He had been kind. His wise, mournful eyes appeared in her mind's eye. He was lonely. He was suffering. He was Itachi. Why was Death so sad?

She hadn't realized that tears of horror were streaming from her eyes, but she wiped at them now and turned, despite the instincts shrieking in her mind, to face him. He stood where she had left him. Shrouded in the mist, on the opposite riverbank. His gaze was solemn, resigned, as he watched her go.

There it was again. The sorrowful look in those cold, ebony eyes that made her feel he had been wronged, somehow. Elissa released a quiet sob. She didn't want it to be true. She wanted him to be anything else. And yet there was no escaping the truth.

Her heart raced erratically, pounding against her ribcage as if to punish her for even considering returning to his side. But she turned towards him fully, pressing a palm to her chest, hoping to subdue the stabbing pain there. She forced one trembling footstep after another back in his direction.

He was Itachi. She could not run from him. He had never hurt her. He never would.

But he was Death. She needed to escape. He was the cause of all the pain she had known in her life. Death was ruthless. Death had no mercy.

Torn, and perplexed beyond measure she ambled slowly towards him, moving forward with difficulty, wrestling with instinct and free-will. Now and again, she froze in place, half turning to escape again, to ease the stabbing pain in her chest, the breath arresting in her lungs in protest, but bravely she pushed on.

He watched her approach in disbelief. How could she fight the natural instinct of her soul demanding she escape him for her own self-preservation? His lips parted slightly in silent astonishment.

When she finally drew close to him once more, she trembled from head to toe. From her lips to her fingertips. Her pupils were dilated and her short, ragged breaths indicated she was close to fainting from shock. Still, her tormented eyes traced his features, awe and confusion in conflict with the unconcealed emotions of terror and dismay that were palpable in those hazel irises.

She found him to be beautiful. Even more so than she had ever suspected or imagined. Those long-lashed onyx eyes, the lovely shape of them. The smooth forehead, the high cheekbones, the aristocratic, straight nose, the full, solemn lips. He was as regal and elegant as he had always seemed. Hauntingly beautiful. She could not tear her eyes away from him, looking from feature to feature in entranced bewilderment, even as every second spent gazing upon him caused her heart to accelerate until it reached a dangerous threshold.

She would not hold out much longer. Itachi noted the signs - the erratic heartbeat, the short gasps, the unfocused eyes. Her soul knew what he was and she, herself, had recognized it beyond a doubt and yet, for some unknown reason, she fought against every instinct to come back to him. Why?

Elissa swayed unsteadily on her feet and he reached out to catch hold of her. Enough. He could no longer stand to allow her to be tortured by her body's reaction to his proximity. She refused to heed her very soul's warnings and had chosen, against all reason, to return to him, her Death. To approach him and be near him. A feat that should have been impossible for a mortal, even more so for one who so openly feared and hated Death as he knew her to do.

His dark gaze caressed her features, from the furrowed brow to the tearful, hazel eyes, to the quivering lips. This familiar face that had haunted him in his solitude, one he had thought would never be his, was still, despite everything, turned towards him hopefully, seeking his nearness.

It defied logic. It claimed his heart with a possessive force that caused him to banish all other doubts he'd had pertaining to the nature and sincerity of their attachment firmly. Angelissa had chosen to return to him, knowing what he was. She had stumbled straight back into his arms, of her own volition. He refused to release her. If she could bear the crushing weight of the budding affection that had been firmly planted within his being from those very first days together at this riverside then he would not withhold it from her any longer. If she could accept what he was, then he would move heavens and earth to make her his. Provided that was what she wanted.

The chaos reigning within her form was the result of her mortal nature and it was well within his abilities to quell her suffering. He reached out with his mind, tapping into her heart as he brought his face closer to hers.  _ Be at ease,  _ he commanded wordlessly.

Elissa's wide hazel eyes met his in surprise as he held her close and closed the distance between them, brushing his lips gently against hers in a feather-light ghost of a caress. Her eyelids fluttered closed. He was warm - not cold as she had always envisaged death would be - and the fleeting touch of his lips were just as soft as she had imagined they would be. A tingling sensation sparked to life in every nerve ending of her body. All rationality flew from her mind as time and space seemed to come to a standstill.

The fear and horror, paired with the agony that had been coursing through her, all faded into nothingness as a calm serenity settled over her instead. Her heartbeat slowed to an easy rhythm, and her lungs stopped seizing. Warmth spread through her as her muscles relaxed and her mind cleared.

What was known by mortals as the "kiss of death" was one of the most merciful ways to take a life. Never an actual kiss or meeting of lips, on the rare occasions Itachi employed this technique, it was no more than a hovering over his victim before they fell into a peaceful, eternal sleep and their souls extricated themselves from the afflicted bodies, coming humbly into his obedience.

Compelling Elissa's body into a relaxed state, easing her torment, Itachi's lips hovered just over hers, the first time he had ever allowed them to brush lightly over another's, an instinctive action fuelled by the urgency to soothe her suffering. When he sensed her soul stirring to rise up to meet him, however, he drew quickly back.

Elissa's eyes fluttered open, her mind dimly descending to register what had just happened. She blinked up at him, suddenly aware of their proximity, of his hands resting on her shoulders, even as his intense, onyx gaze passed over her in concern.

Words failed her. Her mind was still in a pleasant, distant buzz far removed from the situation at hand. She met Itachi's gaze but could not recall quite why she had been in such a panic only moments before.

"You know what I am," Itachi voiced quietly, a statement more than a question.

Elissa nodded, finding her voice with difficulty, "Death."

She knew that should have horrified her, but at the moment, her mind caught up in a blurry haze, in an unnaturally relaxed state, she struggled to connect the words she had spoken with their meaning.

Itachi nodded, noting with satisfaction that she was conscious and sentient, albeit in a hyper-relaxed state that would likely fade with time.

"Your kind knows me as Thanatos." He offered in explanation.

At this, Elissa's lips parted in surprise, "Th- Thanatos?"

_ Thanatos? _ She blinked, stunned. Like the greek god of death? But that wasn't possible. She furrowed her brow in confusion, her mind feeling muddled, oddly lethargic. Slayte had called him  _ Thane.  _ Elissa distinctly remembered her stumbling on his name more than once. Was this the terrible reason why?

How could it be? That was just a myth, wasn't it? And yet, Itachi merely confirmed with a subdued, "Yes."

She gaped up at him in open-mouthed astonishment, as clarity slowly clicked into place in her sluggish thoughts.

"Thanatos? But he's a- then you're a… a…" she fought her way out of his hold, stepping backward, struggling to clear her mind. "A god?" she breathed, both in awe and in dread.

Itachi returned her gaze steadily, neither confirming nor denying. He was loath to set her into a state of shock again so soon after the initial shock had not even worn off.

"Are you?" she pressed, and at length, Itachi nodded.

She released a shaky breath, rocked by the revelation. She might have once dismissed it as an impossible claim, and yet she knew without question, her soul had known without question, that there could be no doubt over his identity. She buried her face forlornly in her hands.

"Oh no…" she whispered. Of all the things she had thought him to be - werewolf, vampire, some kind of dark sorcerer… a god had never even crossed her mind.

Itachi watched her silently, he could not help but be somewhat bemused by the fact that the knowledge of his divinity seemed more difficult for her to accept than the nature of his role.

"Angelissa," he called her attention, as he laid a gentle hand back on her bare shoulder, prompting her to lift her head, helplessly drawn into his dark gaze. "Return to your home. Seek rest. If you so desire, we may speak in the morn."

Rest? She lowered her hands, her eyes flicking back to his unmasked face incredulously. How could he possibly expect her to sleep now, knowing what she did?

"No, please, I…" she felt oddly tongue-tied by the enormous weight and magnitude of the realization that she was in the presence of an actual deity. She wondered how many foolish slip-ups, how much disrespect must have crossed her lips in the past. She recalled the incident outside of the nightclub and was gripped by the sudden desire to throw herself back into the river. To think that she, an unremarkable nobody, had been keeping company with a literal deity for so many months!

"I need to know," she began tentatively. "I… I mean- about everything that's been going on."

Itachi nodded in understanding. "Then let us converse elsewhere, lest you fall ill," he offered. He extended a hand towards her and Elissa took it hesitantly, a blush crossing her features as she wondered - was it blasphemy to touch the hand of a god? Surely all her opinions and feelings toward him and thoughts about him had bordered on blasphemous-

She had scarcely finished the thought when she found Itachi pulling her in close, before sweeping her up into his arms and leaping into the air. She shrieked in surprise, arms tightening around his neck instinctively as she clung to him. It was something akin to flying and her wide, disbelieving eyes watched the landscape beneath them pass by like little more than a painting. She watched her tan fur coat on the ice shrink into a dot before it disappeared from her sight entirely.

Alighting on the railing of the balcony, Itachi set her gently on her feet. Elissa was suddenly hit by a bout of deja vu as she realized, this wasn't the first time she had soared through the air this way with him.

"It wasn't a dream..." she breathed in wonder as Itachi descended smoothly from the railing as well.

"You saved me before, didn't you? And brought me up here?" She held his gaze imploringly, desperate for answers and something softened in Itachi's eyes at the sight. It was as the nymph had said, depriving Elissa of answers seemed to have broken something within her. He had only sought to shelter her, and had not anticipated the unexpectedly cruel consequences his silence could have had on her.

He nodded in confirmation, "Indeed."

She blinked at how readily he answered her but he gestured towards the open balcony door. "A change of attire is in order. The cold does not agree with you."

She hesitated, looking up at him and wringing her hands as if she feared he would disappear the minute her back was turned.

"I shall remain to answer your questions on your return," he lifted a hand and with a slight gesture of his fingers, the lights within flickered on. Elissa blinked in astonishment, wondering how he had done that, only to recall that he was a deity, after all. She supposed for him, nothing was impossible.

"You have my word," he added, at her lingering, fretful expression.

She turned from him, to the now-lit apartment, and back again, before nodding and heading inside to change into something warm. She found Vetty in her bedroom, her eyes bright, tail swishing enthusiastically back and forth. Elissa gulped, staring at the dark-furred cat for a long moment, before shaking her head. She couldn't think about Vetty right then.

When she returned to the balcony doors, her hair dried and neatly brushed, dressed in black sweatpants and a green turtleneck sweater - not the most fashionable choice, but the warmest thing she could find in her closet - she found him still standing on her balcony, looking up into the starry night sky, his arms crossed over his chest. She stared at him in muted silence for a long moment, until his head turned toward her.

"Uh…" Snapping out of her senseless gawking, she gestured vaguely over her shoulder with a thumb, feeling awkward, flustered and highly self-conscious. The magnetic weight of his stare was as exhilarating as it was disconcerting, and she kept averting her gaze uncomfortably elsewhere. "Would you… like something warm to drink? I mean. I don't know if that's something you do, but..." When he simply stared at her, Elissa realised she was rambling nonsensically, and fumbled embarrassedly, "Um. Would you mind if I just popped to the kitchen and…?"

"As you please, Angelissa," came the smooth, quiet response.

"Right," she gave him a strained smile. "I'll just… I'll be right back." With that, she turned swiftly away and all but dove into the kitchen, relieved to have a moment of breathing space. As soon as she was alone, she exhaled and lifted her hands to her hair, pulling frantically at the freshly brushed locks.

_Oh my God_ , she thought to herself, battling with the returning flood of stunned, disorientated, overwhelmed thoughts. _Oh my God, you idiot!_ _He's a god. He's an actual god! You stupid, stupid fool!_

She bit her lower lip and paced left and right restlessly, before turning to her fridge. She savagely tore the door open to retrieve a carton of milk. Filling a small saucepan with the drink, she set it on the cooker hob before gripping tightly onto the counter, sucking in a slow, deep breath, as if that would help to anchor her to a reality that seemed to be floating in an incoherent, dizzying blur all around her.

The world was changed forever. She would never again be the same, knowing what she now did. To think that she had been conversing with a real deity all along! A powerful immortal! It defied all disbelief. And he wasn't just any god. He was Thanatos himself. The greek god of death. Not a legend, not a myth, but an existing entity and he was standing right outside on  _ her _ balcony.

It was madness. It was impossible. It was happening anyway.

Her heart had started to pound again, returning to an anxious, agitated rhythm. Whatever he had done to numb her senses clearly had begun to fade. She dazedly recalled the transient brush of his lips against hers, in a gesture that could not quite be realised as a kiss, and felt her pulse flutter. Heat flushed into her face. He'd done it just to calm her down, she told herself. To stop her from hyperventilating and fainting, some kind of strange magic. That was all it had been. And now the effects were wearing off. Her entire body was jangling with nerves, stretched taut, leaving her feeling nervous, highly strung.

The god of death was on her balcony. Death himself! The end of all things. The reaper of souls. She gulped, overrun with a trepidation she could not shake, feeling fine tremors returning to her fingertips. Itachi had never lifted a hand to harm her and yet she could not help her body's reaction to his proximity. Terror and dread whispered through her blood, filling her stomach with clenching knots of nausea. He was the very embodiment and personification of all that she feared. One day he would take her own soul. How was she supposed to accept that, to compromise the enormous significance of that in her head? When all her survival instincts screamed at her to place as far of a distance between them as was physically possible, to flee?

He was nothing at all like what she had expected the angel of death to be. Nothing like the insulting, ghastly depictions of a skeletal Grim Reaper that humans liked to portray in popular culture. Was Death so magnificent in form with eyes as black and alluring as night so that it could steal away all resistance when a mortal's final hour came? But for all his dark beauty, this was the very being who had cruelly taken her sister and other loved ones away, leaving behind pain and broken families. Her heart raced, realising what that meant, and that he knew everything there was to know of the afterlife. It was no wonder that he had spoken of Evangeline's death with such certainty. He had been there. He had witnessed it all.

If Thanatos from greek mythology was a real entity… then did that mean an actual Underworld existed, too? Elissa's thoughts were reeling. The world was spinning violently beyond her control around her. She stood by the sink, nails digging into the counter, staring unseeingly out the kitchen window, horrified, amazed to be in the presence of an actual deity, and deeply mortified in equal measures.

A god! How stupid must she have appeared to him? How insolent, speaking in anger to him, raising her voice, demanding answers? How immature and uncultured and utterly pitiful must he consider her to be? A mere silly, overly-emotional, impulsive child, in comparison to his quiet, effortless, unruffled elegance and endless wisdom. Elissa internally groaned to herself, wishing the ground would swallow her up whole. She had never even stopped to consider him being an immortal of sorts. Not that she could blame herself; it wasn't exactly the most logical, rational and immediate conclusion that came to one's mind.

And yet it explained  _ everything _ . Suddenly everything about him, the intrigue and mystery surrounding him, made sense. Why Slayte was so afraid of him and couldn't defy his orders. Why he had the ability to command her. Why Elissa herself had gotten such strange, mixed feelings about him and the unmistakable air of danger he radiated. Why he wore the concealing mask. Why he seemed so much wiser beyond his years. Why he had sought to keep a firm distance between them, cut her off and refused to offer her so many explanations. Why he had never disclosed his age.

Just how old was he? Elissa's eyes widened at the unsettling thought. Surely hundreds and thousands of years? He was  _ Thanatos _ . And he was standing right outside on  _ her  _ balcony.

What did that make Shisui, then? She thought of Itachi's easy-going cousin. Did deities really have relatives and families?

She gulped, struggling to process it all. It was too wild. Too much. She couldn't handle it, knowing that supernatural things were real when the entire world lived in ignorance and dismissed them all as myths. Maybe she was dreaming. Maybe she'd really drowned in the ocean on that day, and this was all just some crazy illusion-

_ No _ , she censured herself, fighting back the tears that stung her eyes. She  _ couldn't _ freak out. Not now. Not when Itachi was here at last, had finally stopped evading her and was finally willing to give her answers. Hadn't that been all she had ever wanted? She could do this. She  _ had  _ to know.

The sound of the milk boiling over the edge of the saucepan snapped her out the riotous cacophony of her hurricane thoughts.

"Shit!" she hissed, snatching the pan off the hob before switching it off. Spatters of milk flew onto the sleeve of her top in her haste and she bit her lower lip, instantly moving to wash off the stains. The last thing she needed was to embarrass herself any further in front of him. What he had to think of her already was surely terrible enough. She had laced her fingers through his. Spoken so freely to him. Pressed herself boldly, brazenly up against him and taunted him outside the nightclub.

' _ Who do you think you are? God or something?' _ Her words spoken on that night returned to haunt her, biting her with bitter irony, leaving an awful taste in her mouth. What an utter fool she had made of herself in his presence. It was a wonder she hadn't instigated his wrath at all. But perhaps she had.

Perhaps that was the very reason why so many unfortunate and terrible things were happening to her? Was she being punished? Would she go to hell? Was he the one who decided the resting place of souls? She scourged through her spinning thoughts, trying to recall her knowledge of Greek mythology. No. Thanatos only took souls, didn't he? Then he wouldn't judge her, would he? But hadn't she sinned? Surely she had, if not to his face but in all her private thoughts, cursing him and hating him for the pain he had inflicted upon her?

For the way she had been unable to banish the memory of his piercing eyes from her mind? Surely that was sacrilegious and a great sin?

To think that she had wanted them to be friends! No wonder he had shot her down. An idiot. She was nothing but an idiot. But she needed to get it together. She'd spent long enough making her drink. It was undoubtedly rude to keep any guest waiting, let alone a literal god. Stirring the contents of the mugs, she then placed them into a tray and loaded a plate with an assortment of cookies. Surely she was in shock, she thought to herself, blinking numbly down at the tray in her hands. She was offering the god of death  _ cookies _ . The bizarreness of the situation would have made her laugh - if she didn't feel like she was on the verge of hysterically weeping.

She had thought he was some kind of mafia member. An assassin. A private-detective. How sightless she had been. How clueless and ignorant. But she saw it so clearly now.  _ Of course  _ he was a god. How could he possibly be anything else? He was perfect. Too perfect to be human. She ought to have known the moment their eyes first met. Everything about him was regal, poised, dignified, otherworldly, flawless,  _ gorgeous. _ He was just completely-

_ Stop _ , she censured, scowling at herself.  _ You can't seriously be thinking that way! He's the freaking god of death. You need to be respectful, and mind what you say, and try not to humiliate yourself anymore than you already have, you moron. _

Could he read her thoughts? Suddenly she found herself wondering. Had he caught onto all the times she'd gaped at him? Stared at him? All the times she'd internally found herself admiring him? Horror filled her at the inappropriateness of it all. Her cheeks felt like an inferno had roared to life within them and she was mortified beyond measure by the actions and contemplations of her formerly ignorant self.

_ Stop panicking!  _ She exhaled, willing herself to calm down. Somehow, yelling furiously at herself helped.  _ If he was mad about anything, and wanted you dead, he would have already killed you _ , she thought.  _ I know it's crazy and none of this makes sense but it's happening and you need to deal. Just freak out some more later after he's gone. Now, get a grip and go get your answers! _

Elissa nodded to herself, her heart hammering in the base of her throat as she lifted the tray, only to hesitate, her resolve wavering. Her legs were rooted in place by the

apprehension plaguing her body.  _ Go, _ she compelled her feet to move, and with a deep breath, she exited the kitchen and returned to the balcony door where he patiently awaited her. She swallowed nervously at the sight of him and closed the door behind her with her foot as she balanced the tray of hot cocoa with marshmallows and cookies in her hands.

Itachi turned at her entrance, his eyebrows raising slightly at the offering she carried.

"Um… do you drink hot cocoa? I thought it would be nice… for the cold." She suggested nervously, glancing up at him but never holding his gaze for more than a few seconds at a time.

_Nice… for the cold? Really,_ _Elissa?_ She thought to herself in dismay. He was a death god! He probably didn't even _feel_ the cold. So much for not doing or saying anything else that would make her appear even more ridiculous in his eyes.

Itachi hesitated only slightly, before taking the proffered mug, white porcelain with the bold inscript " _ Me? Sarcastic? Never." _ Elissa only seemed to recognize which mug she had just offered him in the moment he took it from her hands. Her hand hovered uselessly in the air, wanting to take it back, before she gave up. What was done was done.

"Would you like to sit?" Without waiting for an answer, she placed the tray on the small coffee table she kept outside and moved it, before pulling up two foldable lawn chairs that she kept for whenever she had company. Itachi watched her with an indecipherable expression, keeping his amusement to himself. Her awkward attempts at hospitality were endearing and he nodded before accepting the seat she offered him.

It was surreal - ridiculous, even.

There she was, your average twenty-two year old mundane, run-of-the-mill girl with no outstanding qualities to speak of, sitting beside a literal deity, none other than Thanatos, himself, the illustrious, if not unrelenting, god of death, sharing hot cocoa with marshmallows on her balcony. Maybe she was dreaming. Maybe all the insane events of recent months had finally cracked her sanity.

She chanced a glance at Itachi, who had curled those long, ruby-ringed fingers around the porcelain handle of the white mug she had given him and lifted it to his lips. Those lovely, warm lips that had brushed against hers only moments - No. She was doing it again. A furious blush burst to life on her face and she was thankful for the cover of darkness. What was she doing? Of all the stupid things she had done in her life, crushing on Death himself had to take the cake.

She watched him take a small sip from the steaming beverage and noted with fascination the briefest flicker of a pleasantly surprised expression before his usual placidity masked whatever emotion had glimpsed through. Was he partial to sweets? Elissa's mind was reeling. How could he be the embodiment of all she feared and loathed, the personification of the worst thing imaginable - to her mind, at least, and at the same time have so many admirable, endearing qualities? He was wise, kind, merciful, tolerant - and he had a sweet tooth. She had to be dreaming, but the biting cold of the night air stinging her cheeks convinced her of the contrary.

The smooth planes of his handsome, sculpted face, his raven hair flowing smoothly over his shoulders, his golden earrings glinting in the moonlight - there was no way her mind was adept enough to conjure such a lovely vision. It had to be reality. Without the mask, he was even more alluring, even more regal, even more hauntingly enchanting. It was impossible to tear her eyes away from him. When he lifted his own long-lashed eyes from the chocolate concoction in the mug to return her stare, her heart seemed to stop entirely. He was Death, all right. Or she was absolutely hopeless.

Elissa cleared her throat, abruptly bringing her mind's senseless rambling to a stop. She could not allow this to continue. She could not think of him the way she once had - a secret companion, one she could bare her heart to, one whose trust she hoped to earn. Any foolish delusions of one day growing closer to him, of there ever being anything between them, needed to be mercilessly uprooted from her mind entirely. He was a god. He was Death. Surely, she needed to repent for whatever indecent fantasies she had dared to entertain so far?

Itachi waited patiently, allowing her to sort her thoughts, to decide which of the many riddles in her life most urgently needed answers. Despite everything that had occured, everything that confused her, one fact unsettled her so greatly she blurted the words before she could think better of them.

"Did you threaten to kill Slayte if she told me the truth?" She turned concerned hazel eyes on him, hoping he would negate her query, but the unimpressed, even expression with which he returned her gaze made her heart sink. It was so sure a confirmation she did not require the response that followed.

"Yes."

Elissa averted her gaze, the simple answer bringing the reality of their situation more clearly into perspective. This was who he was. Snuffing out a life - no matter how precious, no matter how purehearted - was a matter of course for him.

"Why?" she found herself asking, her voice strained with emotion. After everything Slayte had done, after she had so selflessly imperiled her own well-being, her own wishes time and time again for Elissa's safety, what could she possibly have done to warrant such a cruel threat?

She could not disguise the disappointment in her eyes as she clutched her steaming mug of hot cocoa in both hands, staring unseeingly out at the landscape beyond the balcony's barrier.

"She is governed by the dictates of our realm," Itachi provided evenly, as if that statement was all the explanation needed to justify the murder of her best friend.

Our realm, Elissa registered dimly, signified yet again a secret world that only Itachi and Slayte knew of, one she would never belong to and could not ever hope to understand. Was it something she had no choice but to accept? Was it really something to take as lightly as Slayte seemed to be taking it? What role did she play in his world?

"If you're a god, then what does that make Slayte?" Elissa wondered, "Some kind of goddess? But no, wait - that can't be right. If she was a servant, then…"

"A lampad. A nymph of the Underworld." Itachi answered openly, filling in the blanks for her.

"A nymph?" Elissa echoed, her eyes going wide with astonishment.  _ Slayte? _ Her best friend? She had been forced to accept that Slayte could not be human, but to think she was, in fact, a nymph of the greek underworld was mind-numbing. No wonder she had always spoken so self-assuredly about death, and had known so much about the Underworld and ancient greek mythology. She had first-hand experience. She knew what was on the other side.

"But nymphs are goddesses in their own right, aren't they?" Elissa ventured. "At least according to what I've read. They're minor nature goddesses, right?"

Itachi was silent for a moment. Although Elissa's conclusion was technically correct, it did not reflect the complexities of underworld politics, nor the complicated hierarchical structure that determined Slayte's actual standing in their realm.

"That is correct, in theory," Itachi answered vaguely. There were more pressing matters at hand.

"Then why would you threaten to kill her?" Elissa pressed.

Itachi lowered his long lashes as he considered the young mortal. "Such is the consequence for defying orders."

"Defying orders?" Elissa repeated numbly, "Why did you order her to keep me in the dark in the first place? We're friends, that's not how our relationship works!" She caught herself, realizing she was raising her voice. Was that an unforgivable offense?

Elissa took a deep breath to compose herself, and continued. "Our entire friendship nearly fell apart because of those orders. Not to mention, all these secrets very nearly cost me my life more than once. This… not knowing anything," she trailed off and sighed miserably. "It's been terrible. It's made me doubt my sanity. As you can see, I'm fine, even knowing what you are, so why wouldn't you just be honest with me from the beginning?"

Itachi watched her eyes light up with that familiar fire and recognized the turbulent emotions she struggled to rein in. A desire to protect the nymph, a righteous indignation at what she had been made to suffer, and subdued hope for an answer that would help her make sense of his decisions.

"It was imperative that you resume a mortal life. Involvement with our realm will not serve you." He spoke in even, low tones that seemed to make the very air stand still around them but Elissa refused to be mollified.

"I was already unable to live a normal ' _ mortal'  _ life from the very first time you touched it." She countered, struggling to keep her voice steady, to avoid any show of disrespect despite the deep hurt the simple statement conveyed.

Without further clarification, it was understood that she was not referring to their meetings at the riverside. No, from the first time he had come to take away her sister's soul, she had been left in a state of perpetual confusion and longing. Always seeking answers that nothing living could give.

"You've been on my mind every day for years," Elissa continued shakily, referring now, to his role and not his person. "Every day I've asked myself why you do the things you do. You were my first thought in the morning, and my last thought before going to sleep. Why would you want to keep me ignorant? I've never believed that a lie could avail any purpose that the truth wouldn't serve better."

"So it would seem," Itachi answered softly, "and yet, the mere knowledge of it nearly killed you. Do you suggest it would have been better to burden you with that knowledge from the outset?"

"I… I mean," she faltered, remembering how terrified she had been, how she had thought her heart would stop - how it very literally had seemed to be failing. "You could have explained it to me slowly. Or let Slayte tell me. But because I didn't know anything, I pushed her away, and I kept getting caught up in dangerous situations like an idiot because I didn't know I had anything to watch out for. I was angry with you, angry with her, angry with myself. This has all been so unnecessary."

She finally lifted her head, wanting to see if any of it dawned on him. Was he aware how much being kept in the dark had tormented her? How it had led her down a dark and twisted path she had nearly lost her life to on many occasions?

A twinge of regret glimmered in his dark eyes, and he angled his head to meet her upturned gaze. "I did not account for your fortitude," he acknowledged, and the compliment flooded her heart with warmth, the simple words beginning to dissolve the bitterness that lingered there. That wasn't right. He couldn't - shouldn't - be able to wipe away the past few months of suffering with a few words of praise. And yet, it was a literal god that had complimented her resolve and the knowledge of that rushed straight to her head. She was sure she had grown two inches from his words alone.

Elissa bit her lip. She refused to back down. The very resolve he had complimented seemed to fly out of her head every time he opened his mouth. She needed to pull herself together.

"Keep the nymph by your side. She is in my service." He continued, his advice so intent it was almost a warning.

Elissa bristled, "The  _ nymph  _ has a name. She's my friend. You've known her even longer than I have, you can't tell me you don't know her name."

When Itachi did not immediately answer, she pushed further, "And what do you mean in your service?"

"She has been assigned to protect you, in exchange for tolerance for her continued presence on the surface, for the time being."

Elissa's mind reeled. Was that why Slayte had befriended her? Was that why she was protecting her so desperately? And if she failed… did that mean she would have to leave everything behind and return to the underworld? Doubt reared its ugly head and Elissa shook it off. No. Slayte's tears were sincere. She had chosen Elissa over Levi more times than Elissa could count. There had to be some sort of misunderstanding.

"When was this arrangement made?"

"In the springtime," Itachi answered. The relevance of the query was lost on him, but he had determined to give Angelissa whatever answers she desired. To humor whatever questions she might ask. It was high time.

Springtime. Elissa frowned, awash with renewed guilt. It was just as she had suspected. Slayte had sought out her friendship almost four years ago now with sincere intentions. It was only after Elissa had led Itachi to the raven-haired woman that her presence on the surface had come to his attention and she had then struck up a deal with him. Whoever had been the first to propose it, it didn't surprise Elissa that Slayte had accepted. She would have jumped at the opportunity to protect Elissa and had, in Slayte's mind, the added benefit of being able to remain on the surface.

The memory of Slayte's recent injuries flashed through Elissa's memory. None of that would have happened if Elissa hadn't inadvertently brought the two of them face to face with each other. But why had that intervention even been necessary?

"Why do I need to be protected? What are these unnatural…  _ things  _ that are after me?"

The silence that followed was charged and heavy. His unfathomable onyx eyes met her burning hazel irises, demanding answers she did not know he was in no position to give.

It was the crux of the situation. The axis this combined madness spun on. The very mystery he had ventured to the Fates to try and resolve. The riddle he turned over in his head endlessly all hours of the day and night only to produce the same silence he was now forced to face her with. He had not come any closer to uncovering the truth behind why what was likely a powerful, underworld force was so insistent on capturing an unassuming, helpless mortal.

Why this mortal, in particular? Surely there were countless others? Ones that did not find themselves in his personal protection? But no, it was something about Angelissa herself, that made her the target of this elaborate plot. But what? The eyes that looked up at him hopefully were brilliant, sparkling with the purity of the heart she bore within and yet, undoubtedly mortal. Even the soul connected to her body, hung by the frailest thread to her form. No more than a gesture, or a glance was required to separate the two. Who, then, would go to such lengths to acquire her and for what purpose?

Elissa paled at his prolonged silence, at the contemplative shadows she registered lurking in his dark eyes.

"Oh, my god…" she breathed, sucking in a sharp gasp. "You don't know."

Slayte's reassuring words, and the knowledge of Itachi's identity had given her the impression that somehow, somewhere, he had all of this under control. He knew what was going on and it would only be a matter of time until the situation was resolved. Hadn't Slayte implied as much time and again? That Itachi had all the answers?

But this - the knowledge that whatever hunted her was even beyond his scope of understanding, that even a literal deity had come up empty when trying to figure out the chaos that hounded her every step, brought the reality of the perilous situation she found herself in crashing down around her with terrifying clarity. She tried to remember how to work her lungs as her mind spun with the implications of that horrifying fact.

"Angelissa."

That familiar baritone calling her name brought her back down to the ground and she turned wide, fearful eyes to him. He reached over and took the now cold mug of hot chocolate out of her hands, setting the cup on the side table.

He reached out for her hand, and when he closed his hand around hers, warmth spread from the point of contact. He was doing it again, she realized. Regulating her heartbeat, calming her nerves. It seemed to be an ability unique to death.

"Your opponent is as yet, unknown," he confirmed quietly. "But I am your guardian."

_ Death is your protector. _

She nodded quietly, touched and comforted. Trying not to let her mindless attraction to him worm its way into her thoughts again.

"There are certain precautions you must take," he continued gently. "Do not avoid your friend." Elissa listened intently, not registering the change in wording he had chosen to refer to Slayte. "My crows will always be nearby. If you sense danger, you need only reach out to them and help will arrive."

"Okay," she whispered.

"Should you catch a glimpse of scarlet eyes, you must never look into them." He paused, before adding, "Unless they are mine."

Clinging to his hand, Elissa suddenly recalled the many times she had thought she had seen traces of red swirling in onyx irises. When Shisui had approached her, speaking in low, hypnotic tones before Itachi stopped him. That day on the bridge. And… there was another incident, one she couldn't clearly recall. How many times had she seen those red eyes?

"What are those eyes? What do they do?"

"It is a technique unique to the Uchiha, the deities of the underworld. The abilities can vary, depending on the user. Mind control, hypnosis, or the casting of illusions… it is a dangerous technique to be the victim of."

She met Itachi's gaze, still spellbound by the sight of his achingly beautiful, unmasked face. Those unfathomable, Stygian irises that seemed to pierce right through her. She had glimpsed them glowing red on occasion, but she never got a good look at them.

"Can you show me?" she requested, her voice almost tiptoeing hesitantly.

Itachi considered her request - the oddity of the fact that she wished to see his sharingan directly after he had informed her of the danger it contained. What had he done, he wondered, to so earn her trust?

He blinked slowly, redirecting the energy in his chakra pathways towards his eyes and when he directed them to meet her gaze, her lips parted in surprise.

Elissa couldn't believe her eyes. She leaned in closer to get a better look at his irises, glowing red in the darkness, except they weren't  _ only  _ red. There were three black flecks as well, spaced evenly around the pupil. There was something haunting about them, as if they were all-seeing, as if they could bore into her very soul - and yet, they were undeniably stunning.

"Wow…" she breathed, mesmerized, not quite aware of the fact that she still held his hand and was now leaning into his personal space.

Itachi held her gaze and the scarlet hues faded slowly from his eyes, swirling away into nothingness. Elissa grew suddenly aware of their proximity and quickly put distance between the two of them, releasing his hand in the process.

"So," she began, trying to mask her embarrassment. "When you say it depends on the user, what do your eyes do?"

"I command illusions," he answered simply.

"Illusions…" Realization dawning, Elissa mulled over what this new information meant. "So, that day on the bridge… that's what you did…?" she began slowly, recalling the sickeningly sweet smell of the roses, the lilting tunes of the birds as cheerful as bells ringing, the flocks of hummingbirds. It had been a pleasant vision, albeit so intense it made her mind spin.

The slight angle of his head confirmed it. She wondered why Itachi had chosen to show her that specific illusion.

Everytime Elissa thought back to the site of the collision, all she could remember was that weightless sensation and that endless garden. She had thought she had been losing her mind. She had been unable to come up with a single explanation for the loss of her memory - or why her mind had instead conjured up an image of Itachi and the intense, overwhelming beauty of a painfully vivid flowering field instead.

He had done it out of kindness, she suddenly realized. To spare her the sight of the carnage beyond. To protect her from further trauma resulting from his involvement in the human world. Tears stung at her eyes as she understood the gesture. The kindness behind it. He had not intended to make her question her sanity, or to drive her to despair but that had been the inadvertent result.

She dropped her gaze to her feet before whispering, "Thank you. I understand why you did what you did and yet… do you have any idea what that did to me? I thought I was going crazy, that I was hallucinating, and you let me believe that I had invented your presence there. I wish… I just wish someone had explained it all to me and not let me wander in confusion."

Itachi watched her despair in silent contemplation. Some confusion, he knew, was to be expected and yet, he had not anticipated for his silence to induce this degree of anguish in her. Angelissa was clearly not one to shrug off inexplicable events and move forward. She dwelled on them, lingered on their meaning to the point of obsession and for all of her sharp intellect, her mind could never have produced the correct answers without Itachi providing them.

He could empathize with her frustration. He knew what it was to chase answers that were always just beyond your reach. What it was to be left with riddles that always seemed closed-ended - no way out, no way in, no solution at all.

She sniffled, trying to banish the sudden, overwhelming emotion. She pushed on, determined to clarify everything now that they had started sorting through it. "And those marks on my back are - I mean you… you somehow healed me, didn't you?"

Itachi nodded. "Death's hand is not meant to heal," he admitted. "It could not but leave a mark."

She nodded, wiping her nose with the back of a free hand. She wasn't Slayte. She wasn't going to have an emotional breakdown over this, she censured herself. A part of her was still angry - the part that recalled how scared she had been, how much she had cried, how desperate she had been for answers. Another part of her - the more rational part, she reluctantly admitted - recognized that he had indeed been watching over her, as Slayte had suggested. He had been looking out for her, seeing to her wellbeing, both physical and mental, this entire time. Had likely saved her life more times than she could count and was, even now, invested in uncovering the mysterious forces that threatened her.

Itachi lifted her mug from the table and held it in his hand for a moment, before handing it back to her. Elissa accepted the cup automatically, only to blink in surprise when she found the hot chocolate was steaming once more. He must have somehow heated it with his powers. Yet another touching gesture she could not make sense of.

A lengthy silence passed between them as they watched the snow fall and Elissa sipped quietly at her hot chocolate.

He was an endless paradox. He was Death - protecting her, healing her, being kind to her. Where was the Death she had grown up fearing? The one who had so cruelly taken away her sister and her grandparents?

"Why did you have to take my sister?" She asked so softly, she scarcely heard herself. She refused to look at him, for fear she would lose her nerve, but Itachi observed her solemnly.

"I do not choose the time of passing. A soul's end is determined by the Fates. I am merely a collector of souls at their designated times." His quiet explanation fell soothingly on her ears. So, he had not chosen to take Evangeline. He had not been the one to decide she would die. That simple knowledge was a greater relief to Elissa than it likely should have been.

She lifted sorrowful hazel eyes pleadingly to him. "You're a god! Can't you decide what to do? When to do it? Couldn't you have spared her life?"

"Even immortals must abide by the dictates of the roles to which they have been decreed," he murmured in answer.

She considered this, astounded to learn that immortals were seemingly not able to act in complete freedom as she would have assumed. "And...if you refuse?"

Itachi was silent a moment, recalling the last time he had attempted such, before answering, "No action is without its consequence."

"And one day," Elissa began slowly, her lashes lowering in acceptance of the inevitable, "You'll come for my soul as well." She bit her lip, before continuing, "All that lives must die."

They were his own words, spoken in a time past, that she was echoing back to him. Itachi fell silent, neither confirming nor denying her claim. It was an inevitability. He was well aware of that fact and yet, what would he truly do if and when he was required to claim her soul?

As he watched her quietly, reflecting on their ill-fated relationship, she spared him the trouble of answering as another thought occurred to her.

"Do you know how much time a person has left?" She set her mug down. "Can you see it? Do you know how much time I have?"

Itachi shook his head in answer. "That is the domain of the Fates. To spin the thread of life, to measure it, and to cut it. I am merely a servant of their wills."

Elissa listened in awe. Thanatos himself, the great god of Death, considered himself as nothing but a servant. His limitations clearly frustrated him. Then, the Fates were the ones who decided when a life would come to a close? Her research had not followed the Fates too closely, and yet, the concept was familiar.

"So, it's all real. The Underworld, the Fates, and… Olympus, too, then, I suppose?" She asked Itachi, who nodded in confirmation. She quietly exhaled, as her mind absorbed the new reality she had been thrust into with absolutely no warning. "This is the truth of our world," her amazed, hushed whisper floated between them, "and it's all been reduced to a myth?"

"Even so," Itachi commented. "The gods continue on."

Elissa shook her head in amazement. "This is so much to take in, knowing that all the myths are real. I never would've imagined..." her voice trailed off.

Truth was stranger than fiction, and the truth of her circumstances. The truth of their world and the myriad gods and goddesses who ruled over it had become little more than stories people told one another for fun.

"Oh," she pressed her hands to her burning cheeks as a sudden realization hit her, "I'm so sorry."

Itachi returned her gaze, nonplussed. What was there to apologize for?

"I didn't mean any disrespect. I never thought -" she buried her face in her hands, mortified beyond measure once more. "Oh, I'm such an idiot."

Agitated, her head shot back up and she turned towards him, "I'm so sorry for sharing my stupid story with you. I couldn't have known any of this was real."

A small, bemused smile found its way to Itachi's lips. "Your story did not offend. Quite the contrary."

"Hades," Elissa wondered, "Does he exist? Do you know him? Does he rule the Underworld as the myths say?"

"I know him well," Itachi answered kindly. "He is my brother. But no, he does not rule over our domain."

"Your brother? Your brother, Sasuke?"

"Indeed," Itachi agreed. "That is his true name."

True name. Hadn't Shisui and Slayte said something similar about Itachi? About Itachi being his true name? Was it a personal name as opposed to the name ordained by his role? She supposed as much.

"Then, do gods have families, too?" she wondered aloud.

"Most do," Itachi confirmed.

"And Shisui? What is his role in the underworld?"

"He is known among men as Hypnos."

"The god of sleep," Elissa elaborated, to which Itachi nodded.

She leaned back in her chair, mulling it all over. Her entire worldview had been set on its head. And where did she fit in, in all of this? An unlucky flea caught in a colossal spider's web. A lamb among giants. Was it her fate to live out a brief and meaningless life, only to have Itachi inevitably collect her soul at the end of it? To venture into the underworld and be judged and sent to… what would her place be?

The question weighed more heavily on her mind now that the underworld's existence had been established beyond a shadow of a doubt. The turbulent events of the past twenty-four hours, the mind-boggling revelations that Itachi had gently conveyed to her, one after another, had distracted her from the events of the past few days but they had become an inextricable part of who she was.

The man that had lost his life at her hands had overwritten her identity. He had blurred over her past and future until she was nothing and no one but a girl who had killed. Surely, whatever fate awaited her in the afterlife would reflect that?

Tartarus.

She shuddered. It was only right. She had taken a life, she should pay with her own. She felt her heart begin accelerating again as she considered where her final destination would likely be. An equally as horrific thought crossed her mind. Was Itachi the one responsible for directing souls to their final resting places? Would he be the deity who would consign her to hell itself?

Itachi picked up on her agony. On the grief radiating from her very soul. He recognized the telltale signs that a state of panic was steadily consuming her, although he could not decipher what turn of her thoughts had prompted it.

"Angelissa."

His voice cut into her thoughts, drawing her attention back to himself once more. The words tormenting her mind spilled from her lips before she could stop them, even as her shoulders trembled at the mere thought.

"Is it you?" She could not banish the tremors in her voice, "Will you be the one to judge my soul? Are you going to send me to hell?"

"That," Itachi spoke slowly, ensuring that his words reached her, "is not your destination."

"No!" Elissa's throat constricted with grief, her voice choked. "It is. I - I've killed a man. You know this. You have to. You know better than anyone."

She clenched her fists in her lap as tears pooled in her eyes. How could she have forgotten? Whatever else she was, whatever else was going on… there was a life on her shoulders. There was blood on her hands.

"He was out of it. He was just trying to protect his territory. I - I overreacted, and I … shoved him into the wall. You were there, weren't you? You saw it all, didn't you? You must have, when you took his soul? Please, tell me I don't need to explain more than this."

Tears spilled over her cheeks as she confessed to her sins. Who better to confess to than a literal god? Who could better pronounce judgment over her? Who else could finally ease her conscience by giving her the chastisements she deserved?

"Mortals may bring about injury," Itachi answered, "But they cannot summon death. Nor end a life. Death is a thing ordained. It cannot be delayed, nor hastened."

"But, I…" she lifted tearful eyes at him, asking him to understand, without words, that she was well aware of the tainted state of her soul.

"Angelissa," when he spoke, it was almost in reproach, "You desire justice. Will you accept my judgment?"

Her breath caught in her throat. The moment was upon her. Whatever warmth she had imagined there to be between them, whatever friendship she had hoped for, it all faded into the background as a stone-cold reality showed its granite face. He was a god and she was a mortal. The two of them would never be more than that.

But that meant that he could at last pronounce his verdict and free her of the guilt that tormented her. She was ready to face it. She had to be.

"Yes," she could only whisper the single syllable, but it was nearly lost to the sob that followed it as further tears flooded her eyes.

"You protected yourself. As the instincts the gods created you with, commanded of you. You are neither a murderer, nor a killer. You will not face your afterlife as such. The man you speak of, lost his life due to the will of the Fates. It was a thing ordained."

She blinked up at him, confused, and opened her mouth to protest, but he spoke before she could.

"Thus is my verdict."

To question him now, would surely amount to blasphemy, would it not? After he had asked her directly, if she would accept the judgment he pronounced?

She was no killer. That was Itachi's verdict. The judgment of Thanatos, the God of Death. She sobbed bitterly, as the guilt that had lodged around her heart like ice slowly thawed and gave way, allowing her to breathe freely for the first time in days. She could not but gasp for breath as she wept incessantly in relief, finally releasing the pent-up emotions that had tormented her very being every waking moment since she had looked into those lifeless eyes.

She did not know how much time passed, it could have been minutes or hours that she cried bitterly. The entire time, Itachi remained at her side, a quiet, comforting presence that lended her strength, even without a word spoken.

At length, her sobs subsided, as all grief did, even from the hearts that clung to it most adamantly. The snow, she realized, had stopped falling at some point, and the sky had brightened considerably. She was sure her eyes were red-rimmed and swollen as she sniffled, still afflicted by the hiccups that followed after a bout of tears had come to an end.

Turning towards the park, and the river that flowed somewhere among its trees, she saw the sun just peeking out from the horizon and blinked at it in astonishment. Had they talked all night? Whiled it away, lost in conversation?

She turned towards Itachi and saw him sitting beside her still. His posture unchanged, clearly not tiring. He returned her gaze, and his long-lashed ebony eyes were void of pity. They were honest and understanding and saw her, she had always thought, as she truly was. Despite the knowledge of what he was, despite how impossible she knew it to be, she still craved his company. Still wished for more evenings like this one, where she could pour her heart out to him and have him make sense of all the senseless things life liked to throw at her. It was selfish, she knew. A sentiment he did not reciprocate in the slightest, and yet… he had chosen to keep her company by the riverside. And hadn't he done the same once more, here on her balcony, engaged in conversation until sunrise? Didn't that have to mean something? Or was she imagining it, again?

"I don't understand," she admitted quietly. "Was I the center of your investigation? You were trying to figure out what's after me? But I wasn't of any use at all when it comes to that. Why did you come and meet with me so often at the riverside? We talked about all manner of things but rarely ever did we mention the strange things going on. What… was the purpose of it all?"

She was dismayed to find that yet another stray tear had managed to escape her eyes and reached up hastily to brush it away, but before her palm connected with her cheek, she felt a gentle fingertip on her skin. A caress as faint as the fluttering of a butterfly's wing. She lifted her eyes to Itachi in honest surprise and watched, spell-bound as his finger came away from her face, his forbidding, dark gaze fixed on the teardrop resting on his fingertip.

He lowered his hand with a brief frown, as if the teardrop had offended him, as if it represented his failings. "Angelissa…" he murmured quietly, turning his all-consuming gaze onto her.

"It was never your assumption."

The words found purchase in her heart and settled there with finality. They were words she had longed to hear, but had never dared to hope would be. Itachi was not one to revoke his words, once spoken, but here he was, doing just that, for her.

It was not her assumption. The friendship between them, the mutual understanding, the craving of the other's company. She hadn't made any of it up. He wanted to spend time with her as much as she did? Did he also mean that he felt the same attraction that she- No. She stemmed the thought. That was impossible. And yet, the implications of his statement, the fact he had said it at all… a thousand butterflies seemed to flutter in her ribcage. She was certain, she, too, could take flight if she would only attempt it.

Her hazel eyes were awash with emotion as she turned them on him, and Itachi reached out, despite himself, to tuck a stray strand of chestnut hair gently behind her ear. She stilled at the unexpected touch, feeling as though her heart had stopped all over again - this time for entirely different reasons. She had much to say, it was brimming in her eyes, and yet, words failed her.

"Take your rest, Angelissa. Until we meet again."

She had not known the sweetness of the word "again" until it fell from his lips. The hidden, underlying promise - that she would not need to chase him, that he would be there for her, that another meeting between them would be inevitable - filled her heart with warmth.

She nodded, overcome, and at a loss for words.

"You too. It's been a long night, you must be tired." She offered politely, missing the way the corner of his lips turned upwards at the suggestion.

"Then I shall leave you to your rest," he answered, rising smoothly to his feet.

"Wait," she said. He paused, angling a glance back toward her.

"Thank you," she said sincerely, meeting his eyes directly. "For saving my life. For telling me the truth. And… for your protection."

She recognised that without him, she would have already likely been dead. The irony of that was not lost on her, now knowing what he was, who he was.

He inclined his head in silent courtesy.

"Good night, Itachi," she added, rising as she gathered the mugs. By the time she turned to finish her farewell, he had already disappeared without a sound from her sight.

She sighed, understanding now that with him she probably needed to expect the unexpected.

Dawn was reclaiming the sky, and very early risers, like her friends at the tea shop, were likely just getting started on their days. Could she possibly sleep with all the information buzzing around in her head that she knew she would continue turning over now that she was finally alone? She doubted it, and still, she stood transfixed, her eyes trained intently on the spot where Itachi had stood only moments before.

"Until we meet again," she whispered to the sunrise.

* * *

**AN: Review or bust, guys! XD**

Thanatos!Itachi by Vetty (https://vettyart.tumblr.com/)


	34. Part XXXIII: Just Desserts

* * *

**Part XXXIII: Just Desserts**

* * *

The scenery blended from that of the surface - moonlight, trees, dewy blades of grass to the familiar shadows and glowing foliage of the underworld, but Itachi scarcely took notice. His idyllic surroundings passed by in a blur as he moved automatically, returning to the underworld palace after a stay on the surface that had lasted longer than was the norm.

The wintry night had passed and the sun stretched its rays as it prepared to rise on the surface behind him. Despite the eons he had lived, the long and wearisome millennia of his existence, the events that had just transpired were like none other in his memory.

He had revealed his face to her. To Angelissa herself, the young mortal who could not so much as mention death without trembling, he had uncovered death's true face, knowing full well how cruel that was. It would be alright, he had told himself. If the sight of him broke her, Shisui could undo the adverse effects. At any rate, she would finally have the answers she sought. The answers for which she was throwing herself to ruin.

Only, she did not break.

She had fled. As was to be expected. The very instinct for survival, passed down from generation to generation leading back to the very first living mortal, ran strong in her veins. The impulse to flee from him was natural, a sign of a healthy mind. All the same, it had caused a wrenching sensation within him like nothing he had anticipated. For all that he had told himself she would respond precisely in that manner, he had dared to entertain a minute hope that it might not prove to be the case.

It was foolishness, he knew. To think that the nature of the relationship between them was anything other than a fleeting reprieve before he eventually swallowed her whole, tearing her soul from her body, and breaking her irreparably. It was the inevitable end to their story, as dictated by the Fates. Why, then, had he dared to think for those few moments by her side at the riverbank that he was not Death, but merely Itachi?

She had asked of him his preferences, his thoughts and feelings, and he, in turn, had pondered on them seriously before answering her honestly. It was the first time since childhood that he had been granted freedom from the role that had infringed upon his identity day by day for centuries until the two became inextricable. He was Death and Death was he. Somehow, for those few sacred moments by her side, she had looked at him with eyes devoid of fear. Had coaxed him out of that identity. Had granted him permission to stop being Death for a few, fleeting moments. Moments precious in their transience.

Her retreating back, her unsteady footsteps, stumbling in their haste, shattered that illusion mercilessly. Death was what he was. Death was who he was. Death was all that he was.

But then she had stopped. Turned on her heel. Met his eye. Returned to him.

What had compelled her to do so? The struggle itself had nearly killed her. It defied belief and all explanation. The way her brilliant hazel eyes had searched his. Searching, he had realized, for the part of him that _wasn't_ death. A fruitless search. One he had abandoned long ago.

What had she found then, that had brought her into his arms? Only Angelissa herself could answer that question.

But she had seen something - something he himself had not. Offered him provisions, invited him into her home, spoken openly with him as if nothing untoward had transpired between them. As if they were - just as she had said - friends.

Something of a smile tugged at the corner of his lips at the notion. The delicious, sweet concoction she had offered him, the falling flurry of snow, dusting their surroundings, and her pleasant voice breaking the midnight silence - as crisp and clear as any herald of Olympus.

How had she come to accept him? Knowing what he was?

For all the answers he had provided her throughout the night, this question of his remained unanswered.

He recalled the way she had clung to her cup, the steam lifting into the night air, a blush on her cheeks as she tucked chestnut-brown hair behind her ear and conflicting emotions warred within those dazzling hazel eyes. The way those slender, slight fingers had felt, curled around his hand. The way she bit her lip, weighing her words before allowing them passage.

The way those soft, rosy lips had felt against his own -

"Thanatos."

The foreboding voice that boomed over the moonflower field separating Itachi from the speaker demanded obedience, demanded obeisance.

"Lord Cronus," Itachi answered with a deep nod. All traces of emotion vanished from his face, to be replaced with a mask of indifference concealing his inner self more surely than the gold-embroidered mask resting on the bridge of his nose.

"You are delayed in your return," Cronus noted, approaching the younger deity with confident strides. "I can not suspect what might have prevented you on the surface."

"Did you have need of me, my Lord?" Itachi answered politely. Although his words implied unwavering loyalty, his voice was even, unapologetic, devoid of the submissiveness that Cronus preferred.

"You and your cousin have been absent from clan meetings as of late. Pray tell, young Thanatos, what matters have taken precedence over clan matters that they thus occupy your time?" Cronus' dark tones were unhurried, intentional, heavy with a barely veiled threat.

"Lord Cronus is more aware of the ramifications of my role than I." Itachi answered, not lifting his eyes to meet the patriarch's gaze.

"Indeed," Cronus drawled. "As honored Death, you are often consigned to the surface realm and yet, I must admit I grow concerned, when not even your mother can inform me of your whereabouts."

Itachi's onyx eyes lifted from the midnight blue grass of the underworld to meet the dark and glittering eyes of the clan leader. He noted the smug expression on Cronus' lips, the spark of challenge in his narrowed eyes and Itachi felt his own jaw clench.

The implications of the odd statement hung in the air between them.

"I will inform my cousin," Itachi answered slowly. "We will not give our Leader further cause for complaint."

The smug expression dissipated, as if Cronus was disappointed Itachi had not taken the bait. With an arched brow of disdain, he turned away from the younger deity with an expression of disapproval.

"See to it you do not."

* * *

After Itachi had departed, Elissa crawled into bed just after sunrise and attempted to get some sleep. She tossed and turned uncomfortably, staring anxiously at the walls and ceiling of her bedroom in an agitatedly restless state as the confounding events of the previous twenty-four hours replayed repeatedly in her mind.

Her overwhelmed thoughts spun turbulently as she tried to make sense of everything she'd discovered. About Slayte not being human. About Itachi being the harbinger of death, the immortal responsible for the reaping of souls. About her perception of the world as she'd known it being rocked violently on its axis, tilted upside down entirely, leaving her feeling like the ground beneath her feet had been displaced and she was teetering on the edge of an endless, dizzying, head-spinning free-fall.

What anchor did she cling to, in this new existence and state of awareness into which she had been initiated by a god himself? Slayte and Levi were a given, though the great remorse that plagued Elissa over her recent treatment of them made her feel even greater intense shame at having ever taken their support for granted. It burned deeply within her chest, leaving a bitter taste in her mouth. How could she have been so blind? So sightless and selfish and foolish as not to consider that Slayte had simply been _unable_ to tell her the truth for very valid reasons?

Why had that never even occurred to her? Had it been because Elissa, herself, found it so straightforward to express her emotions with Slayte, seemingly forgetting that her best friend always placed Elissa's needs above her own? Surely the moment Slayte had refused to give her answers, she ought to have suspected that something was seriously wrong?

How could she have been so stupid? It defied belief, now that Elissa was seeing everything in hindsight with perfect clarity; that the only reason Slayte had been unable to disclose anything to her was because Itachi had ruthlessly threatened to terminate her life.

Elissa swallowed thickly, rolling onto her side. Itachi. _Thanatos._ The God of Death himself. He had passed judgement and exonerated her of her crimes, helping her to finally negotiate through her guilt over the homeless man's death - and yet merely thinking about Itachi caused a tumultuous storm of conflicting emotions to clash within her. She exhaled quietly, the shock of his real identity still fresh in her head. His hauntingly beautiful face drifted through her mind's eye, causing a distressing fluttering within the cage of her belly. She hated how her pulse immediately quickened merely thinking about him, about the way he had pulled her out from under the ice and cradled her close against his chest, draping his cloak over her to keep her warm. How he'd banished the cold from her body, soothed the distress of her nerves and erratic heartbeat with the briefest brush of his lips over her own. How he'd transported them to her balcony within seconds and how his dark eyes smouldered into hers, making her feel like her entire body was being set ablaze by the powerful intensity of that perceptive gaze.

She willed her body's response to settle and abate, willed herself to be rid of such emotions. They were wholly inappropriate, blasphemous, forbidden. Surely it was a sin for her to be drawn to him at all, now that she had discovered who he truly was. He was no mortal. He wasn't _human_. He was Death personified. There was no place for such misguided, futile and imprudent feelings to exist, now less than ever before, and Elissa knew she had to somehow, someway suppress them, to crush them and quell such sentiments toward him until time surely relieved her of them entirely. If her mind knew it was hopeless, then surely her foolish heart would comply and relinquish any lingering attraction she felt to him.

She squeezed her eyes shut, burying her face into the lavender-scented duvet. It all made horrible sense, why she had always felt like that piercing, all-knowing gaze could peer into her very soul. Because he could. Itachi could probably read her like an open book. Gods were omnipotent, almighty after all. Elissa groaned to herself in dismay, the immense mortification of her embarrassing, improper behaviour and disrespectful thoughts toward him resurfacing to torment her anew.

And yet, his behaviour confused her, set such a flurry of bewildered thoughts whirling riotously in her mind. His gentleness with her. His patience. The way he had remained quietly by her side, not once tiring of her questions, allowing her all the time she required to spend as many tears as she wished. How he had tucked a lock of her hair so tenderly behind her ear. Held her hand in his own. By his own admission, the significance of the time they'd spent together at the riverside had never been her assumption. Her witless heart once again skipped a beat. It was nothing, Elissa insisted to herself, but a kindness on his part, surely. She couldn't possibly dare to think his actions stemmed from anything else. It was impossible, absurd, even, to entertain such wild notions. The gods looked kindly upon mortals out of mercy. That was all it had been. That was all it could ever be. She was surely nothing more than an ignorant, silly human child in his eyes, one caught up in unfortunate, supernatural events that a great god deemed it his own personal responsibility to settle.

He had firmly assured her that he was her protector, that his crows would continue to watch over her, and yet he had shown a startling lack of remorse for threatening Slayte's life. The callousness of that fact, of how ready he seemingly was to dispose of someone Elissa loved dearly filled her with a whisper of apprehension and didn't sit well with her conscience. She could trust him with her own safety, her life, of that she was certain. But the nonchalant air with which he treated her best friend deeply disturbed and troubled her. There was no doubt that Death was ruthless. After all, he terminated lives daily. She could never have envisaged that that was what Itachi had meant when he'd told her that he was ' _duty-bound to end lives'_ \- all the while threatening the safety of her own best friend's. Is that what happened when one displeased the deity of death? She bit her lower lip, plagued with an unshakeable dread.

Elissa rolled onto her back once more, sighing deeply. A quick glance at the alarm clock on her bedside table revealed that it was only 07:12AM. Throwing an arm over her face to block out the morning light that filtered through the still-drawn curtains, she closed her eyes, willing herself to find rest, knowing it was what her body needed.

When sleep finally came, it was dreamless and brief.

* * *

Slayte sputtered gracelessly, spewing tea all over the cherry wood table. At the irritated look of disapproval Levi shot her, she cast him an apologetic glance and reached hastily for a rag to wipe up the mess.

"A - a what?" she stammered, taken aback.

"A goddess," Elissa repeated.

Following only a measly two hours of sleep, she had finally given up her futile efforts to find rest and risen to start her day, heading straight to the tea-shop to further discuss her newfound knowledge with Slayte and Levi.

It was a quiet Monday, a couple hours before their lunch break, and Levi had offered to tend to the few customers that straggled in, allowing Elissa and Slayte to finally discuss at length all the secrets that had lingered far too long concealed between them, seated at the table nearest the service counter in the otherwise empty tea-shop.

"I've known you for almost five years now, and to think you never told me."

"Gods, Elissa," Slayte turned to her friend in shock, "I'm no such thing."

Levi observed the two of them over the edge of his newspaper. Elissa had clearly been to see this reaper of sorts, and he was both concerned and morbidly curious over the recent developments.

"Are you going to deny it?" Elissa raised a brow at her friend, confused, "When you know how obsessively I've studied greek mythology and even after Itachi confirmed it?"

"It isn't true!" Slayte protested, bringing her hands up to her burning face, aghast, that Elissa would choose to denote her as such. It felt as if lightning was poised to strike her if she did not make her true position incontestably clear immediately. Feeling Levi's inquisitive gaze on her, she turned to him as well, "It's not!"

"I mean, I suppose there is a certain degree of divinity that is responsible for my lifespan," she mumbled, her words tumbling over one another in her haste to set the accounts to right, "but I'm far from a goddess. Gods, Elissa, whatever gave you that idea? How could you say such a thing?"

"You're a nymph of the underworld," Elissa tried, lost. "Isn't that right?"

"It is," Slayte confirmed.

"And Nymphs are minor nature goddesses."

"No! I mean, I suppose in your terms it would be defined that way, but… I'm nothing. Just a servant in the underworld. Utterly inconsequential. Really, Elissa. I promise." Slayte floundered, struggling to convey the truth of her situation.

"I mean, if you say so…" Elissa relented, "But Itachi said I'm right."

Slayte could not help but slap a hand to her forehead. It did not surprise her that Thanatos would likely have been disinclined to discuss her at any length and had chosen to leave explaining her true status to herself. And yet, he could have set that much clear, at least.

"Yes, I'm sure he did." Slayte began, setting the rag aside and collecting herself. With a deep breath, she attempted to explain. "All things immortal or nearly-immortal share a degree of divinity, but they are by no means of equal standing. I was born from the shadows of the underworld and brought into Lord Thanatos' servitude from very early on. My standing in that realm is… fairly low, to be honest. That was how I was able to flee, because I was so insignificant."

Slayte missed the way Levi's eyes flickered back to the fine print of his newspaper, a fire simmering low in those otherwise cool, grey irises.

"I'm sorry, Slayte," Elissa murmured quietly, reminded once again of the bitter past Slayte had struggled so hard to escape.

"It's nothing to apologize for," Slayte dismissed easily. "It's been this way forever."

Elissa struggled to wrap her mind around this revelation. Slayte had mentioned many times that she was a servant and Itachi was her "master" of sorts, but where did the distinction lie? Why was there such a huge discrepancy in the standing of a deity and a nymph? Both beings were awe-inspiring to her. Their very existence made her mind light up with reverent curiosity.

"That's why you knew so much about the greek Underworld," she theorized.

"Yeah, explored it for nearly a millennium. I dare say I might know a few places even some gods don't know." Slayte smiled at her friend, trying to lighten the mood and glad to have put the concerning claim of goddesshood behind her.

"But what's the difference? Why do you have to be a servant? Is there a hierarchy for Itachi as well?" Elissa pressed.

"Yes, there is," Slayte began, trying to discern how best to concisely convey the complex hierarchical structure of the Underworld, "But Thanatos is at the top of that pecking order. He's the son of the king and queen of the Underworld. Heir-apparent to the throne. There is… another deity who, in fact, rules over the underworld… the unchallenged patriarch of the Uchiha clan, but… I haven't actually seen him that often. He definitely belongs to the upper echelons of society. This much is certain though, when Lord Erebus retires, Lord Thanatos will take over the throne." Slayte mused, half to Elissa, half to herself, recalling what she knew about Underworld politics.

"So, wait. Itachi is a… crown prince?" The implications were dizzying. Not only was Itachi a literal god, he was a prince among gods? How did she even register in his thoughts at all? How had she wound up having anything at all to do with someone so entirely out of her league? The mere thought of getting close to him in any capacity surely warranted an eternity in hell for her blasphemous thoughts.

"I… I need to sit down." Elissa breathed, burying her head in her hands.

Slayte blinked, "But… you're already seated, Elissa."

"Right, right…" Elissa answered mindlessly.

A god. A prince. Heir-apparent to the throne. If she had felt out of her depth before, that impression had now grown exponentially. How was she meant to speak to him? To address him? To even exist in his presence?

"Slayte, I… oh, my God, the things I've said to him! Ugh. I want to shrivel up and die!" She turned anguished hazel eyes towards her friend and Slayte smiled sympathetically, as she laid a reassuring hand on Elissa's shoulder.

"I'm sure it's fine, Elissa. He clearly has a soft spot for you, and he's never been very vindictive anyway. It isn't easy to offend him."

"Slayte, please - there must be some kind of underworld etiquette. Rules on how to talk with him, what not to say, how to behave? Am I supposed to curtsy when I see him?"

Slayte withdrew her hand anxiously, uncomfortably aware that she had to choose her words carefully. There was an endless amount of underworld etiquette, but Thanatos clearly liked Elissa the way that she was and if Slayte filled her head with that useless information and, as a result, Elissa changed her behavior towards the enigmatic death deity… Slayte swallowed. Doubtless, he would be furious with her.

"Well, those rules only apply to underworld creatures…" she evaded carefully.

"Please, Slayte, I don't want to make a fool of myself anymore. You have to teach me! I've been calling him Itachi all this time! That's like… a personal name, right? Isn't that sacrilege? _You_ never use it?" Elissa blurted out one question after another, determined to make the most out of Slayte's wealth of information.

Elissa was socially competent. She always had been relatively popular among her peers, the one to plan the get-togethers, to diffuse difficult situations and deal with all sorts of people. Her friends had taken to calling her "The Diplomat" - a title she wasn't particularly fond of. In contrast, Slayte had always been more reserved and even awkward in social situations, relying heavily on Elissa to steer her in the right direction. To think that their roles were now so firmly reversed as Elissa struggled to understand an entirely different society to the one she had grown up knowing.

"Should I also be calling him Lord Thanatos? Or is that too familiar? Great God of Death?" She rattled on anxiously.

"Heavens, no, Elissa!" Slayte lifted her hands in dismay. If Elissa began calling Thanatos by his deity name rather than the personal one she had always been using, Slayte had no doubt he would chalk it up to her influence and be after her head.

"I mean, he has given you his personal name _and_ given you permission to use it. Refusing such a privilege is bad manners." She hoped she could talk Elissa out of the terrible idea. "And _reverting_ to his deity name after having always used his personal name can be interpreted in no other way than a snub."

"Oh," Elissa's face fell at the thought, "I had no idea." There were so many pitfalls. So many mistakes she could make without being any the wiser. She was determined to do this right, but she was only a clueless human and that fact frustrated her.

"It's alright, don't worry about it. I'm sure he would never actually be upset with you." Slayte reassured her.

"How can you say that?" Elissa shook her head dubiously. "I'm just… a human, like anyone else. If he even threatened to kill _you_ then it's only a matter of time until I do something sightless and stupid…"

Her concerns were real and yet, thinking back to the tenderness in his dark and forbidding eyes, she had to ask herself, was it possible for those gentle eyes to turn hard with fury? Was it possible for herself to end up on the receiving end of that wrath? He emanated cold power, iron-willed control and she felt it instinctively in his presence. He was like the surface of the ocean on a still day, calm and serene, but beneath those waters… danger lurked there. She knew it down to the marrow of her bones.

Slayte waved a hand in dismissal, "You can't compare the two of us, Elissa. He sees me as nothing more than a pesky servant who doesn't know when to shut up, but _you…"_ Slayte trailed off. What did Itachi see in Elissa exactly? It was hard to say for sure, to put it into words she could be held accountable for, but this much was certain, Elissa had captured his attention. And he didn't seem to have any intention of averting his gaze anytime soon.

"You're special to him, somehow." She confessed, lifting both hands in a surrendering gesture as if she, herself, was equally helpless to understand it.

"Slayte!" Elissa squeaked, mortified and appalled by the suggestion. The crown prince of gods? Having anything more than a passing curiosity for her? The idea was preposterous, surely. Blasphemous, even. "What are you saying? Don't go putting dangerous ideas in my head! What if I start believing that?"

Slayte frowned, seeing how ill-at-ease her friend was. Despite the conversation she had shared with Thanatos, she seemed to have new questions and new concerns. Her fears were understandable. Her concerns rational. And yet, Thanatos was the one who had dragged her down in this confusing bog in the first place, weighing her further down with the impossible burden of knowledge of the underworld before her time, and forcing her to look upon the very face of death while still living. All of Elissa's torment was a direct result of his command for secrecy and his inability to uncover the loathsome vermin behind this plot on her friend's life.

No, she would not allow for Elissa to think she owed him anything. She would not allow Elissa to linger in an illusion that she was inconsequential to him. That was a torment she did not deserve. He was the one in over his head and Elissa had every right to know it, rather than second-guessing every word that spilled from her lips.

With a determined set of her mouth, Slayte pushed away from the table and marched into the kitchen. Pulling open a drawer, she withdrew a folded-up piece of paper, hesitating only briefly, her eyes fixed on the pale blue lines running across the page's surface.

Elissa had a right to know. If Thanatos wanted to punish Slayte for it, whether by taking her life or any other means, he could do as he pleased. She would do as she pleased, as well.

She returned to the table and handed the page over to her friend.

"What's this?" Elissa questioned, wiping her hands on a napkin to receive Slayte's offering.

"Something you discarded. I thought a day might come where you might want to have it back," Slayte spoke quietly as she watched Elissa unfold the page.

"Oh!" Realization dawned and with it, a flood of memories came rushing back as she recognized Itachi's handwriting. Comfortable companionship sitting side by side at the riverbank as spring blossoms bloomed on the branches overhead. Itachi's elegant, ringed fingers curled around her pen as he wrote a few lines in ancient greek in her notebook. She had cherished the pen, often staring at it and daydreaming about what it had looked like in his hand. How simple things had seemed then. She had been ignorant and utterly infatuated with him. She could admit that in hindsight. How foolish she had been.

Elissa smoothed out the page and allowed her eyes to follow the sweep of the elegant curves of the neat handwriting. She tried to recall which of the ancient greek words referred to which deity. There was Hypnos, and that must have been Hades. The word that meant "Thanatos" was unmistakably clear to her. The two lines beside that however, seeming to consist of multiple words, drew a blank from her. She could not assign any meaning to them at all.

She narrowed her eyes as she traced Itachi's handwriting with hesitant fingertips, trying to recall what he had translated to her.

"You can read this, right?" She lifted hazel eyes to Slayte. "I can't remember what Itachi said these lines meant."

Slayte scoffed, despite herself, "I doubt he ever translated those words to you at all."

"What?" Elissa's confusion was apparent on her face as Slayte pulled the page a bit closer to herself.

Slayte pointed to the first word and followed along with her finger as she spoke. "Let it flower in the field, sage is the heart's command." She watched Elissa's response carefully as she paused. The brunette seemed to be holding her breath, stunned to be confronted with poetry and not with the names of further deities.

"Quell your nature, this desire to hold it in your hand."

Elissa blinked. Her heart seemed to be ready to burst out of her chest. Itachi had written poetry into her notebook? Why? What did it mean?

"I'm sorry," Elissa began breathlessly, not sure she had heard correctly. "Could you repeat that?"

LIstening to the rhythmic words again, Elissa's mind raced. Leaving a flower in the field? Not plucking it? What did that mean? Could it be referring to -

"It's you, Elissa," Slayte clarified. "You're the flower he was telling himself to leave well enough alone."

 _Her?_ The flower he'd wished to hold in his hand? Elissa gaped at her in disbelief. It was ludicrous to even entertain such a thing.

She closed her mouth and then opened it again to respond, but it took several attempts before her shocked mind was able to articulate coherent speech.

"That's- that's impossible. What are you saying? You can't know that," she finally countered, even as her face flushed with embarrassment. The very thought of the interpretation being anything of the sort set her heart pounding unpleasantly within her chest, filled her with an agitation so intense she could barely stand to keep still. "That's- he would never-" she fumbled over her words, flustered. "Isn't it - couldn't it just be a saying from your world?"

"No, Elissa. It isn't." Slayte shook her head. "He composed these lines himself, and he wrote them in your notebook. They aren't about anyone else. He cares for you."

Elissa's fingers trembled as she lifted the page. It _was_ reminiscent of their entire situation. It would explain why he had chosen to put distance between them but at the same time, she simply couldn't bring herself to believe it. Itachi? Literal deity and heir-apparent to the throne, having something bordering on affection for her hopeless self? It was ridiculous. It defied reason. It was intoxicating.

No. It was a misunderstanding. It _had_ to be.

Elissa gulped and propped open her purse, pulling out a ball-point pen. "Would you say it one more time?" She questioned, pen poised to write down the words. Surely, if she contemplated over it long enough, the poem's true meaning would come to light.

Slayte dictated the poem's translation to her once more, allowing Elissa to write it down. Staring at the two lines, trying to interpret a meaning other than the one Slayte had provided, Elissa fell silent, deeply troubled.

"I need to think about this," she finally admitted quietly.

"Sure," Slayte relented, realizing that it wasn't an easy concept to accept. "He might have his shortcomings, and he's as infuriating as any of the gods, but… he really does care about you. He's wise and patient and insightful. He's enduring and calm. As far as gods go… he's one of the best there is. As much as I hate to say it, you can trust him. Truly. He would never cause you harm."

Elissa listened to her friend, warring emotions brimming in her hazel eyes. A part of her wanted to believe what Slayte was saying, another part knew it was too far-fetched. An absolute impossibility.

"Even if you're still not sure about him, or where you stand with him, it's good to keep in mind that he's one of the most powerful deities in the three realms. Everyone fears him. He's the very best ally to have. That's why… I trust him, even if his orders don't always make sense to me."

She sighed, not really liking mentioning Thanatos in a positive light.

"Because I know, whatever he tells me to do, he says it with your best interests at heart. He knows more than any of us."

Elissa listened, spellbound, to Slayte's begrudging praise. Was this the very same Slayte that had so adamantly insisted Elissa stay away from Itachi? That he was a killer and a heartbreaker? Now, she was being encouraged to trust in him, to maintain her friendship with him. And yet, Elissa was not as confused as she might have been. Slayte's words rang true. They aligned with what Elissa, herself, had seen from him.

The two girls fell into contemplative silence. Neither of them noticed the way Levi's gaze had fixed intently on Slayte as she praised the enigmatic death god nor the frown that had settled on his face in the silence that followed.

At length, Elissa cleared her throat. "So, this assignment-thing that he's having you do, can you tell me more about it? Like, will you die if you don't follow his orders or… how and when did all this start?"

Slayte retold the story of Thanatos' appearance in the alleyway, his grim reminder of her place in the underworld, and the negotiation for her stay on the surface. She carefully left out his threats and how he had nearly made good on them by almost tearing her apart - literally. She had a feeling that would not help matters at all.

"It's not like I'm enslaved to him or something. I still have the free will to choose my actions. I just have to keep the repercussions in mind. Like, that day at the beach, for example… he had left me a way to contact him but I didn't realize it. So, I ended up not calling him when we were in trouble. He was pretty upset about that. That sort of thing."

Elissa recalled what she had seen in her half-conscious state. Itachi hovering over her. Slayte weeping miserably, pleading for Elissa's life. Something akin to anger simmering in his eyes. Was that what had happened? Had he been displeased because Slayte had been delayed in summoning him?

"Why didn't you know about it?" Elissa asked. "Didn't he tell you?"

"Uh…" Slayte laughed weakly, "He's not big on talking. I'm sure you know."

"Oh, yeah. I have the general idea," Elissa returned with a bitter laugh herself, if anyone knew how tight-lipped Itachi could be, it was her. "But how is that your fault, then? If you didn't even know?"

Slayte took another sip of her tea, unconcerned. "I guess he just thought I would figure it out."

Elissa frowned. "That's… that's just not fair."

"Gods are never fair. They're pompous assholes." Slayte dismissed, not caring who was listening. Even if Itachi somehow heard her, he likely already knew that was how she felt about things.

Elissa blinked and gaped at her. "Slayte! How can you just say that!" She whirled around to see if anyone had overheard her, but the tea shop was empty save for one elderly gentleman seated in a far corner.

"What if something happens to you?!" Elissa furrowed her brow in concern.

Slayte shrugged, "What are they going to do? Kill me? Doesn't make it any less true."

Elissa clapped a hand to her mouth in shock. She turned to Levi, hoping he would somehow knock some sense into Slayte, but was dismayed to find him buried in his newspaper, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Slayte! I don't want you to get hurt! Please, be more careful with your words. What if they retaliate?! Especially if you don't think they're fair, you should be careful!"

Slayte returned Elissa's gaze evenly and sighed, "I walked on eggshells around them for eight hundred years. I honestly don't care anymore. If they have a problem with me, they can say it to my face. I don't believe divinity amounts to superiority anymore. That's a load of crap." She lifted her teacup and, finding it empty, replaced it with an irritated huff.

"If anything, Elissa, you should _stop_ being so careful. You owe him nothing. He's the one who owes you. Everything that's been happening in your life is an interference with _his_ domain. He needs to figure it out and put a stop to it. You have every right to blame him for taking so long about it. For letting it get this far."

"Slayte…" Elissa stared at her friend wide-eyed, at an utter loss for words. "He's a god."

"So what?" Slayte crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. "That should mean he has things under control. Not that he gets leeway for all his screwups."

Elissa's mouth opened and closed wordlessly as she gaped at Slayte, perplexed.

"Slayte…" she rubbed at her temples. "Please don't tell me that's how you talk to him, too." She shook her head, recalling that Itachi had threatened to end her friend's life, her discomfort over the matter crawling all over her again. For the first time, she was beginning to understand why Itachi seemed so disdainful of Slayte. Why he seemed to have no care for her wellbeing whatsoever. With the offhand way Slayte spoke, it was a wonder the raven-haired woman was still alive, at all.

Slayte bit her lip. She wasn't quite so outspoken with Thanatos, but… she had more or less implied the same.

"Hey…" Elissa said quietly, meeting her gaze directly. "It's not alright, what he threatened to do to you if you'd told me. I…" she swallowed, struggling to articulate the next sentence, because the very thought of it filled her with dread. "If he ever does that again, I want you to tell me. Okay?"

Slayte was silent for a moment. Then she dismissed, "Don't worry about it, Elissa. I can handle myself fine."

"Even so," Elissa insisted seriously, reaching out to squeeze her hand, a fiercely protective flame burning in her hazel eyes as she continued, "I'd want to know."

"I understand," Slayte reassured her, carefully avoiding actually agreeing to her demand. Thanatos was as likely to threaten her as he was to breathe, and although she knew it caused Elissa concern, she had no intention of letting Elissa get caught up in it.

Hastily she steered the subject elsewhere. "I'm sure you have more questions. Let's get them all out in the open."

With a sigh, Elissa drew her hand back and pulled her latte towards herself, soothing her parched throat before they continued.

"Why did you want to kill Vetty? All these weird things happened after I took her in. How is she involved in all of this?"

"Right. Vetty." Slayte folded her hands on the table. "Vetty is… well, she's what you would call a demon cat. She belongs to the underworld. That's why I was so concerned about you taking her in. As you can probably imagine, it's not good for a living person to be surrounded by underworld creatures and also… demon cats are known for their mischief."

"A… demon cat?" Elissa's eyes widened in disbelief. She recalled Vetty's behavior when she had first taken her in. All the broken dishes, the insane event in the river, the scratches… In retrospect, it was a wonder Elissa hadn't given up on her.

"After you took Vetty in, dangerous things kept happening to you. It was obvious to me that this demon cat wanted to drag you under and take you back to her world. I couldn't allow that to happen. She was trying to kill you and so, I had to kill her first."

Slayte swallowed nervously, remembering how angry Elissa had been, what a huge rift that had been in their relationship.

"But as it turned out, I couldn't kill Vetty. She is an immortal. She's somehow different from other underworld cats and I think, probably much older, too. There's something about her… she's very secretive."

"Secretive?" Elissa whispered, stunned. "You mean you've _spoken_ to Vetty? She can talk?"

"More like she spoke to me. When I visited your apartment that first time after our fight. She told me things about your situation. That was how I learned that… Well, that…" Slayte trailed off, finding it difficult to say the words.

"What is it, Slayte?" Elissa found herself wringing her hands nervously under the table. Yet another revelation? She didn't know how many more she could take.

"Well, that there's someone watching you. Someone who wants to either kill or kidnap you and we don't know why. Those vortexes… they were probably trying to transport you to some other dimension. That's why Vetty made a blood-bond with you. She was trying to protect you from that fate, because you were kind to her."

"A what?"

Slayte met Elissa's confused gaze and realized what she had just said.

"Vetty made a _what_ with me?"

"A blood-bond." Slayte clarified determinedly. "Generally, it is forbidden for an immortal to seal one with a mortal, but Vetty did it anyway. Which goes to show how desperate she was. It's a linking of the blood stream, a union of lifespans. When performed in the underworld, it's something akin to a marriage, I guess."

"But… how? I didn't know anything about it?" Elissa faltered.

"You cut your finger on the bowls she broke, didn't you? That was what she showed me. All she had to do was lap up that blood and it was done."

"I'm bound by blood to Vetty?" Elissa repeated numbly. "What does that even mean?"

"Well, there are two main effects of the blood-bond. Firstly, the bonded can never be separated too far from each other. Since she consumed your blood but you had nothing to do with hers, if you go too far away from her, she's likely to be in pain and will be forced to follow. Secondly, the linking of lifespans. If you die, Vetty will die as well and vice-versa. Because she's an immortal though, you probably don't need to worry about that happening to you."

"What?" Elissa's mouth hung open. "Wait. Okay. Okay, okay, okay…" she repeated numbly, struggling to grasp the fact that she was irrevocably bound by blood to a creature of the underworld which meant their very life-forces were tied. That that creature was the very same cat she had shared her home, her food, and even her bed with.

"But I never asked for that," she went on, alarmed. "What do you mean our life-forces are tied that way? I don't feel comfortable with that!"

"I warned you not to take her in," Slayte sighed. "I never expected that she'd form a blood-bond with you. It's not exactly allowed."

"Not… allowed?" Elissa echoed, blanching. "You mean… by where she came from? The underworld?"

"Right," Slayte nodded. "But she's the one who initiated it without you knowing. And she's the reason you can see Thanatos and Hypnos at all. They're usually invisible to the human eye unless they intend to be seen."

Elissa recalled how surprised the two of them had seemed when she had turned to look at them while trying to disentangle Vetty from her hair. Perhaps that was what had attracted their attention in the first place. That she had been able to see them.

"This is a lot," Elissa surrendered, lifting her hands as a sign for Slayte to stop. "I don't know how much more information I can take, right now."

Suddenly, she turned in her seat, facing Levi. "And what are you? A seraph? A satyr?"

Levi frowned and hit her over the head with his rolled-up newspaper. "A human. Like you, stupid."

"Really?" Elissa pressed, narrowing her eyes at him as she rubbed her head. She turned back to Slayte. "Is he? Really?"

Slayte laughed at the exchange. "Yeah, he's as human as they come."

"Well, that makes one person who's what they seem to be." Elissa sighed, turning her eyes pensively toward the large panel windows of the tea-shop. She watched the people outside on the street stroll by, preoccupied with their lives. With their normality.

Wistfulness tugged at her chest, born from the mourning of an ignorance, an innocence newly lost. She had been just like them once - up until the fateful day she had found a stray cat shivering in the pouring rain. Ever since then, her life had been turned upside down on its head, with one catastrophic event following the other. She had stumbled through them all, survived multiple near death experiences, lost herself and found herself hitting rock bottom until the culmination of months of anguish had inevitably led her to the very foundations of her reality being shattered. Her best friend was a nymph. Her pet cat was a demonic feline that had bound them by blood without Elissa's knowledge or consent. The mysterious man she had been keeping company with at the river was the God of Death himself who had served as her guardian from the shadows, assigning his own crows to watch over her. They all hailed from an Underworld Elissa had always believed belonged to ancient myths, to folklore and fiction. It was difficult to negotiate the new reality she found herself in, when everyone else around her - other than Slayte and Levi - were completely oblivious to the truth about the world they lived in.

"Elissa?" A gentle hand was laid upon her forearm.

"Hmm?" Still clutching the piece of paper containing the poem tightly in her hand, Elissa blinked distractedly and turned her eyes back to her friend.

"Are you…" Slayte hesitated, "really alright with all of this?"

Was she? Elissa considered the earnest question. It was hard to pinpoint precisely what her sentiments were, when everything was still raw in her mind, when one shock after another kept revealing itself to her. She regarded Slayte, reading the sincere concern in her friend's cinnamon brown eyes. It was difficult to believe that she wasn't an ordinary mortal, a fact that Elissa was still coming to terms with. But she supposed she ought to have guessed as much from the start, given the strange, overly formal manner in which Slayte had spoken to her back when they'd first met, and all her other quirks. Now, upon closer inspection, Elissa could clearly discern that Slayte radiated a presence that was somehow… otherworldly. In the proudness of the way she carried herself, and something in the uncommonness of her attractive features.

As she stared at her best friend, Elissa reminded herself that it didn't matter to her what Slayte was. It didn't matter that she'd concealed the truth of her identity from them for reasons Elissa could completely understand - to remain hidden from the Underworld for as long as possible, and probably to protect her human friends, too. All that didn't mean a thing to Elissa. It was _who_ Slayte was that had stamped a mark so deeply into her heart.

This was the very same steadfast, stubborn woman who had stuck by her through thick and thin. Ever since they'd first met, Slayte had been Elissa's confidante, her selfless rock, there for her through her darkest days when she'd broken down and been an emotional wreck, whenever she'd doubted herself, and on nights when she'd been unable to sleep, spending however many hours required on the phone or over at her apartment to cheer her best friend up.

Even after all of Elissa's ill-judged attempts to push her away, Slayte had still looked out for her, and Elissa knew her efforts had nothing to do with the orders Itachi had given to her. Slayte had done it out of love and devotion. She had always taken Slayte's loyalty for granted. Looking at her now, Elissa renewed her silent vow to never do so again.

She offered Slayte a small smile and took her hand in hers. "Takes more than a few crazy, supernatural events to crack me, right?" Her voice wavered despite herself.

Slayte nodded, and beamed back. "You're strong, Elissa. I knew you'd pull through."

"Thanks to you," Elissa squeezed her hand gratefully. Then, glancing back to the window, she added, "I don't know how everything fell apart so badly. For the longest time, I just felt so out of control, Slayte. I almost lost everything. My life. Who I was. I even lost my job."

"Your job?" Slayte blinked at her in surprise. "When?"

"A couple of months ago," Elissa shrugged. "Well, I didn't lose it. I chose to walk out and quit."

Slayte gasped. "You didn't! You always said you would one day but never did."

"I guess I was always too scared to do it before," Elissa mused thoughtfully. "But on that last day, my asshole of a former boss humiliated me in front of the entire office, and… I don't know. It was like something just snapped in me and I couldn't take it anymore."

Slayte's eyes widened. "What happened?"

"I gave him a piece of my mind and told him where he could stuff his stupid underpaid job. Then I got my belongings and just stormed out. He sent me a termination of contract notice within the hour."

"Oh, Elissa…" Slayte bit her lower lip. "I'm so sorry you lost your job."

"I'm not," Elissa angled a wry smile at her. "The only thing I miss from that place is Adam and the two other colleagues I could stand. That's one decision I don't regret." She frowned, before adding, "Probably the only smart thing I did over the last few months."

"That's not true," Slayte shook her head. "You're always smart."

Elissa laughed uncomfortably in the face of her blind adoration. "Slayte. I'm not. I've been ridiculous these last few months. It's alright to call me stupid. It's all I've been telling myself too, the last few days."

"I'd never call you stupid," Slayte defended.

"Oi," a voice chipped in, and they looked up to find Levi, who set a plate containing freshly cooked omelettes in front of the girls. "Leaving your job without another lined up _is_ stupid. You found one yet?" he intoned, as Slayte took the tea-cups from the tray he held with a grateful smile.

"No," Elissa admitted, sighing heavily. "I was job hunting, until my accident. And then I'd just gotten back on my feet when all this… stuff... hit." She ran her fingers stressfully through her wavy tresses. "I guess I've just been too distracted to sit and fill out application forms, lately."

"You've had a lot to take in," Slayte agreed sympathetically.

"Thanks Levi," Elissa looked down at her plate appreciatively. "This looks delicious."

He eyed her quietly for a moment, before questioning nonchalantly, "What about your rent?"

Slayte's eyebrows rose. "Oh, that's right! How are you covering that? We have a free room downstairs, if you needed to-"

"No way," Elissa interjected. "I'd never intrude on you guys like that. It's fine."

Levi turned away to return the empty tray behind the counter. Elissa practically lived with them already - or had, until she and Slayte had broken up. He already knew she'd be round often again to make up for lost time.

"Don't worry." The brunette assured them. "My dad's covered the next couple of months for me, until I find something. I'll work it out."

"Are you sure?" Slayte asked anxiously. "If you need any help at all, you'd tell us, right?"

"I think you guys have done more than enough for me, already," Elissa answered. "But yeah, I'm fine on rent. I just need to clear my head. Everything's just been so…" her voice trailed off. What could she say? Impossible? Insane? Surreal? It was an almost disembodying feeling, knowing that everything she'd believed had been real in the past, had been nothing more than an illusion.

Her vision was suddenly obstructed by fabric which was dumped unceremoniously over her head. Elissa reached up automatically to pull it off, blinking down at the material in confusion when she discovered a neat white apron. Glancing up, she met Levi's cool grey-blue eyes.

"Levi…?" she questioned uncertainly.

"You start this weekend," he quipped with a curt nod of his head.

Elissa's jaw dropped in astonishment. Had he just hired her on the spot? She could scarcely believe her ears. She glanced at Slayte, who offered her an encouraging, reassuring smile, before returning her bewildered gaze to Levi, who had already turned away to clear another table.

"Levi…" she began, stunned by the unexpected gesture. "I couldn't possibly-"

"Oi," he retorted, his tone brusque, indicating that he wouldn't hear any objections over the matter. "It's already settled. Just until you find something else, got it?"

"I…" Elissa shook her head, at a loss for words.

"Eight-thirty AM sharp, Saturday." He added sternly. "Don't be late."

Elissa looked helplessly down at the apron in her hands. Tears welled in her eyes, and she swallowed back the sudden lump in her throat as smothering waves of emotion washed over her. Guilt. Remorse. Gratitude. Love. She was overcome by the unlimited depths of their thoughtfulness. Felt thoroughly undeserving of their kindness. How could they be so good to her, when she had been so terrible to them for so long?

"Oh, no, Elissa," Slayte leaned in toward her. "What's the matter? Are you crying?"

Levi's eyes briefly shifted to the brunette, and he scoffed. "Tch." She was being a sentimental, emotional mess, and he could see that his girlfriend's eyes were misting over with tears, too. It was like they'd never even been apart.

"No, I…" Elissa got out, her voice clogged with emotion. "I just… you guys are the best."

"Finally found your brain, huh?" Levi remarked.

Elissa released a choked laugh. "I deserve that."

Familiar arms wrapped comfortingly around her as Slayte enveloped her in a hug.

 _I'll make it up to you both_ , Elissa silently promised fiercely, returning her friend's embrace. Somehow, she would work to pay them back for everything they'd done for her, and Elissa told herself she'd make sure she would repay them tenfold.

* * *

After thanking Slayte for the evening lift home, Elissa made her way back up to her apartment and immediately went to her bedroom to change into something more casual.

She mulled over the three days that had passed by in a blur since the events that had transpired on the frozen river as she pulled a warm, oversized cream sweater over her head, wincing as the knitted fabric caught in one of her gold-hooped earrings. The jumper's hem grazed halfway down her thighs and she paired it with matching shorts and cozy brown, knitted thigh-length socks before drawing her hair long back into a hastily bound, messy ponytail.

She'd spent most of the time at the tea-shop, catching up with Slayte and Levi and whenever she'd been home, had pleaded with Vetty to speak to her - to no avail. She'd demanded explanations about the blood-bond, why Vetty had taken the liberty to initiate such a serious thing without Elissa's consent, but her cat had been wholly unapologetic in demeanour, offering no response until Elissa was forced to give up out of sheer frustration.

Elissa had also repeatedly ignored Cain's incessant calls and messages. He was the very last person she felt like seeing or speaking to, the least of her priorities and someone she was quite content with not seeing for a very long time. Or ever again.

With a heavy sigh, she wandered into the kitchen, opening the fridge and pursing her lips as she considered what she ought to eat for supper. Her eyes rested on the frosted cupcakes she'd made the previous night. The stress of everything had turned her to consuming more sweet treats than she usually did before the winter holiday season, but she told herself that she thoroughly deserved them guilt-free. It was hardly a surprise that she'd taken to comfort eating given every taxing event she'd been through.

"I can't well have that for dinner," she muttered to herself, despite the temptation to binge on unhealthy food, and instead pulled out a selection of vegetables before retrieving two frozen, bread-coated haddock fillets from the freezer. Settling upon a healthy stir-fry with fish, she set to work washing and slicing up the vegetables, hitting play on the favourite tunes she'd saved onto her phone's music app.

The brush of warmth against her calves alerted her to Vetty's presence several minutes later. The cat meowed at her feet, blinking large, dark eyes at her. Elissa paused as she sliced through the onions, and narrowed her eyes at the feline. A demon cat, which in retrospect really hadn't been all that much of a shock following the revelations of Itachi and Slayte's respective identities. It wasn't like her life could possibly get any weirder.

"You want some fish, right? Well, it's frozen solid, let me cook it, first. Do you want it baked or fried?"

Vetty swished her tail, blinking silently up at her in response.

Elissa released a heavy, exasperated sigh. "I don't get it," she complained once again, repeating the same words she'd had on the previous nights. "You can definitely talk, Slayte said you can. Why won't you answer me?" When Vetty remained unresponsive, Elissa scowled unhappily. "It's the least you can do for forming some creepy cult-like blood-bond with me without my permission. You know Vetty, my life was completely normal until you showed up in it." She tossed the diced onions and garlic into the heated frying pan, and continued to mumble, "Now I have monsters chasing me, a death god watching over me, I found out my best friend's an Underworld nymph."

Shaking her head, she added, "Anyway, you _can_ communicate, Slayte's told me all about you, and since she knows everything there is to know about the Underworld, you've really got no excuse to not-"

' _Silly little nymph.'_ Came a contemptuous, sweet-toned voice in her mind. Elissa froze and blinked in surprise. That… hadn't been her own thought. There was no other possible source, other than...

She glanced down at Vetty, stunned. "You…" she breathed in disbelief. "Did you just… _talk_ to me?"

Vetty averted her head, lifting her nose snootily into the air, evidently displeased that she had let a few words slip unintentionally. Then she turned away, fluffy, majestic tail sweeping leisurely behind her and sauntered languidly out of the kitchen, clearly having no intention of partaking in any further conversation. Elissa gaped after her a moment, then lowered the heat on the hob and rushed after the cat, wooden spoon still in her hand.

"Hey! Vetty!" she called, as the feline hopped onto the sofa in the living room. "I heard you! Oh my God. You _can_ talk!" She grinned excitedly, delighted and eager to talk to her further. "Say something else. Go on."

Vetty merely yawned boredly and stretched out lazily on the couch. She stubbornly offered no further reply.

"Oh, come on!" Elissa pleaded. "That's so unfair! What's it going to take to make you talk to me and explain why you-?" she broke off abruptly, when a sudden movement in the corner of her vision drew her attention to the balcony. She turned her head - only for her heart to somersault in her chest and leap violently into her throat.

"Oh…" she whispered, her lips parting in surprise.

Itachi had alighted outside her apartment, three days after she had last seen him when they'd talked the night away following the events that had unfolded at the frozen river. Elissa gulped at the sight of him, her mouth suddenly feeling oddly dry, all thoughts of her talking cat scattering from her mind. He was masked once more, and his gaze immediately locked onto her from behind the other side of the glass.

Vetty purred, and it was an infuriatingly smug sound, as if she were conveying that her owner had other more immediate and urgent matters to attend to than trying to drag her into tedious discourse.

Elissa blinked and directed a frustrated glare at her pet. "This isn't over," she hissed a promise at the thoroughly unrepentant cat, shaking her wooden spoon threateningly at her. It wasn't possible for cats to smirk, Elissa thought to herself, and yet Vetty appeared to be doing something suspiciously close to that.

Then, realising how odd she had to look waving a wooden spoon with the God of Death himself awaiting her outside, she lowered her hand, self-consciously touched her free one to her hair, then turned, clearing her throat as she approached the balcony doors. They were slightly parted, to allow fresh air to enter the apartment - and because she had been leaving them open ever since the night he had been on her balcony last.

Her eyes fell upon his tall, magnificent form, drinking up the handsome, darkly-arresting sight of him in his formal attire, and she once more cursed the way her pulse immediately broke into a canter at the sight of him. She was relieved, in a way, that he was masked again. The intensity of his gaze was compelling enough with that gilded barrier in place between them.

She recalled Slayte's advice with regards to how to address Itachi correctly. Her best friend had insisted that since she had been given his true name, and he clearly permitted its use, then it would be impolite to refuse to call him by it. And yet, even knowing that still felt like a blatant mark of disrespect to Elissa. Here was a literal deity in all his immortal splendour and glory. She couldn't just act like they were casual friends anymore, when the hierarchy of status absolutely demanded otherwise, demanded that she acknowledge his rank and divinity. He wasn't just a god, but a crown-prince.

A crown-prince who had penned a poem to her in her own notebook.

Elissa gulped, shoving the intruding thought out of her head as she felt her cheeks warm. There was no way she was going to dwell on that, or mention it, or even hint that she knew anything about it - even as the final line of the short couplet ran crystal-clearly through her mind, almost tauntingly, as if daring her to address it.

' _Quell your nature, this desire to hold it in your hand.'_

 _No,_ she ordered herself, horrified at her own thoughts. _Don't you dare_ _think of that now. He's waiting. Get a grip_.

Coming to a stop by the doors, she pushed them further open, and offered him a tentative smile.

"Angelissa," he greeted, and she could barely suppress the shudder that shot down her spine at the delicious sound of that ever composed, rich, hypnotic baritone she'd spent so many months yearning to hear once more.

She exhaled, trying not to feel breathless in his presence, but it was difficult when his infuriatingly alluring dark eyes were fixed on her so attentively. Hadn't she always wished for precisely this? For him to look at her again? And wasn't that exactly what he was doing? But she'd desired that _before_ she had discovered that he was a prince amongst gods and the heir-apparent to the Underworld itself. The phrase ' _Be careful what you wish for'_ ran mockingly through her mind, and overcome with nerves, Elissa found herself blurting out unthinkingly, "Good evening, your godship."

Her brain screeched to a standstill. _Godship?_ Had she really just-? Had she said that _out loud?_ She'd intended a polite 'your lordship', and yet-

Itachi blinked at her, something unreadable passing fleetingly across his unfathomable onyx irises, and a heavy silence ensued.

 _Oh my God_ , Elissa thought to herself, blushing deeply in abject mortification. _What the hell did I just say? Oh my God, I'm the world's biggest moron, kill me now._

 _Kill me now? Are you really_ _thinking that with the actual God of Death standing on your balcony, you utterly idiotic, mindless little-_ Elissa gulped. She couldn't shut up the inappropriate thoughts. She was a nervous wreck, and being so shamefully, embarrassedly transparent about it, she wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole. But there was no hiding from that steady, cool gaze. Her heart thundered against her rib-cage, and her mind raced with possible words she could say to salvage the situation - but he was the one to break the awkward silence.

"Lady Caelum," he murmured.

Elissa's eyes widened in horror at the honorific that fell from his lips.

"O-oh, no!" she shook her hands, greatly flustered. "Please, I'm not a lady-! I mean, not in _that_ way. You don't need to call me- you shouldn't be…" her voice trailed, when he tilted his head slightly, pointedly, conveying an unspoken message - and she suddenly understood what it was. He was silently inferring that there was no requirement or expectation for her to address him so formally - unless she intended and wished for the same treatment in kind.

"I'm sorry," she fumbled. "I just- I know that's your true name, and Slayte told me that gods are never called their real names unless it's by family, so I thought it would be more respectful to- I mean if I-" Realising that she had inadvertently said something that could result in Itachi being displeased with her best friend, she hastily amended, "I mean, Slayte totally told me to just keep calling you by your name, but I just thought you might prefer- I really didn't mean to offend you."

She bit her lower lip. _You're rambling. Shut up,_ her mind snapped at her, desperately trying to save what pride and face it could by screaming at her to cease talking altogether. She anxiously noted the thin line his lips had formed, evidently displeased with her excuse. Or was he just irritated by her mention of Slayte?

"I'm sorry," she repeated again thoughtlessly, before plastering his name on at the end in a miserable attempt to undo the damage. "Itachi."

She was suddenly overrun with the extremely tempting desire to beat her own head with the wooden spoon she carried in her hand. Would that knock some tact, decorum and sophistication into her, she wondered? Would it stop her from appearing a lumbering, bumbling buffoon in those perfect eyes?

"These doors are unlocked," he observed, smoothly steering the focus of the conversation in another direction.

Elissa blinked, profoundly relieved to be discussing something else. "Yes. I left them open for fresh air."

Itachi was silent for a moment, his eyes flicking onto the doors. He was difficult - no, nigh on impossible to read, Elissa thought to herself, his expression calm, aloof, betraying nothing of his inner thoughts. It was most unnerving.

"Do not leave them so," he instructed.

She hesitated before admitting, "I… thought I'd leave them open too, in case you stopped by." She didn't add that she had hoped he would, every day since she'd seen him last, how three days apart had already felt like too long a length of time.

"..." He angled a pointed, meaningful look at her. "They would be of no hindrance to me locked, Angelissa," he assured quietly, matter-of-factly.

"Right," she answered, immediately realising the ridiculousness of her reasoning. "Of course not."

Had she forgotten what he was? What were a measly set of doors to a mighty deity? She supposed he had the ability to pass right through them if he so wished. As if walls and barriers could keep Death himself out. As if anything could stop him. How else was no living soul able to elude and escape him at its designated hour?

The very thought was disconcerting. Her heart was pounding, and she desperately tried not to dwell on the fact that he could probably sense that, too.

The smell of overcooked onions then drifted to her nose, and she recalled that she'd left them unattended on the stove. "Please, come in," she invited. "I'm just making dinner."

Itachi followed her inside, locking the doors securely behind him as he entered. Elissa was glad she'd decided to tidy her place up over the previous days, so he wouldn't think her a complete mess incapable of keeping house tidily. The staggering awareness that she had a god gracing her own humble home with his divine presence only served to intensify her nervousness. She was eager to return to her cooking, to have something else to focus her attention on other than him - even as she felt the unmistakable weight of his stare at her back as he joined her in the kitchen, leaning nonchalantly against the doorframe with his arms folded across his chest.

" _...my heart refuses to forget you…"_

The music streaming from her phone was an ill-timed song about unrequited love, and Elissa stabbed viciously at the device with an index finger to cut the tune short, plunging the room into blessed silence, save for the gentle sizzling of the other vegetables she'd just deposited into the pan and the low hum of the oven containing the baking fish fillets. She felt heat pool into her cheeks. Was this what all their interactions would be like from then on? The thought filled her with horror and despair. Would she be reduced to a pathetic, jittery, apprehensive, clumsy and graceless mess of nerves in his presence? Would all their meetings be blighted by awkwardness and embarrassment on her part?

Elissa couldn't stand it. She swallowed, urging herself to make conversation. She'd found it so easy and pleasant to speak to him before she'd known what and who he was. Why did that have to change now? Hadn't Slayte advised her not to change a thing about her behaviour toward Itachi?

She bit her lower lip, knowing her unease stemmed from the fact that everything was still fresh and new in her mind. She simply needed time to adjust, to get used to it all, she reassured herself. Her reaction was completely normal, justified, and surely he understood and expected it. After all, it wasn't like one met a death deity every day. Humans were only meant to meet him at all at the very end of their existence. But she'd somehow wound up befriending Death, and had every right to be nervous, anxious and every other distressing thing she was feeling.

Thinking that way and keeping her back turned to him helped to calm her down enough to make polite conversation. "I hope you're well?" she offered.

Itachi regarded her silently, noting the tension that lined her slender, petite shoulders. It was to be expected, of course, that she would be somewhat unsettled in his company immediately following the disclosure of his true identity. It was for that precise reason that he had allowed several surface days to pass since his last visit, and yet he was sensible of the fact that Angelissa would doubtlessly require more time to grow accustomed to the new reality in which she found herself living.

"I am," he agreed, obliging her chosen route of discourse, the irony of her asking after _his_ well-being given the turmoil her own mind had to be in not lost on him.

Conscious of the fact he was on his feet, Elissa glanced back over her shoulder. For a moment she was struck by the sight of him standing there, tall and lordly, stationed within such a humble environment in all his imposing, darkly enchanting glory. It was outrageous. He looked thoroughly out of place in such a setting. He belonged to sprawling gardens and resplendent, exquisitely furnished palaces drawn from the most majestic of myths, not in such simple living quarters.

"Please, have a seat," she invited.

He nodded and stepped forward, elegantly drawing back a chair. Elissa looked away, wondering if there was anything he did that wasn't graceful and flawless. Of course not, she told herself as she rinsed her hands in the sink. He was a god.

She heard a mewl and glanced back again over her shoulder to find that Vetty had wandered into the kitchen, and taken the bold liberty of hopping up into his lap, where she purred for him to show her affection.

"Vetty," Elissa censured. "I don't think that's..."

Her voice trailed. Itachi's eyes had lowered and he had already lifted a ringed hand to pet the cat's soft dark fur, clearly having no qualms over Vetty's actions. Elissa blinked at the endearing sight in surprise, then turned her attention back to the sweet potato she was about to slice. To think that back when they'd first met, Itachi had outright refused to pay any attention to the feline at all… how things had changed. So many things, she mused, turning her gaze back to the chopping board.

Itachi's eyes returned to consider her thoughtfully, watching as she busied herself with ordinary mortal activities. He had always had a soft-spot for humans, understanding, all too acutely, the transience and fragility of their lives which hung upon a literal thread. He recognised their struggles, their strife, the undeniable cycle to which they were all bound. They were born, they were raised, and they worked to live, made families and ambled along, navigating through and enduring hardships, losses and grief, and enjoying what precious joys the circumstances of their lives had to offer until came the time of their inevitable demise.

He was sympathetic to their plight, and yet their perseverance and the manner in which they threw themselves into every day, burning their brightest even knowing how brief their existences were, never failed to capture his admiration. They were resolute, resilient beings. And yet in all the aeons of his existence, never had a mortal caught his interest and held it with such persistence as the young woman he was contemplating at that very moment.

Angelissa was the very essence of life in spirit and in soul. Her eyes were forged from its colours, the vivid green of grass, the warm brown of earth, the mesmerising gold of the sun. He could not but watch her as she worked to prepare her own sustenance, finding the very simplicity of the act riveting in itself.

"And yourself?" he questioned, reasoning that perhaps he could assist in easing her discomfort if he returned her attempt at conversation. It was surely the least he could do. "How do you fare?"

"I'm fine, thank you," Elissa answered politely, nodding a bit too enthusiastically as she sliced the potato into smaller chunks. As if vehemently trying to convince herself that she was, indeed, coping completely fine with talking to Death himself in her very own kitchen. "I've spoken to Slayte a lot and she's really helped me make sense of things a lot more." She nodded at Vetty, curled snugly in his lap. "I know what Vetty is now, too, and about the blood bond thing - though she refuses to speak to me. I don't really know what her problem i-"

A stinging pain shot through her index finger, and Elissa's head immediately whipped back around to find that she had accidentally sliced through her skin while foolishly averting her eyes away from the knife when chopping. She curled her finger reflexively, inwardly cursing herself. It was shallow, but she still needed to wash it out and to cover it with a plaster. How to find one without making him realise that she was quite possibly the clumsiest human to have ever lived in the history of clumsy, living humans?

Tossing the potato chunks into a saucepan to boil, she then moved to the sink and rinsed the knife, noting that the cut was actually deeper than she'd realised. Crimson splashed in the ceramic basin, and Elissa bit her bottom lip, willing it to stop, her eyes darting for some tissue to hide the cut with. It was on the counter to her left, just by the fridge.

"Uh, sorry," she apologised distractedly. "I was saying that I don't know why Vetty won't talk to me. She just ignores me all the time, and acts like an ordinary cat, but I already know she's _not_ a normal cat, so it makes no sense to me why she-" She felt fingers close around her left hand and turned her head in surprise to find Itachi standing beside her. She hadn't even heard him rise from his seat, his movements as noiseless as shadows.

His smoky, heavy-lashed eyes captured hers, their allure irresistible, and Elissa couldn't tear her gaze from his. She was pinned in place by those beautiful eyes. The air seemed to catch in her throat entirely, and suddenly drawing in a breath felt like a terribly laborious task as he stood before her, close enough to set her heart racing to a faster beat.

She watched, speechless, as he wordlessly and gently uncurled her injured finger, and pressed the index finger and thumb of his right hand over it. Elissa felt a pleasant warmth radiate from the point of contact, and when he pulled his hand away a moment later, she was astonished to discover that the wound had faded completely. She lifted it to her face, inspecting the healed skin in wide-eyed amazement. How had he even noticed that she'd cut herself at all? Her hazel eyes flew back to his, to find him watching her attentively, and to her horror, Elissa felt a tremor run through her fingertips, her skin still tingling from where he had touched her.

He reached out, and took her hand in both of his. His palms were warm, smooth and large around her small one. She gulped, overcome with a fresh onslaught of nervousness. Suddenly, she couldn't form any words at all.

"Be at ease, Angelissa," he murmured softly.

She felt heat creep into her cheeks, and the familiar, pleasant sensation of her body relaxing as he soothed her nerves, stealing away the tension that plagued her. Once more, she marvelled at his effortless ability to read when she was in distress and to quell the effects of adrenaline on her body.

"I'm sorry," she apologised again, mortified beyond measure at the amount of times she was uttering the words. If he hadn't thought her an incompetent idiot before, then he surely had to, then. "I'm… clumsy."

Something about the way he looked at her seemed to compel her to divulge honestly, "And… a little nervous."

He waited for her to elaborate, and Elissa was fully conscious of the fact that he still held her hand between his. Her eyes flicked down, as she continued with a short, embarrassed little laugh, "It's not everyday I have an actual god standing in my kitchen."

"Angelissa," his voice drew her eyes back up to his. "You have nothing to fear," he stated, his tone gentle, reassuring. There was a tenderness in his gaze that set her heart doing cartwheels within her chest even despite the calmness that his touch had instilled.

"Oh, I- I know that," she stammered. She wasn't afraid of him, she told herself fiercely. She _wasn't_. Was she...? Were the butterflies flapping wildly within her stomach the result of attraction, fear, or both? She couldn't fully tell. Surely it was natural though, for her to be afraid? Wasn't that just her soul responding to knowing what he was? The instinct within her that recognised him as the end of her life, her very death in the flesh? Being friends or acquaintances of sorts did not change the course of fate, the inevitable ending to her story; that one day she would die, and he would be the one who would claim and reap her soul.

She pushed the thought from her mind. She couldn't dwell on the agony of that. It would surely drive her mad. She knew Itachi would never harm her. She knew it with every fibre of her being. She just needed time to reconcile what he was with _who_ he was. Death was his assigned role. He followed the command of The Fates. They were the ones who ordained the hour of a mortal's passing. Itachi was the one who came to collect.

Giving him a sheepish smile, Elissa discreetly pulled her hand out of his - only for her elbow to knock into the glass bottle of olive oil that was resting on the counter. Itachi immediately caught it, faster than she could blink, preventing it from crashing onto the tiled floor, and placed it safely back onto the worktop. Elissa blinked, awe-struck by the speed of his reflexes.

"See?" she pressed a hand to her right cheek, feeling that her skin was hot to the touch and was surely dusted pink. "Clumsy." She was glad of the heat from the frying pan. With any luck he wouldn't suspect she was blushing because of him.

 _Who are you kidding?_ she inwardly berated herself. _He's a god. He has those special crimson… whatever they were called eyes. He can probably see right through you. Just accept you've totally embarrassed yourself again_ _and cry about it to Slayte later._

The horrible fact was that Elissa was all too painfully aware that this was a complete abnormality, an anomaly in her standard behaviour. She was never so careless, always so together in front of everyone else - except for him. It was like those eyes did unspeakable things to her mind, stripping her of all her senses and all rational thinking - or was it that they undid all ability to form any manner of coherent thinking? She was at an absolute loss to explain it. Nobody had ever made her feel that way before. Like she was so thoroughly out of control. It was almost intoxicating. Utterly terrifying. She was distinctly aware that she was holding his gaze for far longer than was appropriate given their dynamic, and finally succeeded in dragging her eyes away.

"Thank you," she said bashfully and stepped back, feeling the need to restore a respectable distance between them. Now that he'd soothed her inner agitation, it was impossible not to focus on how his proximity sent an exhilarating thrill through her.

It was positively electrifying.

No matter how hard Elissa tried to ignore it, she couldn't dismiss the suffocating static charge that crackled in the air between them. Was it his aura, the air of danger that accompanied what he was, that she was mistaking for physical attraction? Or was she simply a fool drawn to beautiful, dangerous things? Elissa was certain regardless that she was the only one who felt it, and wished with every fibre of her being that she could somehow _un_ -feel it.

"Would you like to eat?" she asked courteously, keeping her eyes fixed intently on her cooking, furious at how many times she'd embarrassed herself already. "There's enough for two," she nodded at the frying pan. "Or, I have some cupcakes in the fridge that I made, if you prefer something sweet."

"Do not trouble yourself," he answered smoothly.

"It's no trouble at all!" she exclaimed, relieved to have something to divert her attention from the way his eyes followed her every movement. Turning to the fridge, she retrieved the plate of cupcakes and set them on the table as he took a seat again.

"They're homemade vanilla with buttercream frosting. Please, help yourself!" She plastered a smile onto her face that she hoped wouldn't appear forced or strained.

Itachi eyed the plate, then reached out to take one of the cupcakes. Elissa turned back to frying her vegetables, watching him take a bite from the corner of her eye, and found herself fretting over whether he would like her home-made dessert. She considered them tasty enough, but who knew what the gods liked to eat? Deity food was surely far superior to mortal nourishment. What if he hated it? What if it was substandard compared to what he was used to eating?

He ate in civil silence and made no comment, and she couldn't tell what he was thinking. If he hated it, he would have spat it out, surely?

 _He's the most well-mannered person- god you've ever met, Elissa_ , she reminded herself. _He's far too polite to do that. He'll probably just suffer in silence if he thinks it's terrible, and never accept your offer of sweets again. Add it to your list of epic fails._

Not wanting to appear over-eager or rudely interrupt him while he was eating, she resigned herself to asking for his opinion later and checked on the fish in the oven. It was almost fully cooked and she turned the temperature dial, reduced it to a lower setting. After adding seasoning and sauce, she placed the lid on the frying pan, leaving the vegetables to steam on a low heat, and began washing up.

"So," she set her mind to thoughts of further questions about the world he came from, and all its lore. "You said your brother, Hades, isn't the Underworld ruler. What about Zeus? Is he really the King of all the gods?"

"Of those upon the surface, yes," Itachi replied.

"And you know him?" Elissa asked in awe.

"Yes."

"What's he like?" she asked curiously. Zeus had never been her favourite of deities and she wondered how much of him had been represented accurately in historical scriptures. She had a deity in her apartment. How could she not take advantage of the trove of knowledge he possessed about everything to do with the world, and especially about her favourite topic of Greek mythology?

"A most noble ruler," he supplied.

"And his Queen really is Hera?"

"Indeed."

"And does he have many children?" Elissa went on, her passion for all things Greek mythology taking the driving seat, driving her line of questioning.

Itachi paused, swallowing down the last mouthful of cake. Her questions were not precisely what he had assumed would be the most pressing on her mind, but he obliged nonetheless.

"Only one."

"One?" Elissa gasped in astonishment. "So the myths lied about that, too. They totally called him a wo-" she caught herself before she disrespectfully spouted the word 'womanizer' out. How could she speak so carelessly, so freely to a fellow deity? Surely it would cause an immeasurable offence to label Zeus something that he seemed not to be? Clearing her throat, she hastily diverted, "Uh. And the Underworld? Who rules that, if it's not Hades?"

Itachi's eyes shifted from her back, to the cupcakes. He was averse to discussing the deity in question, and yet, he had promised to be as transparent as was required with Angelissa.

"A Titan named Cronus."

"Wow," Elissa breathed, shaking her head in wonder. Then she angled a glance over her shoulder at him, and ventured, somewhat daunted, "And… you? Slayte told me you belong to the royal family line. Are you really the heir to the Underworld throne?"

There was a long pause, which left Elissa wondering why he seemed disinclined to respond readily to that particular question.

At length, Itachi verified, "Yes."

Even before Slayte had told her, Elissa had always suspected him of belonging to some manner of well-bred nobility. Everything about him screamed sophistication and high society. His effortless elegance, his chivalry and faultless propriety, his dignified, commanding bearing, his unruffled poise, the sureness of his confident gait, his impeccable, genteel manners, the expensive-looking finery he was clothed in and the formal, articulate, archaic language he used to communicate. He was incontestably royalty, through and through.

Sensing that she was perhaps prying too much into overly personal matters he did not particularly wish to expand upon, she deflected, "It's so different from what all the texts say. How could history have gotten it so wrong?"

"It was not written, but passed through word of mouth for a great length of time," Itachi explained. "As a consequence, the stories were altered greatly."

"But some of them must be true?" Elissa wondered, scrubbing at the chopping board.

"Some," he agreed.

"Does the Persephone from my story exist?" she glanced at him. "Do you know her?"

"She is an acquaintance of Sasuke's."

Elissa's lips parted in surprised delight. Then were Hades and Persephone really together as the myths indicated? The writer within her was elated. The prospect of potentially being able to meet the two - in theory - made her want to squeal with excitement. What were they like? Were they anything similar to how she had envisaged them to be in her work?

The questions almost flew from her tongue, but she caught them at the last second. It was impertinent to ask about the romantic relationship status of Itachi's relatives, surely. She hadn't even met this 'Sasuke'. What was she thinking? Her scattered thoughts were all over the place, and Elissa knew she was getting ahead of herself, carried away on fanciful notions that were not her most immediate of concerns courtesy of her imagination realising that the very subjects she had been researching for so long were not in fact figments of legends.

She placed the last of the washed cutlery on the drying rack before switching off the tap and drying her hands. Her enthusiasm to discuss aspects of Greek myth-turned reality was a distraction from the real issues that plagued and worried her, Elissa knew. She had far more pressing questions relating to her own safety, about further indiscrepancies that didn't add up that she had forgotten to clarify with him on the night when he'd finally disclosed the truth to her.

"Itachi," she began quietly. "Why did you save me that night? Before we started talking; why did you intervene? You…" she swallowed, struggling to articulate the next words, a harsh reminder of what he was. Everything she had always feared and hated and cursed in life. Death itself. "You're not meant to save lives, so why…?" her voice trailed off. She remained by the sink, staring out the window, catching a glimpse of the light flurry of snowflakes that were once again falling outside.

Itachi's eyes flicked onto Vetty, who was licking her paw at his feet and listening to the exchange with detached interest. "It was not your time," he finally responded, his gaze narrowing at the feline, reminding her of her attempt to terminate Angelissa's young life prematurely. Vetty remained unconcerned.

"That's what I don't understand," Elissa shook her head. "You said you don't know how much time a person has left. That it's the Fates who decide that."

"The ordained time is apparent at its arrival. The incident you speak of was an unnatural interference on my domain," he clarified. "A meddling with a human life before its decreed time. A blood pact formed between a mortal and Underworld feline is forbidden."

"That's why you saved me," Elissa exhaled in understanding, clasping her hands together as she turned to look at him. "That's what you meant about it not being my time otherwise."

"It is as I informed you," he answered slowly, lifting sincere, dark eyes from the cat in his lap to the mortal who had finally turned to face him. "Death is your protector."

She found her heart skipping a beat at his response and bit her lip at a loss for words, unable to continue the conversation as her mind struggled to catch up with her racing heart.

Depositing Vetty on the tiled kitchen floor, Itachi continued by way of explanation. "The blood pact is what allowed you to see Shisui and I by the riverbank." Elissa listened intently as he expanded, corroborating what Slayte had already told her. "It gives sight of those who belong to the shades."

 _The shades_. Her research had taught her that the term was another name for the Underworld.

"So I wouldn't have seen you without it?" Elissa shook her head in disbelief, her eyes flicking onto Vetty, who continued to groom herself, aloofly removed from the conversation. "That's crazy. All this from a cat I found in the rain…" Recalling the day they had met, she went on, "I really thought I was going to drown on that day in the river. I don't know how I survived it. One second I was trying to save Vetty and going under, the next…I was somehow... not drowning."

Itachi silently recalled his meeting with Suigetsu. Behind his mask, his eyes narrowed. Something about his decision to interfere on that day didn't sit right with the death deity. He knew better than to trust the word of the mercurial, mischievous King of the Oceans. Still, he did not disclose this to Angelissa. There was no reason nor requirement for her to know of Poseidon's involvement, and Itachi certainly did not intend for the two to have any further interaction. Not if he had any say in the matter.

Elissa suddenly remembered the incident with the deer in the park. Had that been a supernatural occurrence, too? Or had she imagined it? "Something else weird happened. I never told anyone about it, because I wasn't sure what I saw but... maybe it might help with your investigation?"

Itachi leaned forward, placing his hands flatly upon the table, his gaze and attention fully fixed onto her. He nodded, wordlessly inviting her to continue.

"I came across an injured deer one night while I was out for a walk in the park a few months ago," Elissa shared. "It was trapped under a branch, so I went over to help it, and… these dogs came out of nowhere." She sucked in a sharp breath, realisation suddenly dawning upon her. "Wait. They were dogs like the ones that attacked me just a few days ago!" She turned wide eyes to Itachi. "Do you know about that? Were you there? I saw a black bird… was it your crow? Just as I was being sucked into one of those black vortex things, but a moment later, I'd somehow switched places and gotten out."

"I was witness to it," Itachi confirmed, indicating that he had intervened.

Elissa folded her arms, feeling a sudden chill run through her. "Well... they were similar dogs - just, with one head each - that attacked me and the deer. I tried to protect it. I didn't realise how badly injured it was until it was too late. The dogs knocked me to the ground and I thought I was going to die then, but all of a sudden they just stopped… and vanished."

Itachi's eyes narrowed as he contemplated this new information. The same creatures had been set upon her before? Black hounds seemingly brought into being from the dark arts. The gears in his mind turned, working through the implications, the possibilities - and potential culprits. This was a crucial incident that had happened months prior. It displeased him that he was only finding out about it at that very moment. How much time and possible leads had been wasted as a result?

"Why did you not inform your friend?" he questioned at last, a trace of disapproval evident in his tone.

"I…" Elissa fumbled despite herself, surprised to hear him _not_ addressing Slayte as 'the nymph'. He still wasn't using her name - but it was a marked improvement to the impersonal noun he'd spoken before.

"After the dogs vanished, the deer just got up, and she was fully healed. I couldn't understand it. I didn't know anything strange was happening or that they'd been sent after me," she defended, hugging herself. "I didn't know about any of this. I didn't know what to tell Slayte without sounding like I was out of my mind and regardless, we weren't really on speaking terms then, because…" She trailed off and chanced a glance at him, recalling the reason for the rift between them and the role he had played in it. "Anyway, the deer was definitely injured. I don't know how her wounds just closed up, or why those dogs just disappeared into thin air. They just appeared out of nowhere, too. It was totally weird."

"Indeed." He remarked mildly, regarding her intently for a long moment - and then fluidly rose to his feet in an abrupt manner which categorically signalled his intention to depart. Elissa tensed, surprised to feel sinking disappointment. A quick glance at the clock hanging from the wall revealed that already an hour and a half had passed since he'd first arrived, and yet how quickly the time had flown by in his company. Just as it always had whenever they'd spoken by the river. Was he leaving so soon?

 _Like an exalted immortal doesn't have better, more important things to do with his time than hang out with you_ , Elissa thought sarcastically to herself, grounding herself firmly back to reality. It didn't matter that time seemed to suspend for her whenever she was in his company. She could hardly expect him to stay longer. He was a god, who had countless responsibilities to see to. That he had spared the time to visit her at all was the highest of honours.

"I have intruded upon you long enough."

"Oh, no," Elissa shook her head. "It's no intrusion at all. I- thank you for visiting. Please feel free. Anytime. To visit, I mean." She added, feeling awkward and self-conscious all over again under the weight of his quiet, scrutinising stare.

He pushed the chair into the table and stepped back.

"Please, wait," she blurted, as something else crossed her mind, a burning question she had somehow completely managed to overlook in their previous meeting. He paused respectfully mid-step, waiting for her to speak.

"I was really badly hurt in an accident that happened in an abandoned warehouse," she began, fidgeting nervously with her fingers. "I had a concussion and broke the bones in my right arm and leg. The doctors said it would take me months to recover… but... it only took two."

Itachi was silent. Elissa felt her heart skip a beat. The heat of his gaze was blistering, and somehow, in that moment, she knew with certainty that he had once again intervened.

"You healed me," she breathed, deeply touched by the infinite depths of his kindness. Here was a great noble prince amongst the gods, leagues above her in standing and in existence and in every conceivable way, who had taken such pain-staking measures to see to her safety so meticulously, asking for neither recognition nor praise from her in return.

Elissa was flooded with a fresh wave of confusion, unable to comprehend why he would dedicate such particular care to her. Once again, she felt like she was drowning in debt to him. It boggled her mind that he would go to such lengths to ensure her wellbeing, and left her feeling inadequate, unworthy of even the slightest sliver of his attention.

She recalled Slayte's words. Her friend had suggested that Elissa was special to Itachi. The words on the paper he had penned returned to haunt her, setting her cheeks ablaze. She had tried so hard to _not_ think about the poem in his presence. And yet, at that very moment, she could not shake it from her mind. She could not reconcile in her thoughts, how a deity so lofty in status was capable of even noticing her at all, let alone write such lines for her. To her. What was she to him? The question tormented her. And yet what else _could_ she be but a hapless mortal he had taken it upon himself to protect from dangers unknown?

But he had also assured her that none of her thoughts with regards to the nature of their meetings had ever been her assumption. Her mind spun. Could she even dare? To entertain that his actions were rooted in anything other than preventing her unnatural, untimely demise? Was it even conceivable that he did feel some manner of affection for her, however slight?

She crushed the idea. _No_. There went her thoughts, running away fancifully again. It was impossible. He was a god, she was a lowly human. Surely it was only grounded in compassion on his part. She had to put an end to such wildly improper, preposterous and downright dangerous thoughts. Hadn't she promised herself that she would? Why did all resolve seem to waver and crumble whenever he stood before her? It was distressing. Most alarming. A part of her desperately wanted to ask him about the poem, to be rid of agonising over it as she had ever since Slayte had revealed its meaning to her, and yet, she was terrified and did not dare to mention it.

He was still watching her silently. He did not need to reply. She knew it from the way his gaze held hers, unwavering, an unspoken confirmation that he had indeed been the one who had restored her fully to health. He hadn't needed to accelerate the healing process and yet had chosen to regardless. The implications behind that were staggering, leaving Elissa stunned and speechless.

"Itachi," she swallowed, her throat clogged with emotion, feeling her eyes stinging with tears. "I don't know how I can ever thank you, I… all the things you've done for me..." She didn't finish her sentence. She couldn't tell him that the Death she had spent her life despising was the last thing she had ever expected could and would protect her.

He stepped around the table and slowly approached her. She watched, mesmerized, as he drew closer, leaving behind the respectable distance he usually observed with her and coming to a stop just before her. So close that she feared their bodies would touch if she breathed too deeply. That would not be a concern, since she seemed entirely incapable of breathing at all in that moment. She turned searching hazel eyes towards him, struck all at once by just how much taller he was than herself.

He slowly lifted a ruby-ringed hand and gently brushed stray strands of chestnut hair from her face, tucking them behind her ear, his eyes following the movements of his hand. His fingers brushed against the shell of her ear and he did not, at first, retract his hand. Elissa found she couldn't wrench her eyes from his, even when she knew that it had to be wrong, disrespectful even, to sustain eye-contact for so long. His eyes were the most beautiful and arresting she had ever seen on any face, and the way he seemed to truly _see_ her as nobody else ever had before made her powerless to resist the darkly seductive magnetism of that all-knowing gaze. Inside her chest her heart was pounding again.

Why did he reach out to touch her in such a way? Tucking her hair behind her ear denoted a tender gesture laced with care, she knew, and yet… he had never taken the liberty of initiating physical contact without cause in the past. Save for restoring her bag to her and the multitude of times he had been compelled to touch her to save, heal or otherwise assist her, Itachi had always maintained a carefully measured, respectable distance between them. But at that moment, he was close enough for her to glimpse the lighter flecks of stormy grey in the onyx irises that pierced through her from behind his gilded mask.

Her breath caught in her throat as his fingers came to rest on the curve of her cheek, lingering briefly before he spoke.

"You need not thank me, Angelissa."

When she searched his eyes, for the meaning behind those words, she felt her heart would stop entirely at the sight of the tenderness that was hidden behind those fathomless, ebony irises. Seeing her confusion, he slowly withdrew his hand and added, "I acted on my own desire."

She could not seem to work her mind to understand and accept the words he had spoken. Their meaning, combined with the gentle tenderness with which he had looked at her, with which he had touched her, left her feeling as if a tempest had swept through her, scattering her thoughts into fragments, leaving nothing behind but the thundering roar of her heartbeat.

He turned to leave, placing a hand firmly upon her left shoulder as did so. "Take heed. Leave no doors unlocked."

She nodded mutely at the repeated advice, not trusting herself to answer at that moment, too overwhelmed by gratitude and a multitude of so many other, warring emotions. Her swarming, perplexed thoughts were whirling in riotous cyclones, causing chaos and pandemonium to run rampant in her mind. She had never felt so bewildered. So afraid of her own feelings, of everything she couldn't comprehend about him. She had never felt so uncertain. Of all the mysteries that had unfolded to her, it was Itachi and not knowing what those dark, entrancing eyes were thinking whenever they locked onto her, that disconcerted her most.

"Until we meet again, Angelissa," he murmured in parting. Then he stepped back, and turned toward the doorway.

"Goodnight," she whispered, watching as he exited the kitchen, his cloak trailing behind him. Seconds later she hurried to the doorway, peering into the hall that led to the living room. Surely enough, he had already vanished.

Elissa's eyebrows drew together in confusion. Had she said something wrong? Why had he departed so suddenly? She hadn't even gotten the chance to ask him whether he'd liked the cakes. Sighing deeply, she rested her head against the door frame, thoughtlessly lifting her hand to her face to touch the cheek his own fingertips had lingered upon just a minute before, clinging onto the word 'again' once more - another promise of certainty that she would see him again soon.

She knew that her vegetables were likely over-cooked. As she walked back toward the oven, her eyes were snagged by the plate of cupcakes on the table.

Her disappointment was replaced with foolish, giddy delight, when she noticed that two out of the five that she'd taken out of the fridge had been eaten, and there were no signs of any crumbs left.

* * *

The indisputable evidence afforded to him by Angelissa's account, by Vetty's involvement in the entire affair, and by the familiar chakra signature he had picked up on during the most recent attempt on Angelissa's life, led the stoic god of death through the hedges of the underworld's gardens where black and white hydrangeas blossomed on all sides. Their fragrance was intoxicating to deities, poisonous to mortals.

At the approaching corner of the maze stood none other than the queen of the underworld, her hair piled high into an elaborate bun on her head, her crown perfectly in place, gleaming in the ethereal, translucent, turquoise glow of the passing fireflies. Her sequined, midnight-blue chiton was bound by a silver-leaf belt and she stood proudly as she admired her work.

A woven silver basket was set at her feet as she snipped off the exquisite blooms, one after the other, and laid them to rest by their counterparts. She turned slightly as she saw him approach, and a slow smile spread across her darkly painted lips.

Itachi's eyes narrowed infinitesimally at the sight of his mother. Had the word "mother" blinded him in regards to the goddess standing before him? Had the memories of his upbringing cast a shroud over her, preventing him from seeing that beyond that, she was a woman just like any other?

"My love," she greeted, extending her arms towards him.

He accepted her embrace quietly, and when she drew back, still holding his shoulders affectionately, he searched her eyes for the truth hidden behind the love that gleamed there.

"I have missed you of late, my son. The sight of you is a balm to my soul." She turned back to her work, snipping one bloom after another from its place on the flowering bush.

"Yes, the same has reached my ears, mother," he murmured in agreement.

Nyx started, and the bloom she cut from the bush tumbled past her outstretched hand, falling to her feet. Hastily pasting on a smile, she kicked the offensive bloom gently to the side with a velvet-slippered foot, before questioning, "Whatever do you mean, my son?"

"Lord Cronus has informed me of your concern as to my whereabouts." His voice was low and devoid of intonation, as impassive as his expression and Nyx could not glean anything from it. What did that mean? What did he know?

"Ah, our Lord must have heard me airing my concerns to the servants. I admit I've had nothing but you on my mind as of late," she chirped, filling her basket.

"Nothing?" Itachi questioned quietly, the simple word filling Nyx with an ominous sense of foreboding.

Unease scrambled through her veins. He was her son. But he had grown into a fearsome deity, respected across the three realms. He tolerated no interference in his matters, showed no mercy to those who attempted to deceive him and yet, she was his mother. Surely, his affection towards her would warrant some form of immunity? Beyond that, it was unlikely he had discovered anything at all about her involvement in his affairs. She had escaped his notice for centuries already. Even if he held suspicion towards her, surely, he merely hoped for her to waive those concerns. Doubtless, the child's heart within him longed to believe in her, for her to satisfactorily explain away any fears that might have taken root in his heart. Yes, that she could do.

"What concerns you, my child?" She laid her shears to rest in the basket and turned towards her son. "Do you doubt that my heart belongs wholly to you and your brother?" The affectionate smile on her lips and the warm glow in her dark eyes sought to reassure him.

"Forgive me, mother," Itachi demurred. "I can not but wonder why this concern for my well being led you to pursue me to the surface. Surely, you can have no business there?"

Nyx faltered, her lips parted for a silent, sharp intake of breath and surprise sparked in her upturned, heavy-lashed eyes. It was impossible. She had cloaked herself in the night itself. She had been invisible to even his eyes and yet, she recalled how his crimson eyes had flickered briefly over her on the surface. That moment where she had believed herself safely veiled from his eyes… had she truly been so?

"I… I cannot know what you mean, my son." She stammered.

"Mother," Itachi continued, looking down into his mother's startled onyx eyes, noting the flash of blind panic that had flickered to life there. The movement in her throat as she swallowed thickly. The hint of fear behind her startled expression that cleared almost as suddenly as it appeared.

He bent to retrieve the black hydrangea she had attempted to kick beneath the hedge and, reaching for her wrist, lifted her ringed hand between the two of them and laid the bloom to rest on her pale palm. Still holding her wrist, he hovered over his mother and whispered quietly, "Your countenance betrays you."

Nyx lowered her gaze and stared at the black petals of the hydrangea she had discarded. She could not afford to confirm his suspicions in the slightest or all of her efforts thus far would be for naught. If he discovered her involvement, if he learned of the mortal maidens concealed beneath the oceans, if he even learned of the prophecy itself… the powerful hand holding her slight wrist so gingerly, might become the hand of an enemy.

The thought terrified her. Would her own son stand against her? Although everything she had done had been for his sake? She knew he had a strong sense of justice and was filled with misguided pity for the mortals… she did not know whether that pity outweighed his love for her and she did not care to find out.

Schooling her features into a neutral expression, she lifted her face towards her son. She did not know how much he knew, or where he had seen her, and she could not afford to be caught lying outright nor admitting to her actions. If Itachi was clever, well, she was centuries older than him. She knew this game as well as any.

Pressing a hand to her mouth in surprise, she furrowed her brow in a desperate plea. "Oh, please, my son. Do not tell your father of this. It is thoroughly mortifying."

A flicker of surprise flitted through Itachi's eyes as he released his mother.

"I admit, you were right. Indeed, I ventured to the surface although I had no business there." She turned away from him to toss the hydrangea into the basket. "I had no other choice. My Vetty has still not returned and she was the dearest of my familiars. As you are doubtless aware, I cannot simply allow for an underworld feline to wander among the mortals. I would be held responsible for whatever chaos ensues."

She paced back and forth, as if driven to distraction by her predicament while Itachi stood firmly in place, observing her through fathomless eyes.

"And sure enough, Vetty has already caused mischief. Just as I feared she would." Nyx looked over her shoulder, to ascertain no eavesdroppers lingered nearby, before approaching Itachi and laying a hand on his arm as she leaned in to confess, "I fear she has bound a mortal woman to herself by blood."

"I had no choice but to attempt to lure the mortal to the underworld, forcing Vetty to follow but alas, it was all in vain. The mortal managed to escape and Vetty is still at large, causing trouble I dare not even imagine."

She resumed her pacing, folding her arms across her chest as if to reassure herself. "A blood-bond with a mortal! And I, to be held responsible! Oh, that Vetty has caused more mischief than I wish to be held accountable for this time. I did my utmost to put things to rights but all my attempts were for naught. I hate to think what would happen if Vetty is not returned immediately, along with that mortal. I must see to it that the bond is somehow broken and that your father does not learn of my incompetence."

Itachi remained silent as he listened to his mother's explanation.

Nyx chanced a glance at her son, "It is most humiliating that you have discovered my irresponsible oversight, if your father were to learn of this..."

"Father is most forgiving in your affairs," Itachi responded quietly. "You are a brave goddess indeed, to fear father and not Lord Cronus' retribution. As we know, he is swift in punishment."

Nyx's breath hitched in her throat again but she caught herself and, steeling her emotions, turned to Itachi calmly, "I should think Lord Cronus has no time for such trifles. Surely, he can not be bothered with a report of one wayward underworld feline." She waved a hand in dismissal.

Itachi's mouth set in a thin line and Nyx's next words could not make it past the knot on her tongue. She had made a mistake somewhere. Something had caught his notice. What had she done? Where was the error that had allowed him to see through her pretense? Trepidation flooded her heart as her mind raced to find the mistake and set it to rights.

"You need not concern yourself further with the matter, Mother." Itachi announced, displeasure veiled behind the coldness of his onyx eyes. "I will see to the feline… and the mortal."

The fear in her heart dissipated at the sheer joy his words kindled to life within her. He would see to the mortal. That was all she needed. Surely, once he laid eyes on her and spent time with her intimately, their hearts would be bound by affection for one another and his long-suffering solitude would at last be brought to an end.

"Oh, you have my gratitude, Itachi." She hummed with a smile. "Then I will leave matters in your most capable hands."

"Ensure that you do." Itachi nodded, turning away from her. Nyx admired his retreating back with awe, watching his cloak billowing behind him as his proud form faded into the distance.

He had grown into a most handsome deity, wise, kind, just, and perfect. How dearly she loved him. How she hoped for him to find love and happiness. A loyal, subservient wife at his side. Children to call his own.

_I should think Lord Cronus has no time for such trifles._

Her mistake hit her with the force of one of Zeus' thunderbolts and her knees trembled. She sunk to the ground as her legs refused to carry her.

She had dismissed the threat of Cronus' wrath and she had been fool enough to do so calmly. She should have trembled in fear. Should have begged him to keep it a secret. Should have shown the deference and humility that was customary in the Underworld. She had been damnably ignorant enough to speak of the patriarch with a familiarity few would have.

She trembled in horror at the thought of her son discovering how she had spent the past few centuries, caged in Cronus' arms, making herself available to him in ways the laws of gods and men frowned upon. The disdain she would discover in her family's eyes, the hatred on their expressions… she would rather fling herself to Tartarus' depths than be forced to witness them.

She squeezed her eyes shut and shivered as she recalled her foolish oversight. Impending doom hovered over her head with a blood-curdling finality at the inevitable conclusion he would draw from her words. She could only pray with all her heart that Itachi was more concerned with the mortal on the surface than with the hints of Nyx's betrayal underground.

* * *

Elissa pushed open the front door to her apartment building the next morning, determined to collect her mail. She had been neglecting the post for nearly a week since all the chaos began, but it was time to take her life back into her own hands. She pulled her hair out from the shawl wrapped around her neck as she stepped through the doorway into the glittering winter sunshine and adjusted her cross-body brown leather purse as she made her way the few steps up the road to get her mail.

She unlocked her compartment and pulled out several letters. Bills, advertisements… her breath caught in her throat as she saw the sender's address on the last letter.

Canterbury Police Station, Old Dover Road.

Her case. Her confession. She swallowed thickly as she was suddenly hit with a bout of nausea. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. She would be alright. She had to be. This was what she had wanted.

_You are neither a murderer. Nor a killer. It was a thing ordained._

With a determined frown, she placed the other letters in her purse and opened the letter from the police station.

_Dear Miss Caelum,_

_Regarding your given statement in the above case we hereby inform you that an official investigation into the death of Horace Williams has concluded that there was no indication of foul play._

_As the evidence and the testimonies provided indicate there is no suspicion of criminal intent or activity, the case has been closed._

_Should new information come to light, the case may be reopened at a future point in time._

The case was closed. The investigation had been concluded. It was over.

She had done the right thing. She had done as much as she could, hadn't she? The grief of having caused another living being's death still stung deep but she knew now that it had been an unfortunate accident, one that would haunt her forever, but one she would somehow learn to live with. There was no other option.

"Darling," the smooth voice that spoke up behind her had the fine hairs on the back of her neck standing on end.

She whirled around, only to find Cain standing almost immediately behind her. She had not heard him approaching.

"Cain." Elissa stood her ground and met his eye as she clutched the letter to her chest. If she had not made herself clear on the phone, then she would do so now. She was done with this man. Done with all the chaos he had introduced into her life. Done with all the self-doubt and confusion he whispered into her veins.

"What brings you here?" Elissa asked, clutching her purse strap defensively.

"What brings me here?" He flashed her that familiar, disarming grin as he ran a hand through his hair, brushing back the blond locks that had fallen over his forehead. "Why, you, of course."

"You haven't been picking up my calls, did you lose your phone? We said we would meet up when you're feeling better, remember?"

He looked her once over, his azure eyes lingering on her form longer than necessary and Elissa felt distinctly uncomfortable under his gaze.

"Well, I'd say you're feeling better. You're a sight for sore eyes, Darling. But you tell me, how are you?"

"Cain, I said I want to be left alone. That there is no potential for there to be anything between us in the long-term." Elissa responded calmly, not willing to play along with his games.

"No, you said you needed space. A breather. And that's what I gave you." He sidled closer, and slipped an arm around her waist, before pulling her in towards himself.

"I'm sure you're thinking more clearly now that you're feeling a bit better, aren't you?"

Elissa struggled to free herself from his grasp and pushed at his chest to try and win some distance between them.

"Hey, hey. Look, I'm sorry for the things I said. I see people die every day and I admit, I've become somewhat desensitized to it. I was only trying to make you feel better, love," he cooed into her ear.

"Let go of me!" Elissa shouted, frustrated by his vice-like grip.

Surprised, he finally released her. He lifted his hands in surrender, as if to suggest his innocence. "Now, what's all this, Elissa? What's going on?"

"I'll tell you what's going on, Cain," she snapped, smoothing down her coat. "In case I didn't make myself clear enough on the telephone, allow me to do so now."

She lifted her chin, meeting his gaze evenly.

"You are not, and never have been, my boyfriend, Cain. I don't recall ever agreeing to that, and I certainly don't recall you ever asking me. So, I would appreciate it if you stop introducing yourself as if you were and stop touching me so familiarly without my permission."

"Feisty," Cain chuckled. "I like it."

Elissa bristled and her brow furrowed in anger. "Not feisty. Honest. Whatever this relationship between us was, I am ending it now. Don't call me or visit me anymore, Cain. I don't want to see you again."

"What?" Disappointed indignance registered on his countenance. "All of a sudden? Elissa, what's happened?"

"What - What's happened?" Elissa echoed in disbelief. Had he not been present the past few months? Had he not seen with his own eyes all the misfortune that had clouded her life ever since he had entered it? All the ways he had wronged her?

"You can't be serious!"

"Elissa," he cooed, stepping closer, reaching for her hand. "Give me a chance, you've been through a lot. You're not in your right mind right now."

"Don't touch me!" Elissa hissed, stepping back.

Taking a deep breath, she tried again. "I am absolutely in my right mind at the moment, although I can't be sure if that holds true for the previous months of our acquaintance." She spoke evenly, deliberately, and as calmly as she could.

"You endangered my life and my wellbeing more than once with your reckless behavior. Some of it was unintentional but mostly, you knew precisely what you were doing. The speeding, the graffiti, the drugs…" she groaned, remembering it all. "It always went from bad to worse with you."

"Even when I nearly died, and was hospitalized with almost no hope of a full recovery, you… you didn't feel an ounce of remorse! Life is just one big game for you, isn't it? You isolated me from my friends, you pushed me into things you knew I was uncomfortable with… Did you think I was some kind of toy? Did you want to see how far you could bend me until I broke? No." She held up a hand when he opened his mouth to answer.

"Forget it," she dismissed, shaking her head. "I don't even want to know. I don't know what came over me. You're not even my type." She muttered, pressing a hand to her temple. She could feel a light headache brewing, but she wasn't backing down.

"It doesn't matter. All that matters is this. I want nothing more to do with you, Cain Lockwood. Please respect that and leave."

She stood across from him, meeting his gaze confidently, hoping the message had gotten through to him. Nothing could have prepared her for the sound that met her ears.

Cain laughed. A chuckle at first, and then a deep, rumbling sound as if he found her suffering truly hilarious.

"I'm sorry, Elissa." He got out between bursts of laughter. "Truly, I am. It's just so preposterous."

Wiping a tear of mirth from his eye, he finally lifted crystal blue eyes towards her, still chuckling. "Do you really believe I am to blame for the things that have happened to you? Wow. Deflecting big time. And what - your friends? You're joking, right?"

He frowned as he stepped closer. "Did you forget that you were the one who came to me first? Asking me to get you out of that tea shop? Asking me not to leave you to face them alone? Did you forget all the things you said? About that psycho bitch and her antisocial guard dog?"

"Hey," Elissa countered, anger blazing within her. Yes, she had said things. Things she deeply regretted, but she refused to allow him to reduce her to self-doubt again. She refused to allow him to absolve himself of the accountability for the things he had done, by shifting the blame to her.

"Don't you talk about her that way. I may have said some things, but… if it weren't for your influence, we would've made up ages ago. We always do. You're the one who kept planting ideas in my head, riling me up. Do you think I'm an idiot?!" She seethed.

"Do you think I don't remember how you suggested that Slayte sees me as some kind of doll, when in fact, _you're_ the one who saw me that way? Think I don't remember how you were insulting their business and picking fights with them every chance you got with your snide comments? Or the way you pointed them out to me in the club knowing full well I would lose it?! That was exactly what you wanted, wasn't it? I still remember you laughing. You were so pleased with yourself, it was disgusting."

Elissa shook her head and shuddered at the memory. "And… you even went so far as to hide the fact that Slayte saved me. That she came through for me _again_ even though I was so terrible to her. You hid that from me and pretended it was you! How can you be so deceitful? How can you live with yourself?!"

Cain scoffed and rolled his eyes. "I guess this means you made up with them. So, they've gaslighted you into believing I'm the one at fault and they're all you have. Pitiful, really." He clicked his tongue and shook his head.

Gripping her shoulders, he loomed in over her. "Was I wrong? Were you wrong? Isn't it true that she messed with your head? That the both of them lied to you? That they followed you places no matter how much distance you tried to put between the two of you?"

"Do you mean," Elissa ground out, glaring up at him, "the way you are doing right now?"

"Me?" Cain released her and stepped back. "Whatever that fucking bitch told you about me…"

"Don't you talk about her that way! You have no right! She's a thousand times the friend you never were!" Elissa shouted at him, not caring who heard. After everything Slayte had been through. Everything she had done for Elissa. After all of her sacrifice, hearing Cain speak about her that way, realizing there was a time Elissa had condoned it, made her want to sink into the earth. Made her want to tear him apart.

"Oh, I'll say what I want. It's about time someone told you the fucking truth. That fucking stalker is a psycho. You only have to look at her to see it but you like playing house with that bitch as if she -"

Elissa's hand connected with Cain's face with such force that he stumbled two paces before regaining his footing.

"How _dare_ you?" She seethed, fury burning in her glowing hazel eyes. "I never want to hear her name from your mouth again. Slayte has been the most loyal friend."

Tears of anger and guilt pricked at Elissa's eyes as Cain stared at her in shock, a hand pressed to his face. "And I didn't deserve her."

She blinked the tears away and shook her head, her palm red and stinging from the force of impact. "If you so much as mention her name again, I swear to God, Cain, not even your father will be able to save your sorry hide."

"It's over. Don't call me. Don't visit me. If I ever hear your name again, it'll be too soon."

She turned on her heel, ready to finally put Cain and all of his chaos behind her, when she felt a large, strong hand grip her arm. Glancing up over her shoulder, she saw him hovering over her, his expression darkened with anger.

"Did you think it would be that easy to break up with me?" He murmured quietly, his baritone low and foreboding.

Elissa tried to yank her arm out of his grasp, but he held firm. Horror and dread filled her as she struggled, but Cain was unaffected, bringing his other hand up to trace a feather-light touch up her free arm and over her shoulder.

"I believe I've mentioned this before. I always get what I want." His fingers trailed up the side of her neck and Elissa shuddered in disgust. "No exceptions."

Without warning, Elissa stomped her heeled boot onto his instep, causing him to release her with a grunt of pain. Without waiting to see if he recovered, she tore down the walkway, her feet pounding upon the pavement as she hastened to put as much distance as possible between them. At the bend, she chanced a look over her shoulder, only to find that Cain was close on her heels and his face was contorted in fury.

With a gasp of horror, she quickened her steps, her heart racing in blind panic. Her surroundings passed by in a blur as she struggled to stay ahead of him, but he was bigger than her, stronger, and faster. He would catch up to her in no time, and what would happen to her then?

She didn't want to think about it. Pushing herself to go faster, to lift her feet that much quicker, she sped past the buildings and the parks, skirting the few elderly passersby on the road at that hour. Was there any point in asking for help? He would probably grab her before she could even finish voicing her plea.

She felt his fingers brush against the back of her coat and she released a cry of alarm. She was out of breath and running as fast as she could, but he was closing in. She was doomed.

_Someone, save me!_

Her feet seemed to have a mind of their own because after what seemed like an endless race against time she spotted a familiar building with a green-and-gold glass-paneled door to salvation.

Elissa burst through the door to the tea shop, heedless of the customers who looked up in alarm as she did so. Slayte froze where she stood, on her way back to the service area with a tray in her hands and Levi's head shot up from where he sat at the counter. Elissa fled down the length of the aisle without slowing a step and rushed into Slayte's arms, breathless and terrified.

"Elissa!" Slayte dropped the tray to the floor with a clatter and reached out to receive her friend, holding her close. "What's wrong?!"

Elissa gulped for breath, her eyes darting wildly around the tea shop as she struggled to speak. He wouldn't follow her in here, would he?

"It's- it's Cain! He's-"

But before she could finish, the door was thrown open once more and the very same blond doctor in question darkened their doorstep. Far from his usual, smug and aloof appearance, his long, blond locks were disheveled, his coat was askew from the chase and a frenzied rage simmered in his cold, blue eyes.

"There you are, darling," he drawled, stalking down the wood-paneled floor. "I've been looking for you."

"Stop calling me that!" Elissa all but screamed, clinging to her raven-haired friend.

Slayte scowled in anger and pushed Elissa behind herself in a protective gesture. "You have no business with her," she answered evenly, a warning in her voice. "Leave at once."

"I don't take orders from you, psycho bitch. I told you to stop putting your nose into our affairs, didn't I?" He answered smoothly, adjusting his coat as he approached.

He was brought to a stop by Levi's hand on his chest. The owner of the tea shop had leapt smoothly over the counter and crossed the distance to the infuriating blond in a matter of a few seconds, posing a further obstacle in Cain's path towards Elissa.

"You heard her," Levi nodded towards the door. "Out."

"Hiding behind them now? When you were cursing them only days ago? Clever little thing," he chuckled, meeting Elissa's eyes over Slayte's shoulder. "You're not so different from me, are you Elissa?"

"Oi." Levi interrupted, stepping more firmly between Cain and Elissa. "She doesn't want to see you. Get out."

Cain attempted to shoulder his way past Levi. "You think this is the end? You think you can get away from me that easily?! You stupid, little cunt -"

It happened faster than Elissa could process. One moment Cain had pushed past Levi and was closing in on herself and Slayte, the next - Levi had placed a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back before throwing a punch that connected with Cain's jaw so soundly the crack still echoed clearly in Elissa's ears. The man went flying down the length of the tea shop at the force of the impact, hitting a chair as he fell and rolled to a stop by the doorway, motionless.

"That's twice now I've asked you to leave," Levi said calmly.

A collective gasp went through the customers as some shuffled quickly to their feet to leave the building in haste. Elissa slowly stepped out from behind Slayte's shadow and approached Cain hesitantly, a hand pressed over her mouth in shock, keeping a careful distance as she determined he was unconscious but not dead. She turned to tell her friends as much when she saw Slayte approach Levi single-mindedly. The raven-haired nymph reached up and, cupping his face in both hands, pulled him in towards herself and kissed him firmly on the mouth.

"That," Slayte announced breathlessly, her eyes aglow with pride. "Is the hottest thing you have ever done."

Levi stared at Slayte in muted surprise, the spontaneous action causing his surroundings and even the current incident to fade into the background. An adrenaline rush was still coursing through his veins and his eyes darkened in response to the fleeting touch of her lips but before he could pull her in to kiss her properly, she released him and turned towards Elissa, pulling her friend away from the blond.

"The two of you go into the kitchen." Slayte instructed, taking over command of the situation. There would be time enough for questions later. For now, people were staring and Elissa was in a state of shock. She needed to be able to sit down somewhere in peace and quiet. Beyond that, Slayte wanted to get Levi away from judgmental eyes. "Levi, please put some ice on that hand, I wouldn't want you getting hurt." She steered them both behind the counter. "I'll take care of things out here. Elissa needs a breather, and a cup of tea. You'll get her one, won't you?"

Before either of them could truly protest, she had ushered them safely into the kitchen area and turned to face the stunned customers.

"I am truly sorry about all this, but if it's not too much trouble, might I ask you to clear the premises? I will need to tend to this unfortunate rat infestation." She explained, gesturing towards the unconscious man.

The customers stared at her in surprise a moment, before the first of them began picking up their belongings and the rest followed suit.

Slowly, the gathering collected themselves and made for the door, expressing sympathy or surprise to one another as they left the tea shop. Slayte closed the door behind the last of them and withdrew her phone.

She would have to call an ambulance, although the repulsive doctor did not deserve it in the slightest. Cain was lucky he was a mortal. If he were anything but, she would have seen to it that he received the chastisement he deserved.

She cast one last glance at the pathetic blond, recalling the terror with which Elissa had burst through their door and the disgusting language with which he had addressed her best friend.

"I should have killed you when I had the chance," she muttered, before sighing and pressing the "call" button.

* * *

Levi placed a gentle hand on Elissa's shoulder, steering her towards the kitchen table.

"Sit down," he instructed. "Catch your breath."

Elissa nodded numbly and allowed herself to be seated, folding her hands nervously in her lap. She watched as Levi rinsed his hand off under cold water only to bite her lip in concern as she saw that his knuckles were red and likely stinging. She got right back on her feet and turned towards the freezer for an ice pack.

She could scarcely bring herself to look at him as she handed it over. "That looks painful. I'm sorry."

Her own recent behavior, the argument that had taken place in this very kitchen, and Cain's earlier accusation were still very clear in her mind.

_If I wanted brotherly advice, I would ask my real brother._

How could she have said such a thing? To Levi, no less, who had time and again proven to be no less caring than a real brother would be? Who had always shown her kindness and understanding, in his own way? She knew it wasn't normal, or expected in any way, for a friend's boyfriend to be this considerate.

"Thanks." Levi accepted the ice pack and pressed it to his hand. "It's nothing. Just a little out of practice."

He nodded towards the table. "Sit down, I'll make you a cup."

Elissa nodded and slunk back into her seat.

"What happened with shit-for-brains?" Levi asked, retrieving a kettle.

"I broke up with him. Or at least, I was trying to." Elissa responded glumly. "He totally flipped out. I mean, I knew he was angry, but… I didn't think he would completely lose it that way."

"Hm," Levi answered quietly, his frown hidden from Elissa as he stood with his back towards her, setting the kettle on. "What did you expect? He has shit for brains."

He spooned the tea leaves into a porcelain teacup with gilded edges and rose detailing and poured the steaming water into the cup, before stirring gently.

"Good that you came here," he commented, turning back towards her. He set the cup of tea in front of Elissa before moving to the other side of the table.

Levi cast her a glance, seeing her stare miserably into the steaming, brown liquid, watching the swirling tea leaves within.

"You okay?" he questioned, calling her attention.

"Oh, yeah. I think. I just don't understand why he would do that. He was annoying, to be sure, and always pushy, but… this was a bit much, even for him." Elissa deflected, reaching for her tea.

"Are you surprised?" Levi deadpanned, "You were the only one buying Dr. Dumbass's act."

"You guys can't have known he would be this way from the start?" she questioned, incredulous. "You can't see that sort of thing in a person!"

"Speak for yourself," Levi countered, crossing his arms.

Elissa stirred her tea thoughtfully. Had it really been obvious to everyone but herself that Cain was so much trouble?

"I, um…" She attempted, clutching the warm tea cup in her cold fingers. "I never cursed you guys. I may have complained, but I… I didn't…" Tears pooled in her eyes as she attempted to explain away Cain's accusation.

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Levi answered evenly. "How long have we known you? Why would we believe a word that comes out of that quack's mouth?"

"I just, I was worried that you…" Elissa trailed off and sighed. "I know I've said and done a lot of terrible things to both of you but I…" she bit her lip. Where to draw the line? And did the line even matter? Tears spilled over her cheeks and she wiped them away as she sniffled, trying to get the words out.

"Forget it," Levi dismissed, uncomfortable with her tears. "If Slayte thinks I made you cry, she'll have my head. Cut it out."

Elissa laughed, despite herself, and nodded.

"Looks like your case has been closed?" Levi questioned, leaning back in his chair.

Elissa lifted wide eyes to his, "How did you know? I just got the letter today."

Realization dawned and she dropped her gaze once more. The bail amount must have been returned to Levi's account. Of course he would know.

"How much was bail?" she asked hesitantly. "I was a bit out of it and wasn't really paying attention."

"Does it matter?" Levi dismissed. "The case is closed and it's done with."

"It was a lot, wasn't it?" Elissa winced. What had the policewoman at the counter said? Ten thousand? A hundred thousand? She hoped to God it wasn't a hundred thousand. The need to know burned on her tongue and at length, she gathered her courage.

"It wasn't... a hundred thousand, was it?" she tried, hopeful that Levi would roll her eyes and tell her she was dumb, but, instead, his silence served as her answer.

"Oh, my god." She let her head fall into her hands as awareness of the sheer sum hit her with full force. "A hundred thousand pounds."

"It's been refunded. Nothing to lose your head over." Levi deflected, "Drink your tea, it's getting cold."

Elissa sipped miserably at her tea. They hadn't even been on speaking terms and yet, Levi had willingly spent such an enormous amount of money to help her out of a bad situation. Guilt clawed at her insides. Yet another thing they had done for her.

She sat in the warm kitchen, flooded with winter sunlight, a comforting cup of hot tea in her hands and stared thoughtfully into its depths. To think only minutes prior she had been running for her life. Now, in the safety of the tea shop's kitchen she felt warm and protected. She had Slayte and Levi looking out for her. Why had she ever wanted it any other way? She owed them so much and yet, her gratitude was always tinged with regret.

"Levi, I…" she began, setting her cup back on the saucer again. "I've said some horrible things to you."

"Which ones?" Levi threw back casually. His sarcasm was an attempt to lighten the mood, but Elissa bit her lip to hold back further tears.

"That thing I said, about - about real brothers," she whispered sadly.

"I'm really sorry. It eats at me every day that I said that. Every time I think about it, I just… I know I've wronged you both terribly and you've always been so good to me. You've been in no way less than a real brother and you didn't deserve for me to -"

"What?" Levi interrupted. "That? Are you still thinking about that?"

"Yes…?" Elissa sniffled tearfully.

"Are you stupid? Didn't you apologize already?"

"I apologized to Slayte, not to you," she attempted, but Levi waved his hand in dismissal.

"Same thing. Among friends, you don't apologize more than once."

Elissa felt helpless tears of gratitude surge forth and Levi pushed a tissue box towards her.

"For your information, Elissa, words aren't that big a deal. They're just sounds. You had a rough spot and acted like a brat. So what? It's over and you said you're sorry. Stop dwelling on it."

Elissa nodded and wiped at her eyes, grateful beyond words.

"But if you let your tea get cold, you will have something to apologize for," Levi warned. "Drink up."

Elissa laughed through her tears as she lifted the cup to her lips, just as Slayte entered the kitchen.

"Elissa! What happened? What did that asshole do?" Slayte hurried to her friend's side, concerned that far from feeling better, Elissa was still crying despite the minutes that had passed.

"It's nothing, Slayte," Elissa patted her shoulder. "These are good tears. Promise."

"Is that so?" Slayte asked doubtfully, looking to Levi for reassurance.

"Elissa's spending too much time with you again. Crying over everything." He rose to his feet and gestured towards the chair he had abandoned. "Sit down. I'll make you a cup, too."

"Let me see your hand," Slayte argued instead, taking his right hand in both of hers. "This looks like it hurts." She lifted concerned, brown eyes to him, resting a cool palm over his reddened knuckles.

"Stop making it a big deal. It's nothing." He held her concerned gaze with aloof, unruffled grey eyes. It was clear to Elissa that despite his dismissive claims of the contrary, he was touched by her concern. She propped her chin on her hand and watched the two of them.

She had always admired their relationship. How easily they communicated with one another, despite their differences. How readily they supported each other. How cute they were. To think that Slayte was a shadow nymph and Levi a simple human. That knowledge made their solid relationship all the more endearing. It made her long for something just like it. She imagined it was herself for one fraction of a moment, clinging to Itachi's hand and looking up into his eyes in concern, and him looking down at her…

She shook her head as if to banish the wayward thought and returned to her tea. She was doing it again! Although she had promised herself not to! She rubbed at her temples, censuring herself anew as Slayte slid into the seat opposite.

"Are you okay, Elissa?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just stupid." Elissa waved her concerns away and turned to give her friend her full attention.

"What happened out there?" Slayte wanted to know. "What did he do to you?" The angry scowl on her face gave Elissa the impression Slayte was not quite done with Cain. The two of them had always hated each other, but just how much Slayte despised the blond doctor had neither dawned on her nor seemed justified until that moment.

"How did you know?" Elissa asked instead. "That he was like this?"

Levi had suggested as much, that it had been obvious to them from the onset that Cain was capable of hurting her. Why hadn't she seen it? What had she missed?

"It was in his eyes, Elissa." Slayte frowned. "Always in those disgusting eyes when he looked at you. No respect. No appreciation for your time or attention. Acting like he was entitled to you and not like you're the best thing that ever happened to him. It pissed me off to no end."

Elissa blinked at Slayte's coarse language, recalling how formally the older woman had spoken at the beginning of their acquaintance. For Slayte to resort to foul language only proved further how much she despised the unconscious man lying on the floor of the tea shop.

"I understand." Elissa nodded. She had not expected Cain to shower her with praise, to admire or adore her. She had only been looking for a distraction, one he had been more than willing to provide. But Slayte would notice. Of course she would. She would want any man in Elissa's life to love her with a similar intensity as Slayte herself did.

"He didn't want me to break up with him and went a little crazy, but I'm alright," she offered in explanation, before adding thoughtfully, "Because you guys were there."

"Thanks, Slayte. Guess I should have listened to you." She rubbed her arm wearily, all the mistakes of recent months still catching up with her.

"Water under the bridge," Slayte reassured, sensing another apology incoming. "All's well that ends well. As long as you weren't hurt. And besides, Levi knocking his lights out?" She sighed and leaned forward to stare starry eyed at the man pouring her tea. "Definitely one of his finest moments."

Elissa could not help but laugh, and Slayte soon joined in as well. It was ridiculous. It had been scary, but with good friends at her side, she would somehow make it through all of this. It would be okay. They'd figure it out together.

The sound of a blaring siren approaching filled the kitchen as Levi set Slayte's tea in front of her.

"That must be the ambulance," Slayte noted, getting up, but Levi pressed a hand to her shoulder pushing her firmly back in her chair.

"Drink your tea. I'll take care of it."

"But!" He was already turning to leave, and Slayte reached out, catching a desperate hold of his sleeve. "Let me, please."

He looked at her over his shoulder, "Take a look at your face, stupid. Anyone sees how ecstatic you are about his condition and any claims of self-defense will fly out the window."

"But I," she swallowed thickly, still clinging to his sleeve. "I don't want you getting in trouble."

Levi lifted a hand to her face, causing her breath to catch in her throat - he usually wasn't one for any display of affection in public. Suddenly, he flicked her forehead, causing her to release his sleeve and press a hand to the stinging surface. "I'm not going to get in trouble. Drink your tea and keep Elissa company."

Slayte watched him go and rubbed her forehead, still biting her lip in concern. He had worked so hard to establish a new life for himself. What if Cain tried to sue him? What if they called the police on him? What if he was tried for assault?

Elissa watched her friend's open concern quietly. Why was Slayte so worried about Levi getting in trouble? Elissa recalled how straightforwardly he had been willing to speak of both death and murder, as well as his surprising, inexplicable presence at the police station. She recalled how curiously skilled he had been with a knife as he fought off the hounds the other day.

_Policemen are not your friends._

Levi was a human, they had said, but that did not mean he didn't have his own share of secrets, Elissa realized. For the first time in their acquaintance, Elissa found herself wondering just what they were that made him so calm in the face of catastrophes.

Elissa reached out and gingerly patted Slayte's hand, hoping to offer her some of the comfort she so often received herself.

"He'll be fine, Slayte. He's smart. He knows what he's doing."

Slayte lifted dark eyes to her friend, before placing her other hand on top of Elissa's with a small smile.

"Yeah, you're right. Thank you, Elissa."

The two friends sipped at their tea and spoke of the recent events in their lives, their concerns, their dreams, and their fears before the conversation devolved into the more mundane. The new ice cream shop that opened on the corner. The movie neither of them had gotten around to seeing. A book so good Elissa could not believe Slayte hadn't read it yet. Until all thoughts of the chaotic happenings looming over their heads were banished and forgotten and they were two simple girls living simple lives, enjoying a simple friendship.

* * *

The steady beeping of the vital signs machine filled the air, monitoring the heart-rate of the man who lay unconscious within the hospital bed. Plastic tubes were attached to his arms and an oxygen mask had been placed over his face to aid in his breathing.

The hooded figure waited for the right moment to slip surreptitiously into the empty room, knowing that time was of the essence, that much depended upon the successful execution of their visit. Approaching the bed, cold, calculating, shadow-concealed eyes regarded the prone, fair-haired man.

For months he had worked tirelessly to secure the young mortal woman's affections - only for his fruitless attempts to be foiled with a finality that had resulted in the maiden spurning him once and for all, leaving no further option than to initiate an alternative, more forceful plan.

Thin lips curled into a disdainful smirk. A useless fool he had turned out to be, indeed.

"What a disappointment humans are…" The hissed words hung ominously in the air. "But perhaps, if you became more…"

Yes. Surely he would be of greater value, of further potential, able to be of benefit to their designs at last.

The figure lifted their right hand, and produced a long, slender syringe from beneath the sleeve of their cloak and without hesitation, its contents were injected into the unconscious man's right arm before his visitor swiftly took their leave.

* * *

**AN: Hope you guys had your ice cream! XD**

**Reviews are gold and much appreciated!**


	35. Part XXXIV: Set in Stone

**TRIGGER WARNING: Please note that the following chapter contains a non-explicit sexual encounter that takes place under dubious consent.**

* * *

**Part XXXIV: Set in Stone**

* * *

"Ugh, Levi," Elissa groaned, as he set a plate containing a freshly-baked muffin down on the counter in front of her. "I've been eating _so_ much junk already lately, and it's not even Christmas yet."

"Oi," he threw her a disapproving look. "If you don't want it then I'll just put it back."

"No!" She greedily grabbed the plate and pulled it possessively toward herself before he could take it away again. "I'll have it. Your blueberry muffins are the best."

"That's what I thought," Levi remarked.

Slayte sipped on her cup of tea, smiling over its rim at Levi, who met her eye briefly and turned away to serve the next queuing customer. The girls sat on high stools on the side counter, a more private location that was further away from the regular customer tables. It was early morning and Elissa had stopped by the tea-shop to hand Levi her paperwork ahead of the commencing date of her new part-time post. She was indebted and grateful to her friends for their kindness and excited to begin. Working part-time would afford her the luxury of earning her own income again, as well as allow her the freedom to continue hunting for permanent posts more suited to her career aspirations.

"Vetty _finally_ said something to me last night," Elissa turned her attention back to her best friend. "Can you believe what a brat she is? I had to beg her for days."

Slayte blinked in surprise. "What? Really? She did?"

Elissa nodded as she took a bite of her muffin and a careful sip of her steaming caramel latte. "She called you a silly little nymph," she smiled in amusement.

Slayte's eyebrows drew together. "Well... that's rude. What else?"

"I tried to get her to say more but she went back to ignoring me, and then Itachi turned up so I had to drop it." The brunette's eyes lowered. She set her latte glass down, and proceeded to fidget with the folded napkin Levi had neatly placed on the side of the plate.

Slayte watched, mildly concerned, as her best friend unfolded and repeatedly began to twist the tissue, a habit she knew from experience betrayed Elissa's internal anxiety.

"Thanatos came to see you?" she pressed, surprised by this news. Elissa hadn't really spoken much about him, or how she was dealing with the fact that he was Death incarnate. Mostly her questions had related to his deity status and wanting to clarify other matters. Slayte had supposed she was still taking the time to process it all, but wanted to be sure that Elissa wasn't overwhelmed by it. She wondered what further reason Thanatos would have to call upon her so soon.

Lifting her tea-cup back to her lips, she enquired, "What did he want?"

Elissa blinked. "Nothing, really. Just to check that I was holding up okay after... everything, I guess."

"And... are you?" Slayte asked gently, inviting her confidence.

Elissa continued to tug and twist at the napkin, quickly reducing it to frayed shreds. She licked her lips and began in a lower voice, so that only her friend would hear her, "I don't know. None of this has been easy to come to terms with. It's just… so surreal. The things I always thought didn't exist _do_ and nothing's the same anymore."

"You've had a lot to take in, Elissa," Slayte agreed supportively, sympathetically. "Give it some time."

Elissa shook her head incredulously. "A literal prince of gods from the Underworld showed up on _my_ balcony last night." Simply speaking those words out loud still sounded alien and absurd to her. A part of her was still waiting to wake up, to discover that it had all been a dream, somehow. But no amount of pinching herself changed the new reality she was being forced to face.

"Slayte, I…" she met her friend's warm brown eyes helplessly, her expression torn. Slayte could see that her vivid hazel irises were tormented, brimming with bewildered, conflicting emotions as she struggled to come to terms with and articulate her true feelings.

Slayte reached out and placed a hand on Elissa's left forearm, squeezing it encouragingly, reassuringly.

Elissa's gaze returned to the napkin and she slowly exhaled, trying to calm herself down. A few moments of silence passed, before she confided, "He's... what I've spent my whole life hating and wishing never existed. And to think that he's been watching over me, saving my life and protecting me all this time." Shaking her head, she confessed, "I just can't wrap my mind around that. I know he's just a servant to the Fates and they're the ones who decide when a life is over - that's what he told me - and I know I'm safe with him, and he'd never hurt me but…

I still can't help but feel afraid, knowing what he is, what he does. That he's the reason for so much suffering in this world… and that one day, he'll have to take my soul, too. The way he took Evangeline's, my grandparents'..." Elissa's voice trailed off miserably. Every time she believed that she was coping, that things would be alright, all it took was that one, morbid, sombering, depressing thought to send her mood plummeting into a dejected spiral again.

"That's to be expected, Elissa," Slayte comforted her. "He's the ending of all that lives. And he's a god. It's natural to fear his divinity, but he would never allow harm to come to you."

Elissa blinked away her tears, wiping at her eyes hastily to stop any from falling. Crying would do no good, she told herself firmly. She needed to be pragmatic. She needed to accept things for what they were and move forward. And yet of all the truths she had discovered, it was the one about Itachi that caused her the most upset, that she was finding the most difficult to absorb. She knew much of it had to do with her preconceived notions of death. She told herself that having the chance to speak to him about it would surely help her to come to fear it less. If she understood it and the afterlife, surely that would assuage her fears and be of benefit to her?

And yet, deep down, she mourned what he was. She would have wished him to be anything else, anyone else. Because discovering that he was Death himself had resulted in the death of everything she had believed about the nature of their acquaintance. Even despite his words and actions, Elissa knew she needed to kill off any foolish hopes she'd entertained of them progressing any further. He was not her kind. He was so decidedly out of her league. It was probably not a good idea to meet with him any more than was necessary at this point, and yet imagining him gone forever filled her with such inexplicable sadness. A longing she could not comprehend.

"Do the gods choose their roles?" she turned her gaze back to Slayte. "Are they born with them?"

"Some are born with their abilities, some inherit them when the previous god passes," Slayte responded.

"Wait, what?" Elissa frowned. "What do you mean, they pass? The gods are immortal."

"They are," Slayte agreed. "But under certain conditions, they can fade, too. They go to a special place. I don't know much about it, but I know the most common reason is if they go against their function and refuse to see to their duties."

Elissa stared at her, shocked. This was news to her. To think that even immortals were restricted by their own set of laws made her thoughts spin.

"And… Itachi?" she ventured tentatively. "Was he born as Thanatos, or did he inherit that role?"

"I'm not sure," Slayte shrugged. "He's far older than I am, though still young in comparison to other deities. I think he might have inherited it, but I don't know the full story."

Elissa hesitated, before saying, "How old _is_ he?"

"Umm," Slayte's eyebrows drew together thoughtfully. "Truly? I'm not sure. I suppose when you're a deity, it doesn't matter given that you live on forever. Time has a different meaning entirely for them. They don't view months and years the same way mortals do."

"Right. Makes sense." Elissa pushed the napkin aside and took another sip from her hot drink. With a sigh, she went on honestly, "It's funny. I always thought in my head that Death would be hideous. Some awful angel it'd be too terrible to even look at, or this gruesome, hooded reaper - or even something without a face at all." A faraway, distracted look settled over her features, as she murmured, "I never thought, behind that mask, that Death could be so... beautiful…"

Slayte's mind whirred to an abrupt stop. She almost choked on her tea and reflexively spat the remainder of the mouthful out. Coughing and spluttering, she earned an alarmed glance from a startled Elissa and a disapproving look from Levi.

"Are you alright?" Elissa reached out to pat her on the back.

"I-I'm fine," Slayte sputtered, quickly wiping the droplets from the countertop with her napkin. Her mind raced frantically, struggling to comprehend what she had just heard. _Lord Thanatos_ had removed his mask and allowed Elissa to behold his countenance? She gaped, open-mouthed, at her best friend, stunned. It was astonishing. It defied all belief. Slayte couldn't comprehend it.

Recovering, she then exclaimed, "B-Behind the mask? You mean he _showed_ you his _face?_ "

"Yes," Elissa nodded, as if it were the most ordinary and natural thing in the world.

Slayte's jaw dropped lower. "You- you never told me that!" She gawked. "You just said he saved your life and then you found out who he was. You aren't meant to- he _showed_ you? Gods above, Elissa!"

Her best friend stared at her, perplexed. Clearly failing to see what the significance of it was. She did not perceive the magnitude of such an action on Thanatos's part. How could she? Slayte thought bitterly to herself.

At the till, Levi heard his girlfriend's words, and listened attentively as he handed change to the customer whose order he was about to complete.

Elissa shook her head, taken aback by her reaction. "I'm sorry, Slayte. Everything's been a jumbled, crazy mess in my head. I must have forgotten. But that's how I knew that he was..." her voice dropped to a whisper, and a regretful look passed over her features, as she finished, "Death."

It was a significant omission, Slayte thought to herself, and a disturbing revelation that made her mind turn with apprehension. What could Thanatos mean by doing such a thing? A queasy, churning knot formed in her stomach as the only possible and logical conclusions such a gesture pointed toward swamped her thoughts, each one more unsettling and terrifying than the last. Why hadn't he just told her? Why had he chosen to unmask? His face was sacred, not intended to be shown to mortals until the very moment of their passing. Such a sudden shock must have frightened her best friend greatly. Slayte swallowed, deeply troubled. Her eyes shifted back to Elissa, who was staring into space once again, clearly lost to her own thoughts.

She had called Thanatos... beautiful? Slayte recognised that absent-minded look on her friend's face. The look of a girl in absolute enchantment. This did not bode well for Elissa, and Slayte found herself angrily questioning Thanatos's intentions. It was not a nymph's place to cast doubt upon the will and whims of an immortal, but this was her very own best friend, more precious to Slayte than life itself. She couldn't be expected to just sit back and remain silent. To not question it.

Penning a poem to Elissa, choosing to show her his face? It was not like him to toy with mortals and their feelings so irresponsibly. What did he mean by it all?

"Were you alright…?" she finally managed to get out. "I mean, afterwards? That must have been stressful."

"It was," Elissa hugged herself, recalling the chilling moment she had first gazed upon his unconcealed face. "I was terrified. I thought my heart was about to burst out of my chest, but he…" she faltered. "Uh. Well. He did something to calm me down, so I was fine afterwards."

Slayte stared hard at her. Seeing the pink dusting that bloomed into being in her best friend's cheeks, she felt her heart sink in dread. "Something?" she echoed.

Elissa cleared her throat awkwardly. "It was nothing."

"Elissa…"

"He just…" Her blush intensified and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "It wasn't anything. It was probably part of his abilities. It happened so quickly, maybe I even imagined it."

"What did he do?" Slayte demanded.

Elissa bit her bottom lip. She'd tried to dismiss it as nothing, and yet the memory had returned to haunt her continuously ever since that fateful night on the frozen river, robbing her of countless hours of sleep as she'd spent her time in bed tossing and turning restlessly, trying to figure out why he had chosen to soothe her nerves in such a way. To no avail. She had no explanations, only agitation. Only the way simply thinking of it caused her heart to flutter madly within her chest. She'd longed to confide in someone. To share her thoughts, even when she knew it was hopeless, that it had meant absolutely nothing. Who better to lend her ear than Slayte? It wasn't exactly like she could call up her mother and tell her that Death's lips had touched her own.

"He just…" she pressed her fingertips to the corner of her mouth in memory. "It was just a light brush of his lips." She supplied, deeply embarrassed, despite convincing herself that it had most decisively _not_ been a kiss. Kisses were reciprocal. Kisses involved the mutual meeting and moving of two lips. She had been frozen in shock when Itachi's lips had ghosted over her own. It did not count. It had been nothing of the sort. Or so she had spent her days and nights fiercely trying to convince herself was the case.

"What!" Slayte gasped, almost knocking her tea-cup over entirely. "He- he kissed you?!" she cried in horror.

"No - shhh!" Elissa's wide eyes darted anxiously around them in response to her friend's raised voice. Levi shot them a warning look as he took another customer's order. "Slayte, please be quiet, people will hear you!"

"He _kissed_ you?" Slayte repeated in a lower, no less incredulous voice.

"No, it _wasn't_ a kiss," Elissa hissed, trying to calm her best friend down. But the telling expression on Slayte's face was a combination of alarmed and furious. "There's no way he'd ever- Slayte, I told you, he only did it to stop me from fainting. It's how I calmed down at all."

"Right, of course he did," Slayte frowned. Beneath the counter, her hands closed to form tight fists, her protective instincts roaring to life. Regardless of Thanatos's status, she wouldn't stand by and allow Elissa to be taken advantage of in any way. She wouldn't. She _couldn't_. She knew all too well, how captivating Thanatos was. How easy it was to fall under his dark, alluring spell. She couldn't help what Elissa's feelings were, but Thanatos choosing to act upon his was another point entirely. She had thought him responsible!

"It was nothing," Elissa pressed her hands to her flushed cheeks, mortified. "Please don't make a big deal of it." She pleaded, visibly distressed. "He's a god, the god of death. I'm human. It was just a kindness." She dropped her voice to a hushed whisper and added, "We're just friends. That's all we can ever be."

"Elissa," Slayte managed, appalled. Was her friend in denial? Simply refusing to see what she so clearly could? "But the poem, he also-"

"Please, Slayte." Her friend interrupted, closing her eyes and burying her face into her hands in hopeless sorrow. Recalling the couplet he had penned in her notebook, along with all the other confounding things Itachi had said and done since revealing his identity to her, filled Elissa's heart with anguish. All the little gestures and fleeting touches - they meant nothing. Nothing altered the fact he was a deity and she was mortal. There was no conceivable way forward for them. She couldn't allow Slayte to let her think otherwise. It was dangerous. It was wrong.

"Please, don't." She begged again. "This is hard enough for me already, just coming to terms with what he is. Don't let me think it could be anything else. Please."

Slayte remained silent at that, deeply concerned. It seemed to her as if Elissa was desperately trying to convince herself that her words were right. As if she was forcing herself to accept them.

As if a part of her wished she _could_ think otherwise - but was clearly far too afraid to entertain the very real possibility that Thanatos held her in some manner of affection. She had already consigned herself to the fact that they would remain friends.

As her friend released another heavy sigh and turned sadly back to her coffee, Slayte worriedly found herself wondering whether or not Thanatos had other plans.

* * *

After courteously taking his leave, Shisui exited the meeting chamber through the onyx, arched, gilded double-doors, leaving behind the throng of deities who lingered within, drinking ambrosia and conversing following what they had deemed to be a successful assembly.

Itachi fell into quiet step beside him moments later, and together they walked some distance down the vast, black-marble constructed hallway before Shisui telepathically addressed his kin.

' _Such insufferable arrogance.'_ Behind his mask his eyebrows formed a knot of irritation. ' _It is as if they have taken leave of their senses entirely. I daresay half of them have never even stood in the same vicinity as Zeus! It's about as much as I can stand to bear attending these blasted meetings where I am compelled to listen to those ignorant half-wits slandering his name.'_

Itachi patiently allowed him to vent, sensing he had still yet more to say. Sure enough, Shisui continued, ' _They've not a single ounce of intelligence amongst them, following blindly like herded sheep in their flock.'_ He paused, before adding mildly, ' _The way our esteemed ruler prefers his subjects, of course.'_

' _Cronus has noted our absence from the assemblies,'_ Itachi cautioned, recalling the confrontation he'd had upon his return to the Underworld after an uncommonly lengthy stay upon the surface spent in Angelissa's company. A few surface days had passed since that night, in which he had only called upon her once after. He knew he could not afford to be careless and permit such generous visits often - no matter how much he desired her nearness. No matter the ceaseless pull he felt to seek her out and bask in the warmth and light of her presence. He possessed not that luxury. What he truly wished to do - and what duty commanded of him - were irreconcilable. The many aeons of his existence had taught Itachi that lesson well.

He had to check his actions carefully, and ensure an increased presence in the Underworld. As difficult as that was between the burdens of his many duties, Itachi knew it was the only way to appease Cronus. He could not, under any circumstances, allow the Uchiha patriarch to learn of the true reasons behind his more frequent and extended ventures to the surface.

Shisui's lips pressed together, forming a thin, displeased line. ' _Is that so? Our Leader is aware that our duties are relentless. Indeed, was it not he who ensured that we can scarcely find reprieve from them? He seemed not so willing to have us present in other more furtive assemblies, yet now demands us to attend?'_

Itachi turned his head slightly, angling a warning look at his kin. One did not question Cronus. Shisui knew this. He was far too intelligent to allow a slip of the tongue, but Itachi knew him well enough to read the displeasure in his countenance, and for a god as shrewd and perceptive as Cronus was, a simple frown was telling enough and adequate reason to incite his wrath.

' _Take heed, Shisui,'_ Itachi warned.

' _You need not be concerned,'_ Shisui's dark eyes flicked onto him. ' _I will handle the royal court and ensure Cronus is appeased. You must continue to look into matters upon the surface. I fear that whoever hunts Elissa does not act alone. For Vetty to take such a bond, to bind her very life-force to a mere mortal; there are larger forces at play here, cousin, and we must discover their intentions.'_

Itachi nodded resolutely, determined to unravel the mystery and secure Angelissa's safety once and for all.

Shisui's gaze shifted back to his cousin's aloof countenance. ' _I take it, given that my interference has not yet been requested, that all is well with Elissa…?'_ he telepathically conveyed.

Itachi blinked, his expression betraying nothing of his inner thoughts as they drew to an intersection in the hallway.

' _I head to the oceans,'_ he responded simply, and with that, stepped away from his cousin, taking the left turn that would lead him to the sprawling dark palace's exit.

Shisui paused, watching him go, a small, knowing smile playing upon his lips.

* * *

Slayte pushed open the metal door leading to the back alleyway, hauling two large, black garbage bags over her shoulder as she stepped out into the fading sunlight. An unyielding frown was etched onto her face. The same expression she had adopted from the moment Elissa had turned her back and exited the tea shop.

Try as she might to turn the current situation over in her head until it made some semblance of sense, she drew nothing but a blank.

Thanatos was toying with her. He had to be. What other reason could he have for so preying on the affections of a frail mortal? But, no. The god in question was none other than Thanatos. He was nothing if not authentic in all that he did. It was an agonizing paradox. His actions conflicted with everything she thought she knew about him. But this was Elissa they were talking about. Her best friend! She could not afford to sit idly by while Thanatos decided whether or not she was worth amusing himself with. The alternative, that he might be sincere in his intentions towards her, that he might truly wish to make her his, was equally terrifying to consider.

Elissa belonged on the surface, with light, and love, and life. This was where her place undoubtedly was. Surely, Thanatos had to realize that? If he held any appreciation for who she was, at all. Surely he could not intend to steal her away from the surface? Could he?

With the anger she felt brewing within, she cast the garbage into the dumpster, feeling some satisfaction at the resounding crash with which the trash settled. She frowned, thinking about the rest of the trash she would like to take out. Human trash. Blond hair and a smug smirk. Deity trash. Long, raven locks as smooth as water, piercing onyx eyes, a gentle and disarming manner. No, that wasn't fair. He was nothing like Cain. He was good. Or as good as a god could get. Wise and considerate. So, why would he be so forward with Elissa? What did he want from her? Sliding the lid shut with a glare, she turned on her heel only to stumble back in alarm at the sight that met her eyes.

Standing across from her, shrouded in the shadows, stood none other than Thanatos himself. Wrapped in his cloak as if he were little more than a shadow himself, his dark silhouette hovered ominously near the opposite wall of the alleyway.

"Good gods, Thanatos!" she exclaimed, supporting herself on the canister lid as she pressed a palm to her racing heart. "Give a nymph a warning, will you?"

He remained characteristically silent, divulging neither the purpose of his unexpected visit, nor the thoughts that lingered behind those narrowed, Stygian eyes.

Swallowing nervously, Slayte straightened, sorting her thoughts as she was unexpectedly brought face to face with the object of her aggravation.

"Long time no see," she stalled, seeking the words she truly wished to say. "Have you been well?"

There was a questioning air to his impassive aura, and even his silence seemed to ask what she meant by her casual manner.

"Right, of course you have." She crossed her arms and shook her head. "To what do I owe the pleasure? No, wait - forget that - you showed her your face?!"

Formalities and decorum forgotten, she all but shouted the accusation at him. It was at the forefront of her mind, refusing to be ignored, refusing to be silenced. "What- What could you possibly mean by that?"

She paced back and forth, gesturing wildly as she voiced her frustration. "She's only a mortal. But who am I telling this to? You know that better than anyone. So what could be going through your mind revealing your face to her?!" She tugged at her hair in exasperation. It was unfortunate that the cause of her anger was coincidentally also the only one she could voice her concerns to.

"That can't have been safe!" She turned towards him in confusion, decidedly ignoring the unease whispering in her veins, warning her to shut up, that she was risking his anger and that few who did lived to tell the tale. She ignored the rational voice, smothering it in her determination to never again be made low before the gods.

"This does not concern you," Thanatos' low voice held a clear warning.

Slayte frowned. Oh, he was just the same. Pompous assholes, all of them.

"It does," she ground out. "She was my friend before you even knew her name. I was protecting her before you ever showed up in this godforsaken alleyway! So, no. You can't tell me that when you show her death itself, it does not concern me!"

"Silence." His dark voice echoed against the stone walls, sending a chill down her spine. "Even your impudence must mind its limits. You have been warned."

"Impudence?" Her tongue refused to be leashed. She wasn't sure she even wanted it to. At least when he was angry and threatening her, he revealed _something_ of his thoughts. He never did otherwise.

"Impudence." She echoed again, shaking her head. "Impudence is when a deity lays his hands on a mortal, ignorant of the clear divide between them! Ignorant of the fact that while a deity has all of eternity to chase their whims, all a mortal has are a few paltry years! And that's it!"

"I thought you were different. Responsible! Not like…" a few names came to mind but she bit her tongue, and said instead, "... the others."

Emboldened by his silence, and ignorant of the displeasure simmering in those onyx irises, she continued, "You approach her, toy with her mind and feelings. Then leave her in darkness and ignorance. All but ignore her as she nearly _dies,_ time and time again, leaving everything to me. You won't answer me when I reach out to you. You don't care if she's losing her mind and then - what? All of a sudden, you show her your face? All of a sudden, you're - you're …" Slayte groaned in frustration.

"You're writing her poetry and visiting her in her home and… make up your mind!" She shouted, anguished and concerned. "What do you want from her? What are you thinking?!"

Slayte's throat constricted, and her windpipe seemed to be closing in on itself, her lungs seizing as if paralysed and compromised of the ability to inhale oxygen. Her tongue turned to lead, depriving her from speaking any further as Thanatos made good on his threat without so much as lifting a finger.

"Warnings are wasted on one who does not heed them." He angled his head, considering, while she grasped at her throat and gasped desperately for air that would not come.

"My affairs are not your concern." He answered slowly, impassively observing the way her complexion paled, reddened, and then turned sickly blue. His words were unhurried, unperturbed by her apparent anguish.

"A nymph of the underworld should know better than to cast suspicion upon her master's honor."

A moment's silence passed before he released his hold and Slayte collapsed on the cobblestone floor, clutching at her throat and coughing for breath.

When she was finally capable of speech, she turned narrowed, dark-brown eyes on him in a glare. "Well, this brings back memories," she snapped.

Averting her gaze, she sighed, acknowledging she had likely pushed too far, and that there had never truly been a chance of getting a straight answer from him to begin with. Did he even know what he intended with Elissa himself? Her hands clenched into fists. She hated feeling so helpless. Hated that she was at his mercy when it came to her best friend. Hated that she had no choice but to hope that he spoke the truth, and that his intentions were indeed honorable. But even that provided her little solace. Where did his honorable intentions lead? Beneath the surface? There was no good outcome to all of this that she could see.

"You took liberties with her," she hissed in a barely audible whisper, her face aflame from the magnitude of the accusation, from the sheer shamelessness of the words themselves, and her own audacity in speaking them. Her earth-brown eyes were fixed firmly on the stones at his feet, as if they were chained there, not daring to meet his gaze. He did not answer, and his silence served to confirm what she had come to fear. Namely, that although Elissa in no way deemed his action a kiss, he did not seem to share her verdict.

"What can be honorable about that?" She pressed further, trembling, but frustrated by his silence. "Even your _honorable_ intentions can have catastrophic consequences. Our alliance is grounded in a mutual desire to protect her. I don't want to have to protect her from you. Or from herself. What can you hope to give her that won't inevitably have you taking more from her than you will give in return?"

She staggered to her feet and turned to face him. "I may no longer care for you, but I do not fear you. If you wish to kill me," she gestured weakly towards him. "Be my guest."

"But she is my friend. I have to look out for her. Surely, you must know what that means."

He did. He understood the bonds of friendship. He understood also what it meant to be left without a choice in the face of a being more powerful. That was, perhaps, one of the few reasons the mannerless nymph still lived.

"The alliance you speak of does not exist. You are a servant. Bound to my will by the nature of your existence. Your continued disobedience is grounds enough for your execution. Has your time on the surface tampered with your sanity?"

She chuckled bitterly. "Sanity? Which of us is still sane in the midst of all of this? I haven't seen a shred of sanity in the underworld these eight hundred years." She shook her head and sighed, accepting that they had come to an impasse.

Itachi broke the silence, unconcerned with her rambling, as he came to the purpose of his visit. "Relate the incident that occurred in the seas."

Slayte turned towards him, surprised that he was once again interested in an earlier attack, when ones more recent and arguably more concerning remained shrouded in mystery. Trusting his wisdom - in these matters, at least - she bit her lip, recalling the fated day by the ocean.

She retold the story of the attack in as much detail as she could recall, feeling instinctively that this was somehow crucial to the investigation. The way the snapping vines had been focused on dragging Elissa to the depths, while casting herself out of the ocean completely, seeking to separate the two of them. The way the other mortals had gone on enjoying their time at the beachside, completely unaffected. She watched his eyes narrow as he listened quietly and wondered which detail had caught his notice. What had she failed to piece together, that was clicking into place for him with clarity?

When she had finished her account, he stood there in silence, his gaze contemplative as if she had somehow confirmed his suspicions.

"Did that help?" she questioned hesitantly, desperate for answers. "Did you learn something new?"

Thanatos did not answer her, returning her gaze quietly, as if considering some information unknown to her. "Have you learned something new about Lady Nyx's involvement? You're still investigating that front, right? Please, Lord Thanatos, let me know what's going on. Tell me what we're dealing with."

_Lend ear to your Nymph._

Lend ear to one so foolish? One so impulsive who could not stay her tongue even if her very life depended upon it? One who did not consider the consequences of any one of her actions? Provoking danger happily until it loomed over her head and then seeking shelter among hapless mortals who would be crushed for no fault other than befriending the ignorant fool of a nymph. Was that the friendship and the love she spoke of? How shortsighted and naive. How pathetic.

Lend ear, indeed. Lending ear did not require him to answer to her incessant questioning. Deciding just that, he turned on his heel, prepared to take his leave.

"Wait!" Slayte raised a hand, realizing one of the few opportunities she had to actually speak with him was slipping through her fingers. Seeing his retreating back, words tumbled out of her mouth. "That incident, a few days past, did you by any chance… heal me?"

Thanatos stopped mid step and turned back, regarding her over his shoulder quietly. She had his attention.

"When the hounds were chasing us, I was badly wounded, but when I awoke, scarcely a scar remained. That wasn't… you, was it? Did you heal me?" She questioned hesitantly, wringing her hands together in confusion.

She had been healed? She was not capable of healing herself, nor had he deigned to assist her. Healing a wayward nymph was the farthest thing from his mother's mind. Shisui had not left his side. The mortal who so ridiculously clung to Slayte was just that - a mortal.

_Angelissa…_

A creaking sound alerted them to the opening of the metal door of the tea shop, and Slayte whirled around in alarm as Levi stepped out, sharp and perceptive grey eyes scanning the alleyway.

"Oi. Hanging with trash again?" his scathing tone surprised her, and she stepped reflexively between him and the god of death, every thought fleeing her mind as she hastened to both protect and appease him.

"I'll be right in. I just need another moment to…" she trailed off, seeing the angry fire in his steel-grey eyes.

He knew enough, he didn't need his eyes to corroborate his suspicions. Slayte had confirmed that the reaper-asshole had approached her the last time she had been delayed out in this alleyway. Although she had not mentioned as much to Elissa, it was clear that she had been threatened or worse. Her condition when she had finally reentered the tea shop that night, months ago, had revealed no less.

And so, it was with a cold sense of dawning, as if filthy rain water had dripped off of a roof down his back, that he realized it had been upwards of a quarter of an hour that Slayte had disappeared to take out the trash.

Sure enough, tension lined every inch of her form and both fear and determination lingered in her tea-brown eyes. The panic in her eyes faded now, though, her expression quickly softening at the sight of him. He knew her well enough to know what that had to mean. Well enough to understand what he wasn't seeing.

"No, you're coming inside." He pulled her in towards the tea shop and she struggled against his grip, embarrassed.

"Levi, please, I just need to -" She turned back towards Thanatos, only to find that he had disappeared. A fact that likely should not have surprised her.

"I don't care." Levi cut in decisively, pulling her through the doorway and shutting the door behind him. Slayte allowed herself to be led away, realizing that the chance for answers had passed.

Pressing a hand against the cold metal door as if barring whatever lingered beyond, Levi hovered over her, icy wrath still glinting in his steel-grey eyes, only the faintest frown and his slightly narrowed eyes betraying how furious he was. "This is where that asshole threatened you last time, isn't it?" he asked calmly, waiting for her to confirm what he already knew.

"I … never said he threatened me," she denied, dropping her gaze to his feet nervously.

"You've always been a shitty liar." The cold rebuke brought her dark eyes up to his in surprise. "You're supposed to say, 'He never threatened me' if you want me to believe that farce."

He crossed his arms over his chest and released a pent-up breath, glaring at the door they had come through.

"He was out there, wasn't he?" He angled his head towards her, watching her down the length of his nose with harsh, grey eyes. Daring her to lie to him. "Threatening you again?"

"Uh…" Slayte trailed off, recalling how she had flung wild accusations at Thanatos and the tone of voice she had spoken in. She flinched, thinking of how severe a chastisement she would have received in the underworld for such behavior. "It's fine," she reassured him with a hasty smile, laying a gentle hand on his forearm. "I was kind of asking for it."

"Oi." His voice was quiet, dripping with barely restrained possessive fury as he removed her hand from his arm. He hovered over her, his eyes searching hers, only more incensed to find she actually believed that statement. "Don't ever say that again."

She laughed nervously, hoping to somehow dispel his anger. It wouldn't do for him to be angry at Thanatos. It was suicidal. Foolishness to the highest degree. "It's true, though. I overstepped. It's okay, he wouldn't seriously hurt me," she lied readily, trying to convince herself it was true.

"Oi." The sharpness of the retort as it rumbled from his chest in a low voice had her biting her lip as she instantly fell silent. "You're a pain in the ass. You never think before opening that mouth of yours. You don't know your limits."

Slayte blinked at him, wondering why he was so upset when she had only stated the same.

"... and if anyone other than me says that to you, I'll cut their tongue out."

She was at a loss for words. Had she, somehow, inadvertently led Levi into seeing Thanatos as an enemy? She could not imagine a worse outcome. "Levi, he isn't -"

Her attempt at a reassurance was cut short when Levi drew away from her, not wanting to hear her excuses, or her defense of the individual who had caused most of the pain in her life.

"You're not taking the trash out anymore." He didn't so much as turn back as he spoke, making his way into the kitchen, to the paperwork he had spread out on the counter, his lips drawn into a scowl as he refused to so much as look at her.

She could only gape after him, his words hanging in the air between them as she realized that she needed to amend this situation and had no time to waste in doing so. Thanatos might barely tolerate her repeated impertinence but, as she realized with a sinking feeling, she couldn't be sure the same would hold true for Levi. She could not allow him to antagonize Thanatos.

No - she realized with dread as she watched Levi sift through the paperwork - she could not allow for the two of them to meet at all.

* * *

Suigetsu had been minding his own affairs contentedly beneath the ocean when the telepathic call to the shoreline reached him. Irked to be disturbed in the midst of his peace and duties, he had initially deigned to ignore the summons. But the call was persistent, unyielding. As soon as his visitor made their identity apparent, the King of the Seas navigated through the waves and surfaced upon his water-stallion near a forest densely packed with evergreen trees.

Thanatos of the Uchiha stood upon a cluster of large boulders, the ends of his long hair and dark cloak tossed about in the fresh ocean breeze. He was not, Suigetsu had judiciously decided, a calibre of god one went around willingly or carelessly slighting.

"You again?" Suigetsu's luminous amethyst eyes narrowed.

"Lord Poseidon," the masked death deity greeted courteously.

Suigetsu regarded him with open distrust. "Just because I entertained an audience with you last time, doesn't mean you get to call on me whenever you want. I'm a king. I have shit to do."

"Lord Poseidon is gracious, indeed, to answer my request," Itachi murmured, his heavy-lashed gaze lowered deferentially.

"Hmph." Suigetsu's lips curled into a derisive sneer. "Smooth-talker, aren't ya? The hell is your rank in the Underworld anyway, Cronus's official surface ambassador? Just because you're an Uchiha with manners, doesn't mean I wanna schedule regular chats in. You have all the liberty to do your gloomy soul-sucking shit wherever ships capsize, so what do you want, now?"

Itachi's eyes lifted, lashes sweeping upward, the waning light of sunset glinting off of the gold of his mask. Suigetsu folded his arms atop his steed impatiently as he waited for a response, having no desire to converse any more than was absolutely necessary with an Underworld dweller.

"Your command of the oceans is absolute, is it not?" Itachi queried, meeting the sea deity's gaze steadily, directly.

Suigetsu snorted. "You didn't come all this way to ask me that," he retorted snarkily.

"Every living creature beneath the waves answers to you. Does it not?" Itachi continued, undeterred.

"Obviously," Suigetsu rolled his eyes, failing to see why they were discussing something so obvious. "What's your point?"

"Nothing occurs without you being informed." Itachi added.

The ocean king smirked mockingly. "Aren't you meant to be one of the smartest Uchiha? I know you're younger than most, but I doubt _you_ need help understanding what 'King of the Oceans' means, Thanatos." Narrowing his eyes suspiciously once more, he snapped, "Now hurry up and tell me why you're really here, or I'm leaving."

"Of course," Itachi murmured. "It begs to question… how a snapping vine can ensnare a human without your knowledge. That it could possess the intelligence required to purposefully hinder the attempts of a shadow nymph in retrieving a mortal from the ocean. A persistence only a command would compel."

Suigetsu blinked. "Huh?" He began. "What're you-?" Inhaling sharply, he caught onto his mistake, far too late. The water around him was turning black, weeping inky shadows, which wrapped around his whinnying stallion and soon swallowed it whole, causing it to dematerialise entirely.

 _Damn it!_ Suigetsu's eyes widened in alarm. Itachi had flickered out of sight before him. He caught his breath, immediately sensing an ominous, dreadful presence behind him and spun to find the death deity had reappeared, melting out of the impossible blackness that now surrounded them. There was no sun, no sky, no shoreline. Everything had succumbed to darkness.

Before he could even comprehend what was happening, freezing tendrils of shadow were wrapping around Suigetu's arms, trapping them against his sides. The sea-god immediately summoned a wall of water to break free, only to watch in horror as the waves themselves dissolved into black smoke, evaporating into harmless nothingness before his very eyes.

An illusion? When had Thanatos even cast it? Suigetsu realised in a moment of awful clarity that he had made a terrible error in judgement in assuming the Uchiha prince's quiet nature and respectful politeness meant that he bore no ill-will and posed no threat to Suigetsu. Within seconds, however, he had turned the ocean god's own turf against him by trapping him in a ruthless genjutsu.

To use the Sharingan in an act of aggression against a non-Uchiha deity was comparable to a declaration of war. Suigetsu was stunned. What reason had the quietly-spoken God of Death to attack him in such a cut-throat manner? He desperately tried to break out of the illusion, only to be overwhelmed and buried under further, smothering layers of it. For the first time, he felt a whisper of fear in his veins as he lifted his eyes to a perfectly composed Thanatos, who stood before him, unarmed, his eyes glowing fiery crimson behind the barrier of his mask.

He required no weapon, Suigetsu dimly registered. His eyes were capable enough of ensnaring and incapacitating anything foolish or unfortunate enough to become entangled in that piercing, ruthless gaze.

Suigetsu's arms felt like dead-weights, motionless by his sides, uselessly locked in place. His legs, too, had turned to blocks of ice and a stabbing pain was assaulting his skull. He was powerless to prevent the black ropes of shadow from curling upwards and winding around his neck.

"You come to my shoreline and attack me on my own terrain?" He exclaimed furiously, glaring at the stoic God of Death. "Was this Cronus's order? I'll make damn sure Zeus hears about this and you'll-" he broke off, choking as the tendrils around his neck constricted tightly, cutting off his ability to talk entirely. Thanatos was commanding them without lifting a finger.

"Tsukuyomi," Itachi uttered calmly, his deep voice echoing about the void. The mangekyou pinwheels of his Sharingan spun hypnotically in his eyes, boring into Suigetsu's skull with an intensity of a thousand stabbing, burning needles. They were terrible eyes, the ocean deity discerned, capable of breaking minds completely.

"A world of my making, where the flow of time answers to my will. A few seconds will pass as days. Minutes will bleed into years. How long you remain trapped within it, depends upon you."

Suigetsu clenched his teeth in frustration, feeling his brow bead with cold sweat from the concentrated effort of attempting to dispel the genjutsu. He knew that beyond the confines of the illusion, he was still safely on his steed, hovering over the ocean waves and yet nothing of the real world remained around him but pitch-blackness. A darkness that Thanatos seemed to wear like second skin.

The ocean monarch struggled to free his mind from the mental shackles that had entrapped it. Alarm coursed through his veins, setting his heart pounding. He knew how to break through genjutsu. Why, then, could he not command his element or subjects to assist him? The more he struggled, the more his mind throbbed and felt burdened, the more his body was plagued with exhaustion.

Every Sharingan was reputedly known for its specialised set of skills and abilities. It was one of the many reasons why the ocular gifts of the Uchiha were so renowned and feared. Suigetsu realised, with a sinking feeling, that the casting of unnaturally powerful and realistic illusions had to be Thanatos's forte - something he would not soon forget. He could not even perceive what was tangible and concrete and what wasn't in that moment. The boundaries had blurred, become indistinguishable. The shadows wrapping around him like icy, jagged cords of rope felt frighteningly real.

"It is futile," Itachi informed him, "to resist."

When the tendrils around his neck loosened marginally to allow him to speak, Suigetsu snarled, "What the fuck's your problem? What do you want?!"

The death deity prowled unhurriedly toward him. It had been a very long time since Suigetsu recalled ever being at such a distinct disadvantage, where his own element and powers were rendered useless. He tried to disperse his body into water, to escape from the confines that locked him in position, but those awful eyes pinned him in place, made even lifting a finger an impossibility.

"You interfered," the words were insidiously spoken, and Suigetsu could clearly detect the displeasure underlying the statement.

"What?" he ground out. "I didn't do any- _shit!_ " he cursed, when a freezing, biting pain attacked his skull, causing him to wince in discomfort.

"Cease," Itachi replied forebodingly. "These eyes see through your lies." Drawing closer, he lifted his right hand, and with a nonchalant flick of his wrist, a blade of shadow formed in his palm. "You intended to terminate a mortal life before its time ordained. You hastened to quicken its end. I suffer no such interference on my domain, Lord Poseidon."

"What… the fuck?" Suigetsu growled. "I don't know what you're-" he abruptly broke off, recalling their previous encounter. When Thanatos had questioned him about the mortal girl that had been dragged beneath the ocean waves. His breath caught in his throat. The human Vetty had forged a blood-pact with, the very one _he_ had saved on a whim, was the reason why Thanatos had returned to torture him?

"That- that dumb little human wench from before?" Suigetsu struggled to answer. "I already said, those snapping vines were-"

Itachi blinked at the incivility of the term of address. Without warning or any change in the aloofness of his expression, he mercilessly stabbed the shadow blade he held in his hand straight through the ocean deity's midsection. Suigetsu bit his tongue to stop the cry of pain from flying from his lips. It was as though he had been impaled by freezing volts of electricity that frazzled every nerve ending within his body, sending wave upon wave of pulsing agony through him.

"Your subjects," Itachi pointed out.

"F-fuck-!" Suigetsu hissed, his mind scrambling for an explanation.

"I told you," Itachi murmured, as if reading his very thoughts, lifting his hand to summon another blade into existence. "To cease your lies."

His movements were unhurried. As if he possessed all the time and patience in the world.

"F-fine!" Suigetsu snarled. "Fine, I did know about it! But if you think I'm gonna answer to a damned Uchiha I don't tru- gaah!" His body convulsed as another shadow blade was skewered savagely into his gut. Panting heavily, Suigetsu frantically told himself none of it was real. That it was all in his head. But when he looked down, he could see blood oozing onto his teal-hued tunic and it was difficult to convince his mind otherwise.

"Why make an attempt on an innocent mortal life?" Itachi's voice was cold. Unforgiving. "Speak."

Suigetsu's thoughts raced. Ever a deity who looked out for his own best interests, he recognised that he really only had two options. The first, was to remain silent and refuse to answer, and endure countless minutes or hours or even days of agonising torment as a result. It was as clear as daylight to him that Thanatos would not relent in his questioning and would not release him from the torturous prison of illusion he had cast upon his mind until he received an explanation he deemed as satisfactory.

The second was to reveal what he knew of the truth, which meant trusting what he did know to an Uchiha. But what if word reached Cronus? How would that impact his own oceans and its denizens? And yet, had Thanatos not declared that he was here because of an interference upon his specific deity function? Had Cronus sent him, then he would not have uttered such a thing, surely?

"What's it to you?" Suigetsu glared, as another dark blade rippled into being in the death god's palm. "You're really attacking me over one lousy mortal soul? It's not like she died! Why is one life such a big deal to someone who tears shitloads of souls out their bodies daily?"

Itachi drew his hand back, ready to stab him once again, this time through the chest, when Suigetsu yelled, "Alright! Fine! I'll tell you! But get these fucking shadows off me!"

The death deity paused, but did not release him.

"Speak," he instructed again.

Suigetsu gritted his teeth, overcome with a violent wave of nausea. Had he really thought this Uchiha courteous at one point? Thanatos was every bit as unpleasant as any other Underworld dweller the ocean deity had ever had the displeasure of encountering. He was simply better at hiding it behind an exceptionally difficult to read, masked countenance, an unruffled, calm facade beneath which simmered the same ruthlessness and callousness that was a trademark Uchiha trait.

When he did not immediately respond, Itachi lifted his hand and forged seven shadow blades in the air which hovered threateningly around Suigetsu, ready to pierce through his body at their master's command.

Registering that he was truly out of options, and that the only way to save himself from his formidable, pitiless opponent was to divulge the truth, the sea deity finally relented.

"You… think she's just some ordinary girl?" he breathed heavily, the strain upon his fatigued mind increasing the longer the illusion continued. "She's not! I couldn't risk having her taken by the wrong people. And since Vetty's plan to keep her safe wasn't working… I took matters into my own hands. Okay, it was shitty to attack a mortal, but I was only looking out for my own kingdom. That's what I do. That's what I've always done!"

Itachi's hand remained raised, his punishing crimson eyes narrowing menacingly behind his mask. Knowing the slightest movement of that wrist would result in seven dark swords impaling his body from all directions, Suigetsu rushed on, "Vetty's spent thousands of years seeking out this special child of prophecy or whatever."

To his immense relief, Itachi's hand lowered, and the shadow cords biting into his neck relinquished their asphyxiating grip, seeping away, though his arms remained bound. Suigetsu inhaled deeply, gulping air into his lungs, able to breathe unhindered once more.

Itachi waited expectantly, his gaze steady, unwavering.

"I-I seriously don't know what this damn prophecy is about, okay?!" Suigetsu exclaimed, unnerved by how intently he was being regarded. "All I know is this chosen kid is special and if the wrong person gets their hands on her, things will go to shit. Something about fate, some calling. I don't know anything more than that."

"So you thought it prudent to make an attempt on her life?" Itachi's eyes glittered with icy displeasure, his chilling tone indicating that the ocean king's judgement had been anything but well-thought out.

"Okay, okay!" Suigetsu rolled his eyes. "I admit it was probably hasty and not fair to the girl, but it was nothing personal. Like I said, I was just looking out for my Kingdom. I didn't realise it would involve stepping on _your_ toes, so cut me some slack. I backed off when I realised you were watching over her anyway."

There was a tense pause, in which those unsettling crimson eyes continued to bore into Suigetsu, causing his entire skin to crawl with a dread that was wholly unfamiliar to him. It was the first and only time, he told himself, that he would ever make the mistake of underestimating Prince Thanatos of the Uchiha.

"On whose instruction does the feline search?" Itachi next questioned shortly.

"I don't know that." Suigetsu shook his head in earnest. "Vetty's always been annoyingly tight lipped about it. But I figured this girl has to be the chosen child, because why the hell else would Vetty bother initiating a permanent blood-bond with a mortal and tie their life-forces together?"

Itachi was silent, his lips pressing together to form a grim line as he considered Suigetsu's words. Angelissa? A child of prophecy? One who supposedly held some manner of power or influence not ordinarily found in humans? Was it possible? His mind raced, piecing together what he already knew as fact with the new information he had received. He recalled the man Angelissa had inadvertently killed. The force of the trauma to his head, inconsistent with any injury that might have been sustained from the efforts of an unarmed girl of her delicate stature, so categorically untrained in the art of combat.

He recalled the nymph who had asked him whether he had assisted in accelerating her healing following the attacks that had transpired close to Angelissa's home. Itachi had not done so. Since the nymph had clearly not healed herself, that left only two other potential assists; from either the mortal man Itachi had spied with Slayte, or from Angelissa herself.

Angelissa had also mentioned the deer's miraculous healing. A deer she had approached alone to assist. Hounds that had retreated as abruptly as they had arrived. There had seemingly been no other interference there, either.

He then remembered Atropos's odd choice of counsel. To keep Angelissa close by his side and a stillness befell him when everything suddenly fell into place with alarming, resounding clarity in his mind.

The mortal's entanglement with all things supernatural, that were not intended for her eyes before the hour of her death could no longer be assigned to mere coincidence if this revelation indeed held true. If she really was one chosen by The Fates to belong to some manner of ancient prophecy, then that explained why she was being targeted. Why someone powerful would want to acquire her.

Perhaps his repeated and continuous crossing of paths with Angelissa before her death was a thing ordained in itself. Perhaps her acceptance of his identity was. Perhaps that explained why all his attempts to restore her to a mortal life had proven fruitless, futile.

The matter was considerably more serious and significant than Itachi had initially anticipated. If a prophecy was involved, one that Vetty was clearly aware of - then did it stand to reason that his own mother was sensible to it, also? He recalled her joyous smile just before he had departed her last, several surface days prior, when he had instructed her to leave matters in his hands. Why had she been so delighted? What, precisely, was Nyx's involvement in all this, and had she had any other hand in Angelissa's suffering?

Itachi's expression darkened at the thought.

The shadow blades circling Suigetsu diminished. The death deity was silent, weighing the implications and what the possibility of Angelissa being a child of prophecy could mean.

"That brat's never done it with any of the others before," Suigetsu was going on.

"Others…?" Itachi's eyes locked back onto him intently.

"Yeah. That's another thing," Suigetsu was relieved when his arms were finally released from their binds. Rolling his shoulders and scowling sourly, he went on, "Something that brought this whole thing to my attention to begin with. But you'll have to follow me underwater if you want to see."

Itachi's eyes narrowed. Wordlessly, he lifted his hands, and formed rapid seals, summoning into being a temporary clone of himself.

 _Hmph. He's definitely smart_ , Suigetsu begrudgingly admitted to himself. The illusion around them finally dissipated, blending away to wisps of shadow that evaporated into thin air. The ocean deity blinked, finding himself on his steed once more, feeling oddly displaced. His entire body was exhausted, the taxing mental strain of the brutal genjutsu ability taking its toll on his mind. Somehow he was certain that he had been let off the hook lightly. Had Itachi wished it, Suigetsu supposed his mind could have been fractured and scarred significantly more extensively - and permanently.

"I need to know you're not here because Cronus sent you," Suigetsu lifted his chin, glowering with open chagrin at the death deity.

"I am not," Itachi answered simply.

"Tch." Suigetsu sniffed. "Fine." He lifted a hand and summoned a swirling vortex of water which rippled into being in the air before the rocks Itachi stood upon. His pride had been wounded - but Suigetsu was no fool. Instinct told him that even entertaining the idea of retaliating and attacking Thanatos would end extremely badly for him. Here was an intimidating, sharp-witted and highly perceptive deity who was not to be tested or trifled with. "That vortex will take you to the place. I'll be there."

Itachi sent his clone through it, remaining safely behind by the shore as he extended his consciousness through his duplicate.

As he stepped out on the other side of the portal, he found himself standing at the very bottom of the deep sea bed. His feet sank into the murky sand, and as he turned, his eyes fell upon a most gruesome scene that made even his blood run cold.

"Here they are," Suigetsu, who had materialised on his steed behind him, nodded seriously. "I don't know where the hell they come from. They just show up, and they keep increasing in number. It looks like a gorgon got to them, but those aren't exactly free-roaming on the surface anymore, and I really don't appreciate my ocean floor being littered with these freaky things. Not exactly my kinda decor."

A heaviness befell Itachi's chest as unpleasant realisation slammed into him, arresting the very air in his lungs at the barbaric sight of the countless bodies surrounding them, each one encased in impenetrable stone. It was a graveyard of rocky corpses, he acknowledged grimly, his gaze darting from figure to figure in stunned disbelief.

They were all young women, he registered with a start, of varying ages, shapes and sizes. Many had their hands lifted to their faces, some were bent over, some clutched their heads as if weeping. Their horrified faces were all contorted in agony, pain and unmistakable fear, all mirroring the same distressed expressions they had worn in their final moments just before their encasement in stone.

Itachi heard the thud of his heart-beat pounding dully in his ears. They were not dead. And yet, they did not live. Their souls were instead in an unnatural state of limbo. Souls he had not claimed. The burden of responsibility, of failure struck him like a lightning bolt. Hundreds and hundreds of mortals that had somehow slipped under his radar. Unfortunate humans denied their right to an afterlife, denied judgement and denied their final resting places. A direct infringement, disregard and disrespect to Itachi and his function, of his absolute dominion over death itself.

"Someone's pissing on my domain, too." Suigetsu remarked, folding his arms in irritation. "So you see? I want answers just as much as you do."

Itachi blinked as he walked between the bodies, inspecting them, consigning them to his memory. They were countless in number, stretching out farther than the eye could see. Only a gorgon harpy or Medusa had the ability to entrap mortals into stone in such a way, and such creatures had long since been removed from the surface by Zeus. Yet somehow, someone cunning and resourceful enough had found a way to harvest the powers of paralysis and to use them to consign mortals to an existence of eternal suffering, entombed deep within the ocean-bed where they had clearly intended for the bodies to never be found. To remain concealed from his eyes and knowledge, in the only realm Itachi did not pass directly through.

The realisation that this heinous crime had escaped his attention for so long - and how it possibly could have eluded _his_ notice - he, who always ensured his eyes missed no small detail - left him incensed beyond measure. Whoever was accountable for the forbidden offences had clearly gone through meticulous planning to ensure the trail was buried and Itachi had no way of telling just how long it had been hidden from his gaze.

It was a great insult to him. A violation and transgression of the most grievous kind, against not only him, but against mortals and the will of The Fates themselves.

A chilling thought then presented itself to him. Had this been the fate awaiting Angelissa, too? Had Vetty not formed the pact of blood with her, would she have undoubtedly ended up precisely the same as the ghostly, lifeless faces around him, forever trapped in a prison of eternal paralysis, from which her soul would never be able to find rest?

He drew to a stop. Though his expression remained indecipherable, cold fury exploded within him, the likes of which one as mild in temperament as Itachi usually was, rarely experienced. But at that moment, it was unrelenting, all-encompassing, roaring through him like a rip-tide. So much so that even Suigetsu sensed the malevolent killing intent of his deadly aura and wisely chose to remain silent.

Who dared to tamper with the cycle of life in such a forbidden manner? Who dared to meddle with Death? Whoever it was, was surely the same person who threatened Angelissa's welfare. Itachi silently vowed that he would leave no rock unturned until he hunted down the culprit. And when he discovered who it was, he would show them no mercy. There would be hell to pay, indeed.

"I thank you for your time, Lord Poseidon," Itachi spoke quietly. His crimson eyes were hard, unforgiving, a fire burning within them that clearly denoted his intense displeasure. "And your cooperation." Then, he surprised Suigetsu by adding, "Zeus will be informed."

"What the hell?" Suigetsu scowled incredulously at him. "You mean Cronus _really_ didn't send you? What the hell was with all that illusion crap, then?!"

Onyx eyes flicked briefly onto him, unfathomable in the thoughts that hid veiled behind them. The only response he received was of Itachi's clone dispersing into shadow under water a moment later as he vanished entirely from sight.

* * *

Elissa released a heavy, tired sigh as she filled in the work experience section of yet another, criminally long application form. She'd spent the last few hours since returning home from the tea shop tidying up her apartment and had then settled down on the rug in front of the glass coffee table in her living room, trawling through mind-numbing pages of job vacancy postings.

Her thoughts were overrun, and she'd desperately needed to do _something_ to distract herself from dwelling on all the supernatural insanity that had unfolded over the course of the previous week. Trying to write her story again however, had only served to remind her of _Thanatos_ and all the Greek gods that she now categorically knew truly did exist, and so she had quickly closed that document and opened up her web browser to commence her job search again. She needed to focus, to feel like she was doing something useful with her time, or risk losing her mind from ruminating over all the uncertainties that plagued her. She couldn't influence the supernatural. Mundane matters like regular adulting chores, however, though thoroughly unexciting, were within her control.

Although she was eager to start, Elissa knew that working with Levi and Slayte was only a short-term fix. She didn't want them to split their income for any longer than was necessary on her. She switched to another browser tab, quickly checking the progress of some recent orders she'd made online, smiling in satisfaction as she saw that they'd already been dispatched. She only had about ten days left until winter vacation and Elissa planned to spoil her two best friends this year with extra considerate gifts before Gabriel came to pick her up and take her back to her hometown over the break.

She returned to the application form. Job hunting was an arduous, boring task. Elissa had little trouble typing up pages of fantasy novel content, but when it came to personal statements, her mind struggled with the tediousness of gushing over all her skills, work experience and accomplishments.

"Ugh," she groaned, reading the required information for the next field she had to fill in on the form. Rubbing her temples, she asked Vetty, who was curled up on the sofa behind her, "Reason for leaving my last job. Do you think it'd affect my chances if I write: 'My boss was a dick'?"

Vetty didn't even glance up as she licked nonchalantly at her right paw. Elissa sighed again as she filled out the text, settling on a more acceptable and polite: ' _To further my career aspirations'_.

"Hey, Vetty," she piped up a moment later, as a sudden, ridiculous thought then crossed her mind. "Can gods hypnotise humans into hiring people?" She turned her head to regard her cat, whose dark eyes lifted, settling onto her with cool disinterest.

Elissa wondered what Vetty truly thought of her. It was difficult to tell, when the feline stubbornly refused to communicate at all. She'd only spoken once, and only in reference to Slayte. Regardless, Elissa told herself she wouldn't give up trying to draw her into speech. She held onto the hope that someday, Vetty would eventually indulge her and they would be able to hold a real conversation at last.

"Maybe Itachi could help me get a job," she mused, looking back toward the television, at where she'd left a sitcom playing on low volume in the background. Taking a sip of her hot chocolate, she added, "Maybe he could use those eyes of his to… I don't know? Influence some CEO of a major publishing company to give me a big break?"

A short giggle escaped her lips at the idea and she rested her chin in her hand, her thoughts turning back to the enigmatic deity despite herself, recalling the hauntingly beautiful, crimson irises he had revealed to her on the night she'd learned his true identity, almost a week earlier.

"Do you think if I asked him, he would…?" she wondered distractedly, missing the way Vetty blinked at her. The image of Itachi's heavy-lashed, captivating dark eyes drifted through her mind and for a minute, she was silent, falling into a reverie as she found herself wondering exactly what that piercing gaze was capable of compelling people to do. What manner of illusions did he specialise in? Catching herself, she frowned in disapproval at his invading her thoughts yet again, shook her head, and forced herself to work on completing the remainder of the form.

When she was finally done, Elissa glanced up at the clock on the wall. It was almost 9PM. Stifling a yawn, she lifted her hands over her head and stretched, the sleeves of her maroon, satin robe slipping down her slender arms.

Closing the laptop, she announced, "Okay, that's enough boredom for one evening."

Extending her legs, she wiggled her feet in their cosy slipper socks, before running her fingers through her loose, wavy tresses. She watched the scene unfolding on the television screen blankly for a moment, before turning her face toward the balcony doors as Vetty hopped nimbly down onto her lap, demanding instant affection.

"Oh, so that's how it is?" Elissa raised a sardonic eyebrow at the cat's spoiled antics. "You spend all evening ignoring me, then want pets on demand?" She scratched the soft fur between Vetty's ears gently. "You really _are_ a bratty cat, you know that?"

Vetty purred in contentment. Elissa regarded her for a long moment, before her eyes shifted back to the balcony.

He wouldn't appear tonight, she knew with certainty. Not when he'd stopped by just the previous one to check on her. And that was surely the only reason he _had_ alighted outside - to simply ensure her well-being following the shocking reveal of his identity. He was a god. He had far more significant, far more important things to do, than idle around her apartment.

Important things like reaping souls from dying bodies.

The thought was sombering. Chilling. Elissa suppressed a shudder, reminding herself that Itachi was bound by duty to The Fates to end lives. It wasn't as though he had willingly selected the role out of enthusiasm for it, or because he revelled in the misery, terror, sorrow and grimness of it all. She had never met anyone more gentle in manner. She imagined from his solemn disposition that he couldn't enjoy it in the slightest.

Would he answer, she wondered, if she asked him about how he had become Death incarnate? Or would that be considered discourteous of her? She wished there was a guide book detailing how one went about interacting with a god. What questions constituted as acceptable, and what was considered blasphemy?

With another tired sigh, she finished off her hot drink, gave Vetty one last affectionate back scratch, before rising to her feet. Securing the belt around her robe, she walked toward the locked balcony doors, intending to draw the curtains for the night.

She hesitated, her fingers lingering on the soft fabric of the curtains as her hazel eyes scanned the shadows of the night sky. There was a feeling in the air. One she could not quite place but had grown somehow familiar. A feeling that settled on her skin like powdery snow, that set the hairs on the nape of her neck standing upright. A feeling that invited her to fall, promising to catch her. One that prompted a sigh from the depths of her soul before it slipped from her lips. A feeling both oppressive and comforting. Warm and chilling. The feeling that he was nearby.

Was she imagining it?

Logically, she knew it was unlikely. He had been there only yesterday. He was busy. Telling herself it was her own desire to see him that was playing tricks on her mind, she gripped the curtains more firmly, determined to pull them closed, but hesitated once more.

Peering into the darkness, she pressed a hand to the cool glass, eyes focusing on the shadows in the distance. Was he perched there, in the trees just beyond the balcony?

She gasped when suddenly, before her very eyes, a figure materialised out of the shadows - right in front of her. She found herself looking up into Itachi's somber, ebony eyes as they returned her gaze. Had he appeared to visit her? Or had he been hidden among the shadows the entire time, only revealing himself because he had seen her searching for him?

He lifted a hand slowly, as one might when seeking not to frighten a small animal, and she watched the long, regal fingers - a pianist's hands, she thought numbly - press up against the opposite side of the door. His fingertips pressed against her own, with nothing but a sheet of cool glass between them. The warmth of his fingers melted through the thin sheet of frost on his side and she was spurred to action by the realization that he was standing in the cold.

Embarrassed that it was taking her this long to react appropriately, she reached for the handle of the balcony door with her opposite hand, only to freeze in place when, before she could make sense of it, the frigid glass beneath her fingertips was replaced with soft, yielding warmth.

She turned back and could only look on in awe, as she saw Itachi's fingertips slip through the glass, meeting hers directly now. His touch was gentle, kind, soft… but there was an undeniable hunger to it, even as he ever so slowly interspersed his fingers through hers, causing her heart to barrel riotously in her chest, overwhelmed by his faintest of touches. She turned confused hazel eyes on to his face, and watched him angle his head slightly, observing their intertwined hands with an indecipherable expression before he finally closed his fingers around hers, grasping her hand firmly in his, as he stepped through the glass door entirely, joining her in the living room.

He had not intended to visit her at all this day. It was an ill-advised risk, what with Cronus questioning his whereabouts, and the distinct knowledge that a second delay on the surface so soon after the first would not escape his notice. And yet, when he had seen what had become of the _others…_ The candidates that had decidedly not been the prophesied chosen one, combined with the knowledge that that had very nearly been Angelissa's fate as well. That she would have been torn away from his eyes entirely, not meeting even in death. That she, too, would have been captured on the ocean floor, rosy lips parted in petrified horror for eternity. Eyes agape in agony. That such an end should have very nearly been her fate had their paths not crossed by some twist in fate, left him with no choice _but_ to see her. To reassure himself that she lived, as soft and warm and pliant as ever.

He had merely intended to observe her a few moments from the cover of shadow, to satisfy his own disquiet with a glimpse of her. He had not in any way expected her to be attuned to his presence, to recognize him though her eyes could not see him. How was that even possible? It was yet another mystery to ponder upon during his long nights on the surface. In her presence, such riddles were becoming increasingly, disturbingly, commonplace.

Elissa's heart seemed to be caught in her throat, where it was pounding so wildly, she could feel the blood rush to her head. She recalled her own, similar action, lacing her fingers through his at a time when she had been so miserably foolish, so ignorant of the truth of his station, his role, and his lofty position that she had demanded some form of reciprocation. Had dared touch him so familiarly. She would never allow herself such a thing now and yet, here he was, returning the very same gesture when she was entirely ill-prepared to receive it. Her mind spun from the implications and her fingers hung loosely in his firm hold, not trusting herself to squeeze back, wishing he would calm her body down in the way he often chose to, as she felt herself wither under his intense gaze.

_Quell your nature, this desire…_

Elissa's throat went dry, her eyes transfixed on their intertwined fingers. The cold metal of his rings, the warmth of his skin against hers, the electrifying contrast between the two.

… _to hold it in your hand._

The words of the poem Slayte had translated to her rang unhelpfully, deafeningly in her ears.

_It's you, Elissa. You're the flower he's telling himself to leave well enough alone._

Impossible. It couldn't be true.

And yet, the memory of his words, the all too brief, lingering touches, the intensity of his gaze on her... and the feel of his lips brushing ever so faintly, ever so briefly against hers tingled on her lips as a cruel reminder and her mind refused to accept the logical, rational conclusions she thought she had set in stone.

She needed to put an end to this madness, because if she dared to get her hopes up - a most idiotic lapse in judgment, even for her - she knew she would not cope well with the aftermath when those hopes came crashing down around her. He was a god. A prince. He was a thousand things unreachable, unattainable. Even if he _were_ within reach - and he was decidedly not - was that something she could handle? With a literal deity? With death?

_Taking home danger. Flirting with death?_

She was sure a flame had consumed her face from the heat that radiated from her skin as she recalled his words, spoken so long ago. Unable to bear the proximity and her traitorous thoughts any longer, she opened her mouth - a mistake, she knew, the minute her lips parted. When had she ever been coherent in his presence?

"Itachi. I wasn't expecting you." She all but stammered, gently detaching her hand from his and turning away from him to better school her features into any expression that would not betray the overwhelming effect he had on her.

"You were right, that lock really is no problem for you. But it's good to see you. Would you like a drink?" She rambled on as she led the way to the kitchen, fearful that the tense atmosphere would smother her the minute she fell silent.

She did not get further than a few steps when she froze in place, feeling the brush of his fingers graze past her hip as he stepped up behind her, his arms closing slowly around her waist, his movements tantalizingly measured, unhurried, giving her every opportunity to stop him, to push him away, to leave.

She stayed where she was, her heart thudding painfully against her ribcage, confused, stunned and disoriented. Her mind reeled, trying to make sense of what was happening, trying to remind herself of who and what she was. _You're a no one. You mean nothing to him. He's a god and you're nothing. Don't get your hopes up. Don't misunderstand. Don't be stupid!_

But her mantras faded unhelpfully into oblivion, all thoughts scattering to the wind when his hands finally met, drawing her in, her back pressed flush against his chest, her head resting against his collarbones. His warmth seemed to seep into her, lulling her into a sense of security as his familiar scent closed in around her, woodsmoke, pine, and something else - dark and forbidden and uniquely Itachi. She was scared to move, scared to breathe; he was so close, and it was with a mixture of horror and awe that she realized the thudding heartbeat she felt against her back - was his.

She could do nothing but stare speechlessly at the ground in front of her, trying to process, to make sense of his unexpected actions.

He did not speak, holding her close instead, as if she would fall to pieces the moment he relinquished his hold, but not so tightly that she would feel obliged to remain in his embrace.

At long last, he broke the silence, and the hum of his voice, the low rumble she felt clearly against her back, sent an inexplicable shiver down her spine.

"I linger but momentarily, Angelissa." The quiet murmur scarcely broke the hush in the room, settling with all the grace of nightfall itself. "I must return," he hesitated uncharacteristically. "But I thank you for your hospitality."

She opened her mouth, struggled to articulate anything for a few awful seconds, shock still rooting her rigidly in place, her head feeling giddy, her lungs breathless. She wanted, so desperately, to lower her guard. To melt back into him, to accept the warm comfort of his enduring, unwavering strength.

"What…" she finally managed, her tongue woolen and heavy as if it were protesting against the words she wanted it to speak. "What am I to you?" She swallowed thickly, nervously, caught in his embrace as surely as she was caught on the precipice between their two worlds.

Her heart pounded as the question hung heavily in the air. She couldn't stand it anymore. The confusion was driving her to despair, driving her out her mind. She had to know. Slayte could not possibly be right.

"What do you want from me...?" The hushed whisper fell from her lips, as if she were too afraid to verbalise it at all.

The very idea that there could be anything at all, that he - noble, prince-god of the underworld - would want from _her_ , remarkable only in how utterly unremarkable she was, was preposterous and yet, she needed to hear it from his lips. Needed him to shut her down completely, just once, because she was clearly failing in doing so herself. Just once would surely be enough, she told herself, to banish the delusional, foolish and inappropriate thoughts that would not stop tormenting her.

The long silence that followed was fragile, like paper-thin ice. When she despaired of receiving an answer at all, she found the courage to turn around, and as soon as she moved, his arms fell away. Elissa could not fathom why she felt their absence so acutely, so immediately.

With trembling hands, she hesitantly reached up for his mask, hoping to read in his eyes the answers she would not receive from those unyielding lips.

Her fingers closed around the gilded accessory and for once, he did not stop her. When she drew the mask away from his face, revealing the unconcealed beauty of his features and the undeniable reminder of what he was, sorrow swamped her being. Those heavy-lashed onyx eyes she so admired and respected, were fixed on her with a longing buried so surely under restraint, she could not understand exactly what she was seeing and yet it suddenly dawned upon her, as clear as day, leaving her stunned anew. One thing she _did_ know with certainty - that she was _not_ nothing to him.

It was a terrifying notion. Her lips parted, but her tongue would form no more words, her mind flung into turmoil.

Slowly, as if to reassure her, he lifted a hand to tuck loose strands of chestnut hair behind her ear. The movement was so self-assured, with a sense of familiarity as if the two of them were so much more than they were. As if this moment did not entirely defy the very nature of their relationship that they had somehow puzzled together from the shards of what remained after all the conflict and confusion.

"What I desire from you, Angelissa…" he answered, his voice quiet and steady. "Is for you to receive all that you desire."

His hand lingered at the shell of her ear a moment longer before he finally drew back.

"Whatever that may be."

Her erratic pulse would be the death of her, if her failing lungs did not get her first. She looked on helplessly. For all her bold questioning, and despite the generous answer he had provided her with, her hazel eyes swam with a thousand further questions her lips refused to oblige.

"Forgive my intrusion."

The words were spoken softly as he stepped away from her, and knowing it was Itachi who said them, she understood that he meant so much more than a midnight visit. He was asking forgiveness for the way he had touched her, for any discomfort he might have caused her, for overstepping whatever boundaries there were between them, for breaking the divide between the mortal realm and the supernatural in her life. Asking forgiveness for every intrusion, in any way, shape, or form.

Words failed her as he disappeared before her very eyes, as suddenly as he had appeared. The very mask clutched in her fingers disintegrated as well and she could only stare at her tingling, empty palm helplessly. Did she want to be left behind in her apartment, in her world, every time he disappeared? Was there even any other option?

_For you to receive all you desire. Whatever that may be._

How foolish was she? Why could she not drown out the absurd, pleading voices whispering in her mind of dangerous _maybes_ and _what ifs?_ Why was her treacherous heart so fixed on the unattainable, the impossible?

She bit her trembling lip, fighting back the tears blurring her vision as she spoke aloud to no one, her voice reverberating against the barren walls of her living room, thick with the confusion that afflicted her.

"There's... nothing to forgive."

* * *

"Nyx?"

Erebus' voice rang kindly in her ears, his hand resting over hers. Her husband sat beside her on the blue velvet settee in their chambers in a rare lull in their duties that had just so coincided that Erebus had been afforded the opportunity to seek her out, to partake in her company, to indulge in the sweetness of her presence.

She did not lift her heavy-lashed midnight eyes to meet his gaze, nor did she pull her hand away from his touch.

Erebus' kindness was more bitter than poison. His gentle touch pierced through her, more painful than the points of arrows. What choice did she have, other than to quietly accept his presence, his efforts to reach her, his calm and enduring manner. He sat beside her as proud and regal as if she herself were the very crown on his head. Little did he know how tarnished that crown was, how rusted and battered. How ill-suited it was to him. That crown did not honor him in the slightest, on the contrary, all that saw it would doubt his very divinity on account of it.

That was what she had become. A stain on his reputation. A slur on his good name. There was no longer any hope of changing the reality that had been shaped to existence around them. The paces they found themselves pulling endlessly. He was as helpless to leave her as she was helpless to deny their leader and yet… given the choice, what would she choose? Where did her desire lie? Seldom did she dare ask herself that question.

There were days she did not dare consider herself a victim, so sure was she of her guilt. She had been complicit in all of Cronus' crimes, had gone to him willingly. Other days she could not bear the agony of the simple knowledge of her helplessness. She had never even been given a chance to entertain the idea of escaping him. It had been hopeless from the start. The minute those crimson eyes were fixed on their target, they impaled them in place, devoured them whole. The moment Cronus had chosen her, she had become his, in all but name. She had never had any say in the matter. Or had she? Was it what she had chosen? Was she the one to blame? If she wanted Cronus, if she was the one who had chosen to hurt her family… Then why was she, herself, hurting so much?

Erebus squeezed her hand as her thoughts spiralled in endless circles with no hope of reaching any real conclusion.

"Cherished one," he began quietly, his gaze fixed on her downturned countenance, on the thick lashes veiling her eyes from him. "I must speak with you."

"Then do so, Erebus," she answered distantly. The words escaped her as a weary sigh and her husband lifted her hand from her knee to the palm of his free hand, where he held it as tenderly as a fledgling sparrow between his strong, warm hands.

"Nyx," his voice rumbled from his chest, sterner now, and she finally turned her tired, onyx eyes towards him.

"Much has transpired in recent centuries. Events I have turned a blind eye to, not wanting to exacerbate your torment." He spoke slowly, his words as steady and rhythmic as the rippling ebb and flow of ocean waves.

Nyx blinked, awareness prickling to life within her, banishing the weary apathy that had been weighing her down. What was the meaning of those words? Which events could he be referring to that tormented her? Images flashed through her mind, of Cronus' arms on either side of her, his bare, sweat-drenched skin stretching as far as her eyes could see at that proximity, the scent of him surrounding her, smothering her, his hands - bruising, unforgiving, possessive and debasing - everywhere at once. Her lips turned in a frown. He could not mean...?

Erebus opened his mouth to further elaborate but they were interrupted by an insistent knock on the burgundy double-doors to their chambers.

"Lord Erebus! Lord Cronus summons you!"

Erebus lifted his eyes towards the door and the faintest of sighs escaped him as a deep exhale through his nose and his lips pressed together determinedly. Not willing to utter the slightest word of complaint.

"Immediately, my Lord!" The servant insisted in a tone that was both plea and demand.

Erebus turned back to his wife and slowly relinquished her hand, allowing the pale fingers to slip from his grasp. The sorrowful expression in his dark grey eyes cut her to the quick.

Her apathy dissipated at his apparent departure, at their imminent separation. "A moment, Erebus!" she pleaded, despite herself. "What was it you wished to say?"

Erebus paused briefly, holding her gaze solemnly, before turning from her and making his way to the door. "Another time, Nyx."

She could only look on with a conflicted agony pulsing through her heart. A part of her wanted him to stay and never leave. Another wanted him to go and never return. The sight of his broad back, his dark-brown hair settled loosely over his shoulders, , his tender manner, it all brought back memories she was better off forgetting. Memories that weakened her resolve.

She sat in silence as the doors closed behind him, and her gaze dropped to her intertwined fingers. What had he wanted to say? What was the source of the grief that lingered behind the reassuring expression he always seemed to adopt for her sake? She shuddered to think of it, but at the same time, she, too, had so much she wanted to say to him. Tears pooled in her eyes at the thought of loosening her tongue, of ridding herself of all the secrets, the guilt, and the agony that plagued her.

She recalled the young god who had gifted her those cherished gardens. Recalled their wedding day, the affection brimming in those otherwise stoic eyes as he cupped her face and whispered promises into her ear that set her heart alight. Recalled their wedding night, full of hesitant touches, sweet innocence, and an unearthly longing. Recalled how she had been called away in the dead of night, leaving his sleeping form behind her, and how she had then returned, hours later, broken in places that no eye could see, to slip back beneath the covers, back into his embrace. He had not so much as stirred in her absence, and when he opened his eyes the next morning it was with a blissful ignorance, a naivete that first hurt her, and as time progressed had kindled a cold loathing for him. How could he not know what was happening to his wife in his own kingdom?

She stirred from her reflections with a start as she felt tears drop onto her hand. That would not do. If someone were to see her in a state of weakness, it would reflect badly on the underworld, on her family, on her husband. With a shaky sigh, she reached up to wipe the tears from her eyes. Only to freeze mid-motion when a voice whispered through her consciousness - menacing, leering, and mocking at once.

" _Nyx…"_

She turned towards the window, as if expecting to see the speaker but only the familiar darkness of the underworld's gardens greeted her. She hesitated, although the call itself already made the speaker's intentions clear. An icy shiver made her skin prickle in dread and nauseating anticipation. She knew what was required of her and still, she tarried, hoping the voice would abate.

" _Come."_

There could be no denying it now. Any further delays would amount to insubordination. She could not be held accountable for such an offense. She rose shakily to her feet, before turning towards the doors. None of the servants would stop her as she approached the gardens. None of the guards would so much as turn her way when she left behind the protective foliage and entered the courtyard leading into Cronus' chambers. None of the palace maids would move a muscle as she made her way down the wide hallways, decorated in shades of white marble, ebony lacquer, and red velvet. Was it adultery? Was it an abuse of power? Was it molestation? Infidelity? It did not matter. It was none of their concern. None of hers, either. It was a command, one she was helpless to refuse, even if she wanted to. Did she want to?

She stared unseeingly at her hand, the pale fingers outstretched for the golden door handle leading to Cronus' chambers. How had she crossed that distance? In so short a time? How had she found herself here already?

Swallowing thickly, she pulled open the doors. He had summoned her, she could not waste his time with knocking and pleasantries.

"My Lord," she murmured, curtsying as she bowed her head humbly. She struggled to banish the tremors that plagued her form. She would be helpless to explain them, after all these years. She had only herself to blame. Erebus' affection had confused her. She needed to forget everything, to clear her mind and become the pliant doll Cronus needed her to be. Anything else was reckless, dangerous. Self-destructive.

She stood in the doorway, finally daring to lift her eyes and saw the Uchiha patriarch, wrapped in a loose robe, lounging on silken pillows atop a magnificent four-poster bed, clearly awaiting her.

"You took your time," he spoke in a low, displeased voice. A bad start.

She hastened to shut the doors behind her, sliding a latch into place. Cronus did not care for whoever might stumble upon them, but she did not share that sentiment.

"Please accept my humble apologies," she appeased, cursing inwardly as her fingers fumbled with the latch. She was nervous. She could not afford to be. Why, after all these years, was she nervous with him? None of this was new, none of it was a surprise. So, why had her mouth gone dry? Why was her stomach turning in revulsion?

When she had finally locked the door, she turned back towards him, untying her robes to give herself something to do - and to compensate for her tardiness. Willingness, obedience, submission - these were the qualities she needed to convince him of, if she wanted to stay in his good graces, and if she wanted the same for her family.

The frown that had settled on his features faded somewhat as he watched her shed one layer of elegant silks after another, until she stood before him in nothing but a simple, thin silk shift.

A faint grunt of approval left his throat and he beckoned her closer. She hastened to comply, hoping to distract him with her body, to prevent him from seeing the trepidation on her pale face. It seemed to be working.

She crawled over the mattress until she was just beside him, kneeling patiently as she awaited further instructions. Cronus emptied the goblet of ambrosia in his hand before depositing it on a side table. He turned towards her, giving her his undivided attention - and she wanted to sink into the earth.

He tugged at the thin cords holding her shift closed, and when the thin fabric fell apart, exposing her chest to him, he did not hesitate before reaching for her soft, supple skin, cupping her breasts in a possessive hold that bordered on painful. It was always this way with him. Looking upon her as a hunter might after bringing down an exceptionally magnificent deer. Angling his head, admiring his prey - before slicing its jugular.

She shuddered and the movement did not escape his notice, drawing those dark and forbidding eyes immediately up to hers. She pasted on an unconvincing smile, one that belied the sweat beading on her forehead, dripping between her shoulder blades, but she prayed that it would serve.

Cronus watched her, as perceptive as a hawk, his gaze now fixed firmly on her face as he pinched the sensitive buds with more force than necessary, almost as if daring her to cry out. She did not.

"Your husband has been keeping you busy as of late," he muttered. It was an unmistakable complaint.

Her mind raced. What was the appropriate response to that? "Y- yes. He seems to have more time these days. Long have I awaited my Lord's summons." She hoped that would make her loyalties clear, hoped that would serve to assuage whatever doubts made that brow furrow, but he did not answer and a thought suddenly occurred to her.

"I was under the impression he is convening with you at the moment." She blinked at him, trying to make sense of it. How could he have summoned Erebus urgently but be here with her, indulging in their illicit companionship? If that was what it could be called.

"Let him wait." The gruff response was little more than a growl, drawn from within his chest, angry and possessive as he pushed Nyx down to the black, silk sheets as he claimed her mouth with a ruthlessness she had grown to expect, but that revolted her nonetheless.

No. What was wrong with her? Even as he bit and sucked at her lips, nearly drawing blood, and his tongue entered her mouth as if seeking to claim every inch of it, she struggled to make sense of her own reactions to him. She had lain with Cronus for centuries. She knew his desires, his wishes, she knew how to meet every single one of them. She cared for him. She loved him. Hadn't she told herself as much for centuries already? That her heart was his? Why, then - she gasped as she felt his fingers inch their way between her thighs, parting her folds without warning, without preamble, and sinking into her cavern. His touch was painful and she clenched in response, as if seeking to bar him entrance.

Her eyes widened in horror. What had she done? Why was everything going wrong? Why couldn't she settle into the familiar routine - one she had known for almost as long as she had lived?

He growled her name, and the anger simmering in his eyes as he looked at her was unmistakable. A small girl came to mind, hiding her face behind long midnight tresses, trembling and wailing aloud as she sobbed miserably. _Save me, save me, save me…_

Her instincts of self-preservation jolted to life and she pressed a reassuring hand to his shoulder. "My Lord," she breathed, a strained smile making itself apparent on her face. "Allow me." She could not give him the opportunity to dwell on her mistake, could not afford for him to see her as anything less than eager and willing to do his bidding. She knew how the night would end in that case, and suspected it would be hours yet before Cronus would return to Erebus and leave her behind, bruised and battered.

No. She needed to convince him that she was as in love with him as ever. Steeling herself to do just that, she discarded her silk shift, allowing it to fall to the floor beside the bed as she pushed him gently back, untying his robe. She could please him in ways that he would not see the revulsion on her face. That would surely resolve the issue?

Cronus allowed her to trace hesitant fingers over the defined muscles of his chest, observing her through narrowed eyes. Something had happened. Something had changed. He leaned back and allowed her the chance to prove her loyalty. A merciful gesture. He watched her in disdain as she moved lower still, her hands paying worship to his body until her mouth hovered over his erect member. She paused, casting him a hesitant glance, asking permission.

A brief inclination of his proud head was all the confirmation she received. So, she wanted to please him with her mouth? That would do. For now. It would not serve to make him forget how she had dared to reject him mere moments before, but it would serve as a start. And when he was done with her, she would never do it again. He frowned at the top of her head as she worked eagerly to please him. To think that she still had reservations, after all these centuries. Clearly, Erebus had been given too much free rein as of late. That would have to be amended. That, and…

He called on the chakra within his body, a red-violet wave of chaos, his very essence, and felt it emitting from every pore on his skin before he reached down and filled his hands with her inky locks, before ruthlessly pulling her backwards.

No. This would not do at all. But he was nothing if not a patient teacher. It did not matter how much of a fool she was. He could remind her again. He was more merciful than he was given credit for.

* * *

Nyx struggled not to shudder in his embrace. His arm weighed heavy over her waist and the bruises there ached in response. Her throat burned and the soreness between her legs would plague her for days, she knew. Was there a place on her body that was not bruised and stinging? She was covered in blood, sweat, and the Fates knew what else. She had long since given up counting the hours Erebus had been kept waiting. If she could be good, just a little longer, this ordeal would nearly be over.

Ordeal? Cronus' fingers traced circles on her hip, and she did not see the smirk that crossed his expression. This was certainly no ordeal. She loved Cronus. Loved him with all of her heart. Erebus was the one standing between them. If it weren't for him, she could spend all her days with the Uchiha patriarch in this way.

Moonflowers. Gardens. A lake. A gruff voice. " _My queen."_

Her heart constricted painfully. Her feelings were riotous and chaotic. Erebus. Her husband. Erebus. The man who loved her so tenderly. The one she - No. Her heart belonged to Cronus alone. Didn't it?

Her riotous thoughts were brought to a screeching halt when Cronus caught hold of her chin and turned her face towards himself, laying claim to her lips in yet another possessive kiss that clouded her mind with a hazy fog, banishing all conflicting thoughts to oblivion.

Cronus was the one she loved. He was all-powerful. He was their lord. Their savior. They needed to submit to him. Herself, most of all. And how she loved submitting to him.

It all settled into place. This was as it should be. How foolish she had been, to harbor doubts.

"I must take leave of you," he decided, finally drawing back to extract himself from their tangle of limbs. To dress and face the tasks that were always waiting for him as patriarch of the Uchiha clan.

"My Lord," she reached out for him, paying no heed to the black and blue blotches on her arms. The distance from him was unbearable. "Please, just a moment longer."

"I tire of your childishness, Nyx." He chastised her, and she withdrew her reach immediately. She could not afford to displease him.

"My apologies, my Lord."

He turned his back on her, retreating to the adjoining bathing chambers. The implication was clear. To be gone before his return.

Nyx chanced a glance at her own battered body and knew that she would need a drink of ambrosia to accelerate the healing process and escape any concerned questions from her family. When it came to keeping their love a secret, Cronus seemed not the least bit bothered at being found out. Which only meant she needed to be that much more careful.

Refilling Cronus' goblet, she downed the contents hastily, almost feeling the bruises sink into her skin before disappearing entirely. She was quick to comb her fingers through her hair and fasten a semblance of her previous updo in place. Pulling her silks back on, one by one, she stood before the mirror and appraised her appearance. It would have to be good enough.

She exited his chambers quietly. Erebus would be kept busy for a few hours yet. She assumed Cronus had actual business with him, apart from keeping him away from her side, and so, she had some time as yet until she needed to face him. The meddler.

She held her head high, marching back to her chambers where she would seek a warm bath and fresh clothing. Focused, single-minded and at ease she reentered the palace, making her way down the illustrious hallways. She was the one Cronus had chosen to make his own. Did anything else matter? A sense of pride filled her being at the thought. He had not tired of her despite the centuries. The mere knowledge of that fact was endearing, and a small smile found its way to her lips.

She came to a stop, however, when she saw someone approaching from the opposite end of the marble hallway. A gilded mask, omniscient, ebony eyes, regal bearings and a proud, understated manner. _Itachi._

She could not bring herself to move, watching him instead in an unsettling mixture of awe and terror. He moved as soundlessly and smoothly as a shadow. As if there wasn't a thing that could stand in his way. Her heart ached at the sight of him, filled with things she wished to say without even knowing, herself, just what they were.

Her breath caught in her throat, and her heart seemed to stop entirely, as his dark eyes lifted to hers, taking her in from head to toe - from her slightly disheveled hair, to the robes that were no longer adjusted just so, not in the detailed and elegant manner she was known for. Minor imperfections that would escape the notice of anyone - except for her perceptive son. There was not a thing that could avoid those knowing ebony eyes. She swallowed thickly as his gaze flickered back up towards her. Meeting her eyes for a fraction of a second, before turning his attention back to the opposite end of the hallway, his destination, and passing her by without so much as a word.

She watched him go, terror flooding through her veins as she pressed a hand to the heart barreling in her chest. Her son. Erebus' son. One so cherished. She struggled to remember the day he was born, how the two of them had smiled down on his precious face, side-by-side, but the memory was shrouded by a red-violet fog and she pressed a hand to her temple as a mind-shattering headache exploded without warning.

She stumbled to her chambers, clenching her teeth and asking herself, not for the first time…

How much did Itachi know?

* * *

**AN: Join the crew! Read and review!**

Posiedon!Suigetsu by Vetty  
(https://vettyart.tumblr.com/)


	36. Part XXXV: Snake Charmer

* * *

**Part XXXV: Snake Charmer**

* * *

Cami Lopez rolled her shoulders, easing out the cramp that had worked its way into her sore muscles from hours spent holding the shears and shampooing, drying, and dying hair. Ever since the death of her close family friend, a weight had settled on her heart that was impossible to lift, and never seemed to lighten. She had no choice but to return to her workplace if she didn't want to get fired and simply pushed through day for day.

Elissa had promised her that although the aching weight never went away, although it would never become lighter, it would eventually begin to feel less foreign - become a part of herself, one that she could live with. Cami clung to these words, hoping the day would soon come that the grief no longer crushed her, but simply existed.

They were nearing closing hours and Cami had put her all into providing the clients of the small salon exactly the hairstyles they requested. She maintained a steady stream of small-talk, nearly without thinking, as her body settled into the automated rhythm of one well-versed with their occupation. She massaged her sore shoulders briefly as she waited for the next appointment to show up. She absolutely needed to visit Elissa soon and thank her for all the support she had so freely given as Cami had mourned the loss of Jeremy, a beloved family friend, and a man both humorous and goodhearted

A war veteran who never once let his smile falter, never once betrayed the grief that lingered in his kind, blue eyes. He had shared with them tall tales, ridiculous puns, and the joy-drunk weariness that followed after laughing to the point of tears. They never learned of bloodshed, of war, of the atrocities man could dole out to his fellow man. He shielded that from them, hiding away what he knew, and offering instead, gently, what he wished were true. Cami realized that now and it only made the aching grief more painful. She could not help but wonder if he had needed someone to talk to about his suffering. If she should have been that someone.

She heard the front door of the establishment swing open and hastily wiped at her tears with the back of her hand.

"Welcome!" she greeted, turning to the visitor with a smile that strained every muscle in her face, belying the tears not yet dried on the back of her hand. She did not recognize the visitor who, by all appearances could be either a man or a woman. Long, silky black locks were tied back in a high ponytail, eyeliner elongated the visitor's pale eyes, and an almost serpentine grin stretched the corners of their reddened lips.

"Do you have an appointment?" Cami asked, turning towards the stranger. She knew the answer already. Mrs. Johnson was the one scheduled for the 3 o' clock appointment and this stranger was most certainly not Mrs. Johnson.

"Appointment?" The visitor sneered, as if the idea was laughable, even as their eyes twinkled with a mischief or a disdain Cami could not quite interpret.

"If not, I'll have to ask you to come by another day. We can only serve customers with prior appointments, I'm afraid," Cami continued resolutely. However well-off this stranger might be, rules were rules.

Without warning, a hand shot out and caught hold of Cami's tresses so suddenly she squawked in alarm and nearly fell backwards.

"Well," the stranger muttered derisively, observing the strands of Cami's hair intently. "I do not believe I require the services of one who cannot even tend to their own appearance. I will indeed take my leave and do not deceive yourself for a moment into thinking I will return." With a last tug on Cami's locks, the stranger suddenly released her and turned on their heel, bumping into the stout, curly, red-haired Mrs. Johnson on their way out of the salon.

"Well, I never," the elderly woman declared, watching the androgynous individual leave. "Are you alright, dear?" Extending a hand to Cami's shoulder, she tutted in concern.

"Yes, I'm fine, thank you. They were just a little… weird," Cami finished,, for lack of a better word. She rubbed at her sore scalp as her eyes slipped back towards the glass door the ominous stranger had disappeared through, before refocusing her attention on Mrs. Johnson.

"Never mind that, Mrs. Johnson. Why don't you take a seat and we'll get started right away. Sorry to keep you waiting." Cami reached for a hairdressing cape and tied it around the elderly woman's neck before setting to work, none the wiser about the broad grin on the stranger's face outside, or the few, long strands of light-brown hair twirled around their fingers.

* * *

Elissa pulled the door open, blinking in surprise when she saw the long-haired young woman standing just beyond it, dressed entirely in her black work uniform, with a green parka coat thrown on top.

"Cami!" She greeted with a smile as she stepped back, allowing her friend entrance to her apartment. "Hey. What're you doing here?"

Her friend stared back at her a moment, before nodding in greeting.

"Aren't you meant to be at work?" Elissa asked as Cami stepped past her. Her taller friend's light-brown hair hung loosely over her shoulders as she surveyed the apartment with a curious air, as if she were visiting for the first time.

"I was," Cami answered curtly as she shrugged off her parka, revealing a dark blue, high-collared, knit sweater and black skinny jeans. A gold bangle hung from her thin wrist and small, golden hoops glittered in her ears.

"Did you get off early?" Elissa asked, closing the door behind her. She had been about to leave for a walk in the fading sunlight, eager to get out of her four walls.

Ever since the day of the attack that had transpired in the alleyway outside her apartment, she'd avoided going out alone outside for the most part, keeping her doors and windows securely locked at Itachi's instruction and limiting her travel to car journeys only. But a week had passed since then, and being cooped up indoors was starting to feel aggravating. A short walk to grab some much needed fresh air and light exercise before the winter sun set and with lots of people still about outside, surely wouldn't do any harm, Elissa reassured herself. Afterward, she intended to hop straight into her car to go out to stock up on groceries at the nearest supermarket.

She'd dressed appropriately, sporting a soft cream, pearl-embellished sweater, a tan suede skirt that grazed above her knees, teamed with a pair of dark brown, woolen tights underneath. She'd thrown a warm brown, knee-length coat on top, hastily wrapped a brown-scarf around her neck and had just been about to step into her thigh-length, flat suede brown boots when the doorbell suddenly rang. To see Cami at this hour - when the salon was still open - was surprising, but a twinge of guilt kept Elissa from questioning it too deeply.

"Yes," Cami answered shortly.

Elissa blinked in surprise at the curtness of her tone. Was Cami upset because she'd been so terrible at returning her messages lately? She'd fallen behind on answering everyone, which wasn't surprising given everything that had been happening in her life. She'd been far too busy trying not to lose her own mind and learning to accept that the supernatural was, in fact, real.

"I'm really sorry I haven't been keeping in touch lately. I've just had a lot going on," Elissa winced at the explanation. It sounded selfish and pitiful to her own ears. "I'm sorry, that's really no excuse."

When Cami did not answer, floating slowly down the hallway instead, still looking about as if she were searching for something, Elissa pressed on, "Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," the other girl answered absentmindedly.

"What are you looking for?" Elissa watched her, bemused.

Cami shook her head, but kept looking around. "Nothing."

"Are you sure you're alright?" Elissa blinked at her back. Cami had been very out of it at the funeral. On the other hand, if she was healing from her grief - albeit faster than she had expected - that was a good thing, right? But she was acting strangely. She seemed distracted, unlike her usual, chatty self.

"Fine."

"Hey." Elissa placed a gentle hand on her friend's shoulder, drawing her to a sudden stop as her head whirled towards Elissa, fixing her with an almost indignant look. "If there's anything you need, please, tell me. I know it isn't easy to be the strong one all the time, but I'm here for you."

Cami's eyes flicked to the hand on her shoulder before swallowing and answering in a detached voice. "That is kind of you. I appreciate it."

"Come on," Elissa smiled encouragingly. "I'll make us some tea and we can catch up."

Cami watched Elissa slip into the kitchen, before venturing further down the hallway, her fingers trailing along the wall beside her as she continued scanning the apartment with her eyes. She paused by Elissa's bedroom door and wasted no time in turning the handle and stepping inside.

Cami paused in the doorway, seeing the fluffy, black cat curled up in the middle of the bedspread. A wry smile crossed her lips as she stepped closer.

"It's you," she greeted, strained mirth lacing her low voice.

Vetty turned towards the visitor and her eyes narrowed in distrust as her bushy tail lifted in warning.

"There, there, nothing to be afraid of, kitty," Cami purred.

Vetty hissed angrily, but in just that moment, Elissa reentered the room.

"Oh, here you are." She smiled as she placed the tray of tea on the side table. "Want to hang out here instead?"

"I would, but I don't think your cat likes me," Cami laughed weakly.

"Really?" Elissa lifted Vetty from the bed, "Vetty's just being grumpy." She said, popping a quick, affectionate kiss on her pet's forehead. "You remember Cami, Vetty? She's been through a lot, be nice." She gave the fluffy cat an imploring look as she carried her out of the bedroom, hoping Cami wouldn't think it was weird that she was talking to her cat and would not notice that she was actually expecting her to understand.

Depositing Vetty in the living room, Elissa turned back towards her bedroom, hurrying back to her grieving friend. She knew grief could manifest itself in many forms, and chalked Cami's odd behavior up to just that - reorganizing her emotions until she was able to heal. It was just further proof that Cami needed her right now.

" _Fool of a mortal."_

Elissa froze in place, turning slowly back towards Vetty. "Did - did you just talk to me?" she whispered in disbelief.

For all of her efforts and idle chatter, Vetty had been very intent on ignoring her completely, and now - _now_ , of all times, where Elissa didn't have the time to pursue further conversation with Cami waiting, Vetty chose to address her? What did she mean by calling her a fool? Was she just annoyed at being carried out of the room? Elissa had learned that Vetty was even more tight-lipped than Itachi, as impossible as that was. She swallowed thickly before attempting another question.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she hissed under her breath, mindful of the fact that her friend might overhear continued conversation.

" _Things are not always as they seem."_

Giving Elissa a disparaging look, Vetty lifted her bushy tail and stalked off with all the arrogance of a wealthy matron.

Elissa scowled. What could that possibly mean? What was she overlooking? Why did Vetty have to be so vague?

Hesitating in the hallway, Elissa finally turned back towards her bedroom, deciding she would have time to deal with Vetty later. She found Cami laying on her back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. She stared hard at her for a long moment, before shaking her head.

"Sorry about her," Elissa rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, trying to remove the tension prickling her skin. "She's not too good with people." Retrieving the tray of tea, she placed it on the bed and sat beside it.

"Hm." Cami hummed, as she sat up beside her, her eyes shifting to the steaming cup of tea resting on the tray.

"How've you been? Are you holding up alright?" Elissa gave her friend a sympathetic look, remembering how inconsolable she had been at the funeral.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Cami returned her gaze indifferently.

Elissa's mouth fell open, only for her to shut it wordlessly in silent concern. Why wouldn't I be? What was Cami saying? She had just experienced a loss. It was almost as though she were avoiding that truth entirely, and struck Elissa as peculiar.

"Well, because…" she offered vaguely, not wishing to open fresh wounds that probably had not yet fully healed. She knew what grief did to a person. She didn't want to overstep, and yet her friend's detached manner was worrying her. "I mean, you know…" Her voice trailed, when Cami simply stared back at her expressionlessly.

Taken aback, Elissa hastily sought to change the subject. Perhaps Cami simply just didn't want to talk about it - but before she could, a seething hiss caught their attention and the two girls turned as one towards the doorway where Vetty stood, hissing at Cami with her eyes narrowed.

Had Vetty followed her back into the bedroom? Was there something wrong? Something that warranted such aggressive behavior? Elissa's hazel eyes drifted back towards Cami uncertainly. She was watching Vetty through half-lidded eyes.

Why was she looking at her cat like that? Almost subconsciously, Elissa shifted, increasing the distance between them on the bed - a thoughtless, instinctive reaction as her eyes darted from feline to human, unnerved by the inexplicable tension in the air. Her mind raced. It wasn't like Vetty to be openly hostile for no reason. And it wasn't like she had never met Cami before. What was the meaning of it?

"Something needs my attention," Cami dismissed abruptly. "I have to leave."

"What?" Elissa frowned in bewilderment. "But you just got here."

Cami rose to her feet and strode out the room. "Until next time, Elissa." She was halfway to the exit before Elissa had caught up.

"Wait! Cami, are you sure you're alright? You seem… I don't know, out of it." She stood, wringing her hands in the hallway as she watched Cami slip back into her shoes, greatly confused by her erratic behaviour.

"Fine, thank you. See you another time."

"But-!" Before Elissa could so much as say another word, her friend had pulled open the door and closed it behind her, leaving Elissa gaping after her, stunned, helpless to explain the dreadful unease whispering through her veins.

Something definitely was not right with her friend. Her sudden, aimless visit and abrupt departure were disconcerting. The brunette could make neither head nor tail of it. Was this simply one of the many faces of grief manifesting, or was this something more? Something she should be worried about?

Shaking her head incredulously, Elissa pocketed her phone and plucked her keys from the sideboard. She needed to get out of the house.

* * *

Elissa's feet carried her without conscious instruction. Her mind was buzzing with concerns she could not truly assign away as they prompted one unanswered question after another. Was Cami's odd behavior merely one of the many possible manifestations of grief? Or did it symbolize something more sinister? Was she being paranoid? But then, what could Vetty have meant by saying, " _Things are not as they seem?"_ Or was that statement related to something else entirely? She felt a throbbing in her head as her mind raced in circles, an ache not even the crisp winter air could clear away.

Before she knew it, she drew to a stop by the riverbank, whether it was habit, nostalgia, a need for comfort, or the desire to see the individual she associated with this idyllic place that had prompted her subconscious to lead her down this path, she did not know. It was highly unlikely Itachi would be making an appearance. A couple days had passed since she had seen him last, but their meetings seemed to consist mainly of midnight visits to her apartment where he inquired after her wellbeing and she fumbled in vain for words resembling human speech until he took pity on her idiocy and bid her good night. She winced to recall all the awkwardness that had spilled from her lips.

But the last visit…

Elissa looked out at the glittering surface of the river's pristine water flowing by, as if to distract herself from the memory of Itachi's last appearance in her living room. It was such a fateful place. This was where they had met the first time, and this was where the truth had come to light.

It was a fairly mild winter's day and the breeze blowing by did not sting her cheeks with the same biting cold it had that climactic day. The snow had melted, leaving not a reminder of what had transpired here and yet, she felt it still in her bones. The cold vice-like grip of death as her muscles seized in the freezing water, only to be saved by the very one who had no business prolonging her life, and yet, had chosen to do so - on multiple occasions. He had explained his actions, that her time had not yet come, that he was displeased by the interference in his domain, but - she couldn't shake the feeling that somehow, in some way, his uncharacteristic actions might have something to do with _her,_ personally. Was it egoistic of her to think so? Hadn't the poem Slayte had shown her and his demeanor just the other day suggested as much? Was it sacrilege to even consider the idea?

She recalled Itachi's last visit to her apartment - one wholly unexpected. She bit her lip, all thoughts of Cami and Vetty and even the peril that haunted her fleeing her mind as she recalled the warmth of his arms closing around her waist. His touch had never been cold, always warm and comforting, almost feverish even. Or was that merely her own reaction to his proximity?

He desired for _her_ to receive all that she desired? She closed her eyes with a sigh, inhaling the fresh, woodland air as she thought back to those simple touches that allowed her no rest, nor any reprieve from her own misguided affections. The feel of his strong arms around her, that firm chest pressed against her back, the warm breath on her ear, the long bangs that framed his face, tickling her shoulder as he leaned in close. That low voice, the way it rumbled from his chest - the way she felt it against her back - the way it made her insides clench with a feeling she could not name as he offered her simply worded promises that robbed the breath from her lungs.

"It is not wise to wander on your own."

Elissa jumped to hear the very voice her memory had been straining to reconstruct, speak up beside her as if conjured by the intensity of her desire. She whirled around in surprise, her face consumed by a fierce blush, mortified to think that she might have summoned him with her thoughts. Was that possible? Did he know what she had been thinking? She could only hope not.

"Itachi!" Elissa exclaimed, struggling to keep calm. "You surprised me."

She found him standing beside her, shrouded as always in that thick cloak he wore, his head angled ever so slightly in her direction, glittering, ebony eyes fixed firmly on her from behind a gilded, black mask. The raven hair framing his face floated gently in an imperceptible breeze as his cloak billowed behind him, although Elissa could have sworn the air was still and not so much as a branch swayed around them.

There was a note of displeasure on his proud lips and Elissa could not stop her gaze from lingering on them longer than necessary, even while she dimly registered she had done something he did not approve of. The delicate curve of his lower lip, the defined cupid's bow, the surprising fullness of them - why had she never noticed before? Were these the lips that had brushed against her own in this very place? _Had_ it been a kiss?

' _Oh, for God's sake, Elissa,'_ she censured herself. ' _Don't start.'_

"It is inadvisable," he murmured quietly. "To be about on your own."

Unable to hold his intent gaze with her wayward thoughts still running rampant, she turned back towards the river, staring unseeingly at the water's surface shimmering in the winter sunlight.

"Was it irresponsible of me?" She chanced a glance at the deity, turning back to the river when she found him still regarding her intently. "I just - it's really difficult for me to just stay cooped up inside all the time. It's not me. This probably sounds dumb to you, but I…" she bit her lip, feeling a little like a spoiled child who refused to accept what was best for them. "When I stay home alone all the time, just - doubts and things start to creep in and drive me crazy. I need to go out, to see things, and people and not be alone with myself all the time."

She sighed as she lowered her eyes to the grass at her feet. "And I figure, whoever is out to get me can corner me in my apartment just as well as out here. If I'm going to die anyway, I might as well die doing the things I like, rather than hiding away like a mouse."

After a moment's silence, Itachi answered, "Your friend -" but Elissa cut him off.

"Slayte's not my babysitter. She has a life of her own, I can't just ask her to come over every time I want to leave the house." She cast Itachi a glance, hoping he understood, hoping he wouldn't ask any more of Slayte than was absolutely necessary. The bare minimum.

"There are protections in place at your residence," he informed her patiently. "And Vetty watches over you as well."

His recent encounter with the God of the Seas had made apparent beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Underworld feline knew more than she let on. And yet, she had stressed to him that she had revealed all that she was capable of and seemed to rue that very fact herself. There would be no further information to be gained from her. The bonds between familiar and master held fast. Her loyalty to Elissa, however, was beyond reproach. She was one of the few that could be trusted. More powerful than she let on.

"But… if someone were to attack me all out like they did that day, would those protections hold them back? Would it really make a difference?" She lifted confused, hazel eyes towards him, wanting to hear the truth, wanting to be able to assess the danger for herself. When he only returned her gaze quietly, she took his silence for an answer.

She sighed miserably. "I was only going for a short walk anyway. I just want what freedom I can get. I don't want to give in to the fear."

Catching sight of a smooth, flat stone at her feet she bent to pick it up. She recalled his advice as she turned it over in her hand, could almost feel his fingers around hers as she pulled her hand back, angled her throw, and sent the stone skipping across the river's surface, flicking her wrist at just the right moment. She counted once, twice - it skipped five times before sinking beneath the river's surface.

"There were so many things I wanted to do. I don't feel alive these days. Just like I'm waiting for doom to come for me. But if I'm going to live, then I want to go as far as I can with what time I have." Elissa pointed emphatically at the river's surface as she turned back towards Itachi, indicating the stone's journey. "I want to make far-reaching ripples. I don't want to go quietly."

"I wanted to go to so many places, Itachi." She could not contain the note of complaint in her voice as she bemoaned her predicament. "Now, I don't even know if I can go to the grocery store."

Itachi, who had been listening quietly up until this point to Angelissa's increasing distress, turned towards her as he spoke gently. "I will take you wherever you wish, Angelissa. You need only wait for me."

"Thanks," she smiled wryly. "But I don't just mean walks like this. Who knows when I'll get the chance to travel again. Makes me wish I had taken the opportunity when I had the chance."

She failed to notice the spark of indignance in his ebony eyes as she dismissed his offer. Still avoiding his gaze, she did not see the way his eyebrow arched at her words, clarifying that she wanted more than "simple walks". She was entirely ignorant of the fact that she had inadvertently slighted the god of death and underestimated him severely.

It was only when she felt his fingers intertwine through hers that her head shot up and she met his eyes, surprised to find that he had closed the distance and was now standing just in front of her.

She knew what he was - a deity, a prince, death incarnate. She knew that there would never be anything at all between them. That to entertain the thought was likely sacrilege. Slayte's warnings buzzed in her ears, but she paid as little heed to them now as she had when they were spoken. For reasons she could not logically explain, she found her fingers closing around his.

At her action, the faintest flicker of surprise passed through his ebony eyes, fixed firmly on her own hazel irises. His other hand lifted to graze past her hip, to wrap around the small of her back and hold her close to him. Before she could form the words to ask him what was happening, a gust of wind burst to life around them, a furious tempest that tugged at their clothing as a flurry of black feathers whirled around them, blinding her to everything apart from him.

When the sudden gale subsided, the inky black feathers glided slowly to their feet, before disappearing the instant they touched the long blades of grass on the ground. Elissa blinked up at Itachi, too stunned by his touch, the hand still burning against her back, the fingers intertwined through her own, to summon any words at all. She was so dazed by his proximity that at first, she did not even think to look at their surroundings.

It was only when a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips, and his hand slowly withdrew from her side that she stepped back and, doing so, finally saw where she was.

They stood in the middle of a vast field of tall, flowering grass. Elissa gasped in amazement as she saw violets and bellflowers in varying shades of royal purples, whites, and pale pinks. The bellflowers in particular, caught her eye. Like inebriated, round-bellied kings tipping and swaying with the slightest breeze, swathed in royal purple velvet. The stems bowing low under their proud weight. She was almost certain she had noticed a few belladonna flowers as well. Rolling, verdant green hills spread in all directions, dotted by the lovely flora. The scent caught on the breeze and blew past them, a delight to the senses, eliciting a gasp of elated surprise from Elissa as stray petals blew past the two of them. It was like a world made for the two of them alone, where all her worries could fade away into nothingness.

Turning towards Itachi in awe, she saw that he had extended his hand towards her, palm facing upwards in invitation, his head inclined towards her in an unspoken question. Feeling giddy and adventurous, she slipped her hand into his and allowed him to lead the way across the rolling hills, enjoying the wonders around her in wordless admiration, hoping to imprint the image into her mind, wondering if she could capture it in words.

They drew to a stop at a lakeside where Elissa was stunned to find pale lotus flowers blooming in the pristine waters. In the middle of the lake stood what she assumed was a temple. A circular building, ornate in detail if not in size. Marble arches supported the dome of the small temple and she could tell that there were images and possibly other inscriptions engraved into the marble that she could not possibly discern at this distance. The columns were worse for the wear and one had crumbled away until only a stony stump remained, but somehow, the temple still stood tall and majestic.

"It's so beautiful," she breathed, before turning brilliant, sparkling hazel eyes towards him. "Where are we?"

"Hellas," Itachi answered simply, lowering himself to be seated in the tall grass at their feet. Elissa followed his lead and settled beside him. She recalled the foreign word, one he had explained to her so long ago.

"Greece?" Her jaw dropped in surprise. "But- but that's so far away! Did we just teleport here? How does that even work?" Was that even scientifically possible? Well, she supposed nothing was impossible for a god and yet, it all felt so unreal. Too good to be true. Such a stark contrast to the four walls of her apartment and her daily commute to work. She felt as if she were positively brimming with life, as if she, herself, had soaked up the beauty all around them.

"How do I know this isn't an illusion?" she murmured, half to herself as she beheld the wondrous sight.

Itachi angled his head towards her, considering the question seriously. He had placed illusions on her in the past, largely to spare her mind some terrible truth she had not been ready to bear. Or had she? Had his assumptions to the strength of her mind held any truth? Here they were, side by side, her knowing precisely what he was and yet, still holding his hand as if she considered him a dear friend. It would not be the first time he had been mistaken in assessing the boundaries of her endurance.

"Illusions only vaguely resemble reality." Falling briefly silent, his eyes skimmed over the surface of the lake, before coming to rest on the temple in its center. Serene and lifeless, despite its honored position at the axis of the marvelous, sprawling lifeforms surrounding it. Unchanging, while all the flowers would bloom and wither away, to be replaced with new blossoms. Still, while the lake would stir, bowing and dancing with the winds and the rain, whispering of tales the temple turned deaf ears to. Such was ever the custom twixt mortal and immortal.

"Although a reality twisted to one's own views is a far more condemning illusion. One few ever break free from."

The words were spoken softly, reflectively and Elissa did not speak as she lost herself in those pensive, onyx eyes, feeling subconsciously that those words were meant more for himself than for her.

"How can I tell the difference?" she ventured, feeling bold enough to try and draw his attention. In this ethereal setting, where nothing resembled what she knew, she could almost make herself believe that the boundaries of mortal and immortal, of human and deity, the boundaries she had etched in stone between them, were, themselves, little more than illusions of her own making. Maybe she was simply drunk on the splendor of her magnificent surroundings. Maybe she was unreasonably emboldened by the time and the attention he favored her with. She could not explain it. All she knew for certain, in that instant, was that she wanted to draw those fathomless, ebony eyes away from the crumbling temple and back to herself.

When those thick lashes lifted, however, and that heavy gaze shifted towards her, she feared she might be crushed by its weight. Forcing a casual smile, she prompted, "There must be a way to break free from an illusion, right? To tell the difference? Can you teach me?"

His expression softened and he inclined his head in the slightest nod. "Teach you? And yet, you have broken free from my illusion once already."

Elissa's eyes widened in surprise as she tried to recall what he could be referring to. "Me? Are you sure? All I remember is that time at the bridge - and I don't remember doing anything special."

"Not the bridge," he corrected. "By the riverside."

Elissa bit her lip in contemplation. The riverside? "Actually, how many times have you put an illusion on me? I'm not sure I know what you're referring to."

He did not answer, but held her gaze quietly, waiting for her to arrive at the correct conclusion. Elissa thought back to the time she knew with certainty she had been under an illusion - the day at the bridge. It had been a very intense illusion. A pleasant one - but still nauseatingly dizzying in its intensity. It was as if every other thought had been barred from her mind - as if she had been unable to think in any direction other than the one the illusion was leading her in. When else had she felt like that?

Suddenly, it dawned on her with startling clarity. "When you told me to return?" She lifted her chin to fix him with curious, hazel irises. "Was that an illusion?"

"It was." Itachi's simple confirmation sent her mind racing. She bit her lip, trying to solve the riddle, as she turned back towards the lake's still waters - missing Itachi's small smile of approval at her conclusion. Elissa reevaluated the encounter, step for step, as well as her own actions - had she broken free of that on her own? Her feet had seemingly developed a mind of their own, and his words had rooted in her mind as indisputable fact. It had been almost as if going back home had been her own idea. She had felt disoriented, once more incapable of thinking in any way other than the one the illusion dictated. How had she broken free from it?

"I was so pissed," she whispered aloud unthinkingly, before clapping a hand over her mouth at her own crude language. Her head shot up to meet his eyes, hoping against hope he hadn't heard her. The small, amused smile that was still fixed on his lips proved otherwise. Elissa forgot her embarrassment at the sight. Itachi, smiling? The sky and the earth must have come to a standstill for something so beautiful to happen.

"The severity of your anger aided you in dispelling the illusion," he confirmed. It took Elissa a moment to remember what they were talking about. "That was, however, merely an auditory illusion, establishing control of your senses with a spoken command."

Elissa nodded in understanding. She hadn't hallucinated fantastic images as she had by the bridge, rather, his simple, spoken statement had compelled her to obey.

"The strength of an illusion - and whether or not it is possible to break free from it - depends on the power and skill level of the illusionist. The caster also has a degree of control, and can determine the strength of the illusion they wish to project."

"So, there are others who can cast illusions as well? More illusionists?" She queried, curious.

"Yes," he nodded.

Elissa hesitated, the admittedly impertinent question she wanted to ask weighing on her tongue. "How skilled are you then? Among the illusionists?"

He turned towards her then, the faintest smirk on his lips, yet another expression so rare she could only stare in awe as she heard his subtle answer. "My skill is at an average level."

"Is it?" Elissa stared back at him, wide-eyed. It wasn't the answer she had been expecting. Yet another reminder that there were further deities out there, potentially more powerful than Itachi, and any one of them could be the one targeting her.

"The key to distinguishing reality from an illusion is in the minute details. An illusion recognized is half dispelled." He murmured gently, the smile vanished from his lips as he began his explanation. "You may see this hand in an illusion," he began, turning her hand over in his, revealing her palm to her eyes. "But you might find that the lines on your palms are absent entirely, or do not reflect your own." His fingers traced over the lines of her palm as he spoke and she could not help the shiver that travelled down her spine at his touch.

"An illusion is nothing more than a world conjured by the illusionist. Therefore, the distinction between reality and an illusion is best discerned in the finer points. The more talented an illusionist, however, the more complete the illusion will be, down to every inch. You must look more closely, then."

Elissa swallowed thickly, committing the advice to memory. There was no knowing when she might need it again. Her brow furrowed in thought as she recalled the illusion he had shown her on the bridge. She could recall every individual feather of the hummingbirds that had flitted around her. The individual petals and thorns of the roses blooming to life. The way they curved, the jagged edges of the waxy leaves… was that the level of an average illusionist?

She glanced at Itachi but did not dare to question his statement. Perhaps there were simply other illusionists even more talented. She had no way of knowing. She drew her knees up to her chest and stared contemplatively at the lotus flowers passing by.

"Could we practice?" she asked suddenly, turning towards him. "Maybe you can put me under an illusion and I can try and break it?"

Itachi was silent beside her. The wind teased his long hair as the silence stretched on. Elissa felt herself withering beneath his stare. Had she misspoken? Was it a disrespectful suggestion? Was she wasting his time?

Before she could further overthink the matter, Itachi broke the silence. "An illusion is not without burden to the mind. I would not place such a strain on you again." There was a note of regret in his voice, almost like an unspoken apology.

Elissa remembered how ill she had felt after the events at the bridge, although, in retrospect, she was now certain she would have felt far worse had Itachi not chosen to distract her from the massacre playing out before her. She shuddered to recall the terrible sounds and felt immense gratitude that the corresponding images were not burned into her brain. It felt selfish, knowing that people had suffered there and she had remained ignorant of it, but would her having witnessed it help them in any way?

Suddenly, she was glad Itachi had been there for another reason entirely. It was through his swift interference, summoning their souls - whatever that entailed - that he had freed them from those flaming, steel prisons. Releasing them from their suffering. She had never thought to think of it that way before. What if he had been delayed? Would that mean those people would have had to suffer even longer? He had appeared almost instantly. His expression had been solemn, almost resigned. It struck her in that moment, recalling his expression, that he was not indifferent to mortal suffering.

The realization hit her like a punch to the gut. He was Death, without a shadow of a doubt. But he was kind. Gentle. Thinking about it objectively, wasn't it far preferable to have someone like Itachi take one's soul, rather than some terrifying, ruthless being? Perhaps he eased them into death, offering comfort to their souls. Maybe they followed him willingly, so pleasant was his company.

What was she thinking? She was getting ahead of herself. She couldn't really claim to know any of that. They were mere assumptions, based on her perception of him.

And yet, he _had_ interfered, when neither her life nor her physical wellbeing were in danger. He had shown her an illusion simply because he likely suspected how terribly her mind would be broken if she were to witness that massacre, as terrible as she was at coping with death. It had been an unnecessary kindness, and entirely in keeping with everything she thought she knew about him.

"You were only trying to help me," Elissa answered slowly, her gaze fixed on his cloak, not quite daring to meet his eyes. "I don't think I would have been so freaked out if I just knew what was going on."

In a hushed, embarrassed voice, she added, "It wasn't that bad." She reached out absentmindedly, unthinkingly, and plucked a stray flower petal from his shoulder, freezing as she withdrew her hand - suddenly realizing how casually she had touched him.

"I wouldn't mind," the warmth burning in her face meant she was blushing furiously, she knew, but she forced herself to finish her sentence. "If you were the one to do it."

"Is that so?" the gentle murmur seemed to seep into her very skin, embedding itself into her bones. She did not dare to look up at him. What would she find there? A smirk? A smile? Indifference? Not ready to deal with any of those, she simply nodded, fixating further on the periwinkle flower petal between her fingers.

"Another time, perhaps, Angelissa." His tone was reassuring, intended to put her at ease, to release some of the tension in the air between them and Elissa was grateful for it.

The sun had set unnoticed during the duration of their conversation, slinking away beneath the horizon to seek its rest. The light of the full moon illuminated the flowering fields in its absence, peeking shyly from between the clouds like a timid child.

"Whose temple is that?" Elissa questioned, noticing how ethereally the white marble glowed in contrast to their increasingly darkening surroundings. "Is it yours?"

Itachi fell silent as his gaze lingered on the small, circular building. The frown etched onto his features gave Elissa pause, before he finally answered.

"No. There were no temples erected in honor of Thanatos."

A pang of sorrow tore through her heart at the statement. Weren't deities meant to be worshipped? Wasn't that important to them? "Never?" she breathed in surprise, her brows furrowing in concern. "Not even in the old days?"

Itachi angled his head towards her, his frown fading away at the sight of the sympathy in her eyes. "It is understandable," he offered by way of explanation. "Why should one wish to remember Death? To worship it?"

"But that's not fair," Elissa countered before she could stop herself. "Doesn't everyone wish for a gentle death at the end of their lives?"

"And yet, very few seek to remember death before that time." Itachi placed a hand on her shoulder, a reassuring gesture. "You need not concern yourself, Angelissa."

The dismissal, the easy way he accepted receiving less than he deserved frustrated her.

"I'll build you one." Glowing, hazel eyes, burning with determination, met his own confidently. "I will build you a shrine - or a temple - and even if I'm the only one who visits, so be it."

She felt inexplicable tears sting her eyes. "You deserve more."

Itachi's hand lifted to her face, wiping away the tear threatening to fall from her eye. "Do not weep, Angelissa. It is hardly a circumstance worthy of your grief. I care little for such formalities."

When she could not lift her gaze, still struggling to regain a handle on her emotions, he cupped her chin and lifted her face towards himself. "You need not trouble yourself."

"It isn't fair. Why should you be cursed and despised? Why? When you're so kind? When you care so much?" She bit her lip, not wanting to burst out crying. "When you're so good?"

To this, Itachi said nothing. He watched her wipe at her eyes and take deep breaths, seeking to regain control of her rampant emotions. For once, he did not know what to say. Many a mortal had wept before him. Never had a mortal wept _for_ him. Neither mortal nor immortal for that matter.

"Angelissa," the understated tone of voice he called her name in, brought her head up to meet his eyes, her own still brimming with tears. "I do not require the worship of mortals. Nor do I desire their praise and affection. Whether they curse or despise me, it is no concern of mine."

His words did not make her feel better. If anything, her heart only clenched with further grief.

"If a mortal chose to give me their affection, however. Or desired to worship me of their own volition…." He looked down the length of his nose at her, his ebony eyes veiled beneath a curtain of thick lashes, unreadable as he cupped her face in his large, warm palms, and wiped the tears from her eyes anew.

"One would quite suffice."

Elissa's cheeks burned against the smooth skin of his hands, his words registering dimly. She stared mutely back at him, searching his eyes as her mind conveniently blanked. She did not dare to consider the implications of his words. What he could possibly mean by claiming a single worshipper would be enough for him, what the intent way his deceptively calm gaze was burning into her sought to convey.

"I… Well, I mean…" Her heart seemed to want to burst out of her ribcage, so furiously was it pounding in her chest. She tried to make sense of his statement at the same time she tried to pretend the words had never left his mouth. It was utter egoism to think he meant her, wasn't it? To assume a deity so wonderful, so highborn and noble, could want anything at all from her humble self was the height of narcissism - wasn't it?

Itachi saved her the trouble of answering by drawing slowly back and rising smoothly to his feet.

"Is it time to go back already?" Elissa asked, hastening to rise to her feet as well.

Itachi reached out for her hand, "I was under the impression you would appreciate a closer glance." Elissa stepped closer and took his hand automatically as her eyes darted towards the temple in the center of the lake. Had she been that transparent with her curious glances?

"Is that allowed?" The question was out before she could stop it, and Itachi glanced briefly back at her, an amused smile on his lips. She bit her lip in embarrassment. Of course it was, otherwise he wouldn't have suggested it.

They drew to a stop just before the grassy field gave way to the waters of the lake. Itachi shifted slightly, until he stood just behind her. His left hand held hers aloft as his right hand came to rest on her hip.

"With me," he murmured into her ear before stepping forward, bringing Elissa along with him. She advanced at his gentle instruction, certain she would be wading through the lake's cold waters. A gasp of delight escaped her lips when her feet never broke through the water's surface. She reached unthinkingly for Itachi as she stared wide-eyed at her own booted feet, stunned to see that the lake supported her weight as surely as if she weighed little more than any one of the lotus flowers.

When she turned towards him, she was slightly embarrassed to see how the fingers of her right hand were curled around his cloak in a death-grip, even as he held her left hand securely in his own.

"This is amazing," she breathed in wonder, drawing slightly back as she stared around herself at the water glimmering in the moonlight and the lotus flowers floating around them. Itachi led the way further along the lake and Elissa held his hand firmly even as her eyes drank up her surroundings, turning back to see the shore shrinking into the distance before her very eyes.

At length, they arrived at the marble steps of the temple and Itachi released her hand as she climbed the two stairs to the temple's circular platform. Up close, the temple's interior was only slightly larger than the ground floor of her friends' tea shop. She flew over the gold-inlaid marble floor and twirled in circles, arms spread out and overjoyed.

Visiting Greece in person, seeing the temples of the very deities she had studied so much about had never been anything more than a far-off dream to her, one only ever preceded by the words, "Maybe one day". These were the deities she had fashioned an entire world around, her head full of the stories she had read - and the one she wanted to write. Lifting her head to the domed ceiling she saw an intricate display of imagery and ancient writings spilling and sprawling over one another just overhead.

"Wow," she breathed, mesmerized by the entire experience. Turning back to Itachi she found him lingering between the columns, arms folded over his chest as he observed her quietly, an emotion indiscernible weighing in those slate-black eyes.

"Itachi," she called, hoping to rouse him from whatever sobering thoughts weighed him down. She pointed upwards, a smile lifting the corners of her rosy lips, "Could you tell me what that says?"

Hesitating only a merest moment, he unfolded his arms and crossed over to where she stood. Stopping just beside her, he lifted his eyes to the inscription before reading aloud.

"The divine temple of the exalted Goddess Nyx, Queen of the Underworld."

"The goddess Nyx!" Elissa exclaimed, clapping with delight as she turned towards him. She had thought they might have stumbled upon the temple of some minor deity, but the Queen of the Underworld herself? "She's _very_ well-known," she explained to Itachi before grinning at the ceiling.

"Amazing. To think I'm standing here in the temple of Nyx. She's your mother, right?" Elissa asked, glancing briefly at him before redirecting her gaze to the ceiling, her eyes trailing over the inscriptions.

A tight nod served as Itachi's answer and Elissa - too entranced by her surroundings - did not notice the subtle way the death deity tensed.

"I'm so lucky to have met you," she gushed. "I've seen and experienced so many wonderful things because of you. The field, this temple - I've dreamed all my life of seeing the ancient temples - and I," she whirled back to face him, "I even walked on water! I'm almost afraid I'll wake up tomorrow and it will all have been a dream. Thank you so much."

She noted that he did not seem to share her joy. The expression in his eyes was conflicted, as far as she could tell, and the way his lips were pressed stubbornly together was nothing like the easygoing, amused smile he had indulged at her expense only moments earlier.

"You have nothing to thank me for," he refuted quietly.

The slight emphasis on the word "you" rang familiar. She recalled how he had spoken similar words, once. " _You_ have nothing to fear from me." The intonation had seemed to imply that even if the entire world feared him, she could be at ease. Similarly, was he now saying that whoever chose to thank him, she was the last person who should do so? Why?

"Itachi, I feel so fortunate to know you," her hazel eyes met his entreatingly. "There are so many wonders I would never have known anything about were it not for you. You've shown me beautiful things, things I could never even have imagined. And helped me out so many times where you didn't have to. Of course I'm thankful to you."

"Fortunate?" Itachi echoed with a frown. A short contemplative silence followed, before he spoke again. "My interference in your life has caused you nothing but grief. The pain you were made to endure up until now is due to my shortcomings, I am well aware of the fact. How then, can my presence indicate good fortune for you?" His ebony eyes searched hers for an answer, but found none that satisfied him.

"Itachi, there's more to it than just that," Elissa attempted. "Whatever has it out for me, that has nothing to do with you. That isn't your fault. And you've done everything you can to help me. Even if you hadn't, even if you didn't spoil me with so much of your time and your attention, you… by the riverside in those early days already, you gave me so much peace." She swallowed, embarrassed by her own confession. "Even for that alone, I can never thank you enough."

He lifted a hand slowly, and Elissa watched, mesmerized, as shadows lifted themselves from their places in the darkness and approached at his command, settling in the palm of his hand, twisting, morphing, transforming into something of his desire. A single, black peony bloomed in the palm of his hand, with undertones of royal blue and violet. Itachi stepped closer and tucked the flower behind her ear - a gentle, affectionate gesture that took her breath away. Her forehead rested nearly on his chest as he adjusted the flower just so.

"Forgive me, Angelissa." The quiet, regretful tone of voice cut her to the quick. "For that which you have lost. For that which you were made to suffer. For my hesitation in being forthcoming with you - and the grief you were made to endure as a result. For not yet having resolved the danger that looms over you." He paused briefly, before stepping back ever so slightly, his eyes skimming over the flower at her ear.

"I have wronged you, Angelissa."

Elissa sucked in a sharp breath of air. She had blamed him for many of the things that had happened, but to hear him acknowledge it, in so mournful a tone, broke her heart. He had only been doing the best he could. He had only intended to save her from harm. There was no need for him to be this regretful, was there?

Boldly now, with the confidence of one speaking the truth, she repeated the words she had spoken into the darkness three days prior.

"There's nothing to forgive."

Itachi's lips parted slightly as if to speak, but Elissa pushed on. "You did your best for my sake, I know. Even Slayte has only been able to protect me so far, because of the powers you gave her. We would have been lost many times over without them. If you weren't involved in my life, this mysterious enemy would still have it out for me, only I wouldn't have a protector anymore."

She swallowed thickly, realizing the truth of the words as they left her mouth. "So, please don't apologize to me. I realize now that you never intended to hurt me. I think, maybe you just didn't realize how important you were to me. How much it would hurt me if you cut me off."

Her cheeks tinged red at her confession, unsure if Itachi would take it as such. He stood with his usual effortless elegance, regal and unintentionally proud as he listened quietly.

"Really, Itachi," she repeated. "It's not your fault. Please, don't think that it is."

When, still, he said nothing, Elissa closed the distance between them in frustration. She lifted her hands to his mask, wanting to tear it away, wanting to see the expression behind those ebony irises. She wanted to know, finally, what he was really feeling, and not have to guess anymore.

Itachi made no attempt to stop her, but the instant she pulled the mask from his face, she froze.

Those familiar onyx eyes, as black as a moonless night, veiled beneath a curtain of thick lashes and flecked with the faintest greys if she looked closely, were always walled off to outsiders. The emotion within carefully concealed by his iron will and by the mask he wore. Was it simply because she had begun spending more time with him that she was learning to see beyond his exterior? Or was he lowering the barriers intentionally, allowing her to see the tempest buried deep within? A sorrow so poignant and enduring was etched into his dark eyes, the weight of it was crushing. It felt as old as time and as heavy as the universe.

"Oh," the mask fell to the marble floor, where it disintegrated into gold dust. She stepped closer, still, lifting her hands despite herself to cup his face. Her eyebrows furrowed in distress, as her heart clenched painfully.

"Oh, Itachi," she whispered, the words catching in her throat as an ache flooded through her chest. Her hazel eyes searched his own dark ones, and she brushed the pads of her thumbs along his cheekbones in a comforting gesture.

"How can a god be so sad?" she asked, her voice breaking. "Please, don't be sad. Not for my sake. Please."

"Angelissa." His now familiar hand came up to catch her wrist, but he did not pull her hand away, stroking his thumb along her pulse point on the inside of her wrist. If he felt her pulse scrambling beneath his touch, he did not comment on it. "Your plight and your safety are my concern. Not simply because someone interferes with my domain." He paused, his eyes boring into hers, and she could not bring herself to remove her hands from his face, let alone step back. The muted pain she had seen in his eyes had lessened at her touch - it made her want to never remove her hands at all.

"But because a discourtesy to you is an insult to me. And a threat to you," he paused, his eyes boring into hers as he allowed his words to sink in. "Is a declaration of war to me."

It was as if time had come to a standstill - and her heart and mind along with it. To hear him confirm aloud what she had not even allowed herself to entertain in her thoughts - that she meant something to him. That her wellbeing was a personal concern of his. That her suffering hurt him, much like his own broke her heart. She felt herself shatter like glass at his touch, at his words, at the same time she felt blissfully whole and content. To feel acknowledged by him, to feel cherished was euphoria to the highest degree. She was drunk on the very notion. But… was that allowed at all? What could that mean for the two of them?

Elissa withdrew her hands slowly, conflicted. She clutched them to her chest, suddenly realizing how bold she had been with her touches, her words, her affections. What had she been thinking, skirting the clear line between them that way?

"Why would you say that?" she asked, hopeful she would, for once, receive a clear answer, although she feared his response just as much.

"Because it is the truth." He extended a hand in invitation, not reaching for the one she had snatched back in horror, allowing her the freedom to take his hand or not.

"The hour grows late, Angelissa. Allow me to escort you to your quarters."

Hesitantly, she took his hand, and almost immediately a familiar flurry of black feathers fluttered around them. By the time she had blinked through the windy onslaught of feathers and oriented herself in the new setting, she realized that they now stood in her apartment.

She looked around, dimly noting a vase of flowers on the ground that Vetty had likely knocked over. She looked back up at Itachi, who stood shrouded in the darkness of her unlit apartment, his features were impossible to make out in the dark, only the vague silhouette and the warmth of his body reassured her he was close.

Under cover of the night, hidden by the shadows of her apartment, she felt emboldened, hidden, safe. She reached out hesitantly, until her hand met his chest, flitting over the golden claps holding his cloak closed, and coming to rest over his heart, beating faithfully against her palm.

"I don't understand," she whispered miserably into the darkness. "I don't understand you. I don't understand myself."

She felt his hand on her shoulder, felt his fingers slip under her hair to grip the nape of her neck, felt the cold metal of his silver rings press into her skin as he drew her in, holding her fast against his chest. His warmth enveloped her, his heart thudded dully against her ears - its pace faster than she would have expected. She closed her eyes. Unable to see anything, she could pretend this wasn't happening, couldn't she? Was it safe here, hidden away in the dark? Was it allowed?

"There is time," he murmured quietly. "Time to decide what it is you desire, Angelissa." He paused, and he seemed to be weighing his words carefully. "My wishes…" Itachi withdrew his hand slowly, his fingertips brushing tantalizingly in a feathery touch across the nape of her neck - a move so deliberate she could not deceive herself into thinking it had been anything other than intentional. That he had fully intended to make her shudder against him the way that she did. "Should be clear."

She drew back, searching for his eyes in the darkness, even as slats of moonlight slipping between the curtained windows dimly illuminated the planes of his handsome face. She trembled - bereft of his embrace and a storm of confusion brewing within her. She could not reconcile what her rational mind insisted upon with everything she had seen and heard.

"Take rest, Angelissa." He whispered gently, cupping her cheek briefly. Immediately warmth seeped into her skin and she felt her racing heart slow. "I bid you good eve."

Elissa nodded numbly, realizing what he was doing, even as her mind still reeled with the entire experience - the events of the past few minutes no less concerning than the words he had spoken to her in his mother's temple.

"Good night, Itachi," she whispered, finding her voice with difficulty.

He nodded in return, holding her gaze for a fleeting moment, before he disappeared before her very eyes, leaving her awash with an emotion so intense, it threatened to drown her where she stood. With trembling fingers, she withdrew the ethereal peony from behind her ear, staring down at the lovely petals in wonder. It was real. It hadn't faded away. As real as everything else that had happened that evening.

Was she allowed to entertain hope? Did she want to?

Numbly, Elissa turned to the kitchen, retrieving a small vase and filling it with water. Retreating into her bedroom, she set it on the nightstand, and slipped the peony into the lukewarm water. She admired its beautiful colorings again in the dim light of the small lamp. A gift from Itachi. Her very first. She hoped it would never wilt.

She blinked as her gaze fell onto a piece of foreign jewelry resting just beside the vase. She picked it up to get a closer look and was surprised to find a thin, golden bangle that appeared to be a serpent's head biting its own tail. Red, glittering stones indicated the snake's eyes and she replaced the bangle on the nightstand with a frown. She didn't own such a piece of jewelry.

Had Cami left it behind during her visit? She would have to ask her about it in the morning. With a sigh, she got back up to change into her pajamas and prepare for bed. Her stomach growled with hunger but she ignored it, the grocery shopping would have to wait for another day.

Curling up beneath her blankets, her eyes slid shut. Bewildering words of affection echoed in her ears, the skin at the back of her neck tingled, and the smell of bellflowers lingered in her nose. She slipped away into the world of sleep, Itachi's sorrowful eyes still lingering in her mind's eye.

* * *

"Tell me you were successful, serpent."

The clandestine meeting of the two tall men, veiled in heavy cloaks and shrouded in shadow, bore an ominous aura. No passerby would dare to linger in their presence, or rather, none would dare to pass at all.

"It is done, my Lord." The eerie hiss that sounded in response to the first speaker was strangely inhuman. A strange piercing sound, like pressured steam escaping, passed between those thin, curved lips whenever the stranger spoke.

"She has received your gift, then?" The dark, booming voice sent a shudder down the thin man's spine.

"Indeed, my lord," the meager lips curled into a sneer, revealing glittering sharp teeth. "Imbued with your very own chakra, awaiting your command."

"It has taken root?"

A brief, pensive silence caused the taller man's aloof expression to morph into one of disapproval. "Speak, snake."

"It will be implanted shortly. The feline…" the lanky man frowned in renewed irritation. "What manner of beast is it? She carried an overpowering chakra, it was not possible to implant it without arousing suspicion."

"You dare lie to me?" The booming voice, seethed. The slender man had as much as assured the task had been completed - falsely. "You owe me your very life. You were rotting away in Tartarus, tearing your throat with screams of agony before I took pity on your wretched state and offered you life, security, and the means to continue your research. You dare speak falsehoods to me?!" The deep voice bristled with dangerous wrath.

"My Lord, I assure you, the seed will take root at the first opportunity. Allow me to prove that there is no cause for concern." The slender, long-haired man hastened to appease his superior.

"You are dismissed," the elder spoke in a dissatisfied drawl. "I will have it within the day. Your report or your head."

"Certainly, my Lord." A deep, humble bow hid the man's scowl from view as he retreated into the shadows, not straightening until he was safely out of sight.

* * *

It was a mild winter afternoon in December, easing slowly, imperceptibly, into the evening. The sun humored the residents of Canterbury with a rare glimpse of her jovial face that day, and its fading rays tempted the owners of the Wings of Freedom tea shop to enjoy their last tea of the day on their rooftop terrace where a wrought-iron table topped with a thick, shattered-glass surface on a black backdrop like a starlit sky stood flanked by a loveseat and two armchairs of polished, black-lacquered wood with pristine, white canvas cushions. A string of lightbulbs hung overhead, providing soft, dim lighting in lieu of the setting sun.

The young couple sat side by side, curled up on the loveseat with a blue and white plaid, woolen throw blanket spread over their laps. Two steaming cups of tea rested on the table. Levi sat with his legs outstretched, one crossed over the other, engrossed entirely in his newly purchased For All the Tea in China: How England Stole the World's Favorite Drink and Changed History, a compelling take on how tea - and England's obsession with it - had changed the very fate of the world.

Slayte had started out sitting beside him, absorbed in her own book, then resting her head on his shoulder, posture growing increasingly more lax until she had slid down to rest her head on his lap, her legs curled up under the blanket, staring intently at her phone as he stroked her hair away from her face absentmindedly. A comforting action he had been repeating mindlessly the past fifteen minutes without being truly conscious of it. Her own preferred reading, Classical Poems of the Eighteenth Century rested beside her tea on the table, both equally neglected.

Levi's gaze slid briefly from the sprawling text of his book to her furrowed brow. He momentarily considered smoothing out the expression with his fingers but resisted the temptation, continuing with his gentle caresses instead.

"When was she last online?" The murmured question took root immediately, and Slayte huffed in annoyance.

"I don't know," she lamented. "She hasn't posted anything new recently. The messenger app says she was online an hour ago, but I wrote her a message to check and she hasn't read -" Slayte cut herself off, lifting her eyes from her cell phone screen to meet Levi's unimpressed, grey irises staring down at her blankly. His hand stilled in her hair and she bit her lip, realizing her mistake.

"Falling back into old habits, are we?" He asked, returning his attention to his book.

Realizing that he had baited her, and that he wasn't about to continue with his affectionate touches anytime soon, Slayte lifted her head from his lap and sat up. "I'm just worried about her. Anything can happen at any time and I can't trust anyone."

"Define 'anyone'." Levi drawled, turning a page.

With a sigh, Slayte reached for her tea, draining the last few sips that remained. "I don't know what's going on. I don't know what he wants from her. He wrote her poetry, for goodness' sake!" Slayte glared at the neglected book on the table as she complained. "I have to take care of her."

"Let me get this straight," Levi retorted, pressing his index finger between the pages he was reading to hold his place before shutting the book, and angling his head towards her to give her his full attention.

"Elissa is being hunted by some shitty god and you can't figure out who it is. She has some ugly fuckers stalking every corner to attack her. When we've saved her - and we don't have a 100% success rate - it's only ever been by a hair's breadth. And your problem is that the only one who stands a chance at saving her ass likes her more than you're comfortable with?"

She felt ashamed at the obvious, undeniable logic, but persisted nonetheless. "Wouldn't you be worried?" Slayte implored, "He's not just a god. He's a god of death!"

"Why would I be?" Levi shot back, "It's not any of my business, is it?"

The gentle reminder - that it wasn't any of _her_ business, either, went entirely over her head.

"We've always looked out for her, haven't we?" Slayte tried again, gesturing in exasperation.

With a sigh, Levi turned back to his book. "Why do you think she turned away from you in the first place, Slayte?"

"That was because of Cain -!"

Levi shot her a sharp look before turning back to his book, "Don't blame it on that asshole. If she trusted you, nothing he said could have come between you."

"Well, then, what would you say it is?" Slayte crossed her arms with a pout. "She didn't want to believe me but I was clearly right about him. I always am! But no one listens to me. She needs me to look out for her, to fend off the assholes."

"No, she doesn't," Levi shot back. "This is exactly the reason she wanted out. She doesn't need us to be her parents, Slayte. She needs you to be her friend. To listen to her. To show some understanding and stop trying to manipulate her life on your own. Stop shaming her for her choices."

Slayte gasped in dismay, "I do NOT do that!"

Levi merely stared back blankly until Slayte recalled how she had shouted in the tea shop, aghast that Thanatos had revealed his face to Elissa and then kissed her.

"You keep this up, you'll end up right back where you started." Levi glanced at his book and, realizing he hadn't understood a word of what he had read, flipped back a page. "Is that what you want?"

"She may have apologized. Did you? You think this was just her fault? You can give her the information she needs to make good choices. But trying to make those choices for her - are you going to do that again, now that you've finally made up?"

"Should I just… _let_ him -" she began, irritated, but Levi was having none of it.

"She knows what he is. The rest is up to her. Would you take kindly to someone telling me to stay away from you?" He raised an eyebrow, giving her a meaningful look. Both of them knew full well just how Slayte would react to such an interference.

"You and I are different," she insisted quietly, hesitantly. "They're not like us."

"You don't know that. It's an egoistic assumption. She knows more than I did, going into this. You think I knew you didn't intend to stay? That you couldn't have kids? That you came from some creepy-ass zombie world? You don't think that's stuff I should have known before starting things with you?" The accusations he leveled at her were spoken so matter-of-factly she could only stare at him, wide-eyed, stunned to realize that these were things that upset him.

"I didn't _want_ to get involved with you. I told you as much more times than I can count. I told you it was complicated." Her voice came out in a hushed whisper. She felt both hurt and ashamed, feeling that she had wronged him somehow, with her prolonged silence. But what could she have done? It wasn't as if she could have come out and told him directly.

"Yeah, I remember." He retreated into stubborn silence, leaving her staring at him, conflicted. Should she have held out back then? Insisted on maintaining a distance that had been eating her alive?

"I had no choice, Levi. I was certain you would die if you learned about the underworld. That was a belief I was raised with, I didn't realize the truth until just recently!" She folded her hands in her lap, trying to still their trembling as guilt washed over her.

"Right. But did you try and figure out a workaround, or were you relieved to have a valid reason not to tell me? Because the way I see it, you didn't even try." He seemed to be entirely engrossed in his book, not even looking up at her as he spoke. His casual, laidback manner only frustrated her further.

"You talk a lot about how short our lives are. Then you probably know that humans are selective in who we choose to spend time with. Our time is an investment. A process of figuring out who we want to spend our lives with." Every word cut through her like a jagged knife. He listed off his complaints without emotion, like the ingredients of a recipe, but Slayte could only look on helplessly, brows furrowed in confused hurt.

"But you don't care about stuff like that! You never cared about labels!" She felt disoriented, as if a fundamental truth she had always believed in had just been torn from beneath her feet.

"Just because I don't care about labels doesn't mean I don't plan for my future." He spared her a glance before his grey eyes shifted back to the botanist's adventure scrawled out on the pages before him. "But you were just going to disappear at a time when it was too late for me to start over, and think nothing of it, right? That was your master plan?"

Slayte did not know what to say. Of course, he planned for his future. With how he ran his business, with the fine-tuned five and ten-year plans. With his detail-oriented budgeting. With the love and care he poured into every bit of the shop, it was obvious that he laid out careful plans, that he had a vision for the future. She had just never seriously considered back then that she, herself, was a part of those plans. After all, she was insignificant, right? Replaceable?

It had seemed wise at the time. Self-sacrificial and noble, even, to force herself to leave rather than involve him with the dark mysteries of the underworld. It would have broken her heart, but she would have accepted that, rather than shatter the peaceful illusion of life on the surface that he shared with all other mortals. She had thought it would be the right thing to do.

She was ashamed to admit that she had never even considered how unfair that plan was to Levi. He was devastatingly handsome, his rugged manner - rough around the edges - only added to his charm. She was certain he could find another - at any age. Who wouldn't want him? He turned heads wherever he went. She could only count herself lucky that it was herself he had taken an interest in. It wasn't as if he felt for her with the same dizzying, breathtaking intensity that she felt for him, right? It wasn't as if her very absence would rob him of the will to live - the way that separation from him felt for her, right? He tolerated her presence, he liked her, she even let herself believe that he loved her, but Levi was not the type to lose his head over _any_ woman - not even herself. If she disappeared one day, he would likely shake his head in disappointment, then pick himself up and move on, wouldn't he? He was practical that way. He wouldn't be tempted to fling himself to the depths of Tartarus. He wouldn't weep for days and nights, the way she was sure she would if she were forced to separate from him.

And still, the fact remained, that she would have had wasted his time and ruined his carefully-laid plans, and he would never have known why. She swallowed thickly, awash with guilt and shame. Why had she thought that was a good idea at the time? Was he angry with her? He had every right to be.

"Oi." The familiar rebuke had her lifting her head to meet his eyes, now fixed firmly on her. "That's not the point. The point is that Elissa knows what's going on and she knows what she's getting herself into. Tell her what you're worried about but don't manipulate her. That's all I'm saying."

Slayte nodded, still wringing her hands uneasily. "She knows it in theory, but not in practice. There are things you simply can't grasp without having seen it and I - I just don't trust him."

In the silence that followed, Levi set his book on the table before picking up his teacup and turning towards her. "Why?"

"Because…" she trailed off, trying to summarize her concerns.

He sipped at his tea, his piercing grey eyes never leaving her face. "Is this even about Elissa? Or is it about you? Are you jealous?"

The question was like a slap to the face, adding insult to injury.

"Levi…" her brows drew together in hurt as her lips parted in stunned betrayal. "How could you say that?"

"Don't make this about me," Levi waved her concerns away. "There's something going on with you and you need to figure it out before you get her killed. I want to know why you're trying to keep her away from her only ally in all of this, when as much as I can't stand the guy, he hasn't shown any ill-will towards her. You've said yourself that he can be trusted and now, all of a sudden, you're singing a very different tune. Is it because he's paying attention to her after ignoring you for 800 years? Are you pissed about that?"

Slayte averted her gaze, wanting nothing more than to go inside before tears spilled from her eyes. His relentless interrogation wore down on her defenses, leaving her feeling weak and vulnerable. The accusation made her feel low and dirty.

But was there some kernel of truth in Levi's statement? Was there some ugly jealousy in the depths of her heart, asking her why Thanatos had taken notice of someone so far removed from his world while remaining entirely ignorant of someone who had been by his side for eight hundred years - wholly loyal and faithful to him, admiring his every word and action? Did it make her feel inferior? Did it hurt? Was she acting on some selfish jealousy rather than out of concern for Elissa's wellbeing? The very thought made her sick. It made her hate herself with a scorn so violent she wanted to be swallowed up by the earth itself. Such selfish friends should not be allowed to live. Was there truth in Levi's suggestion?

But she did not love Thanatos. She never had. She had never wanted him to hold her the way Levi did. She had never caught herself staring at his lips as if they were the sweetest ambrosia. Had never lost herself in the shimmering, silver pools of his irises as if they were the doors to Elysium. She had never felt anything for Thanatos that even resembled the tempest of emotion that Levi awakened in her with the merest of glances. So, what then, was there to be jealous of?

"I wanted him to be my family." The words were out of her mouth almost before her mind had produced them. "I was given into his service. He was the first person I could call my own. My master. It was not a loving or a familial bond. But it was the very first bond I ever had. I wanted him to see it as such. I wanted him to recognize me, to tell me I was doing well. I wanted so badly to belong. But, if someone as perceptive and all-seeing as Thanatos couldn't see what had been beside him for eight hundred years, then… there must be something wrong with me, right?" She met his gaze with tired chestnut eyes.

"I keep asking myself if there was something I should have done differently. I just want to know what was wrong with me that everyone despised me, even the one god who didn't despise anyone. What was so wrong with me that he didn't see me? That no one cared?" She clenched her fists in her lap to keep them from shaking and dropped her gaze. "And I _am_ afraid… I am afraid he will make Elissa feel this way, too. That he will make her feel worthless. Flawed and broken. Because what his eyes see is no illusion. What he sees is the cold, hard truth. His judgment is a verdict. If he looks at her with those unfeeling eyes one day…" she shuddered to think of it. Elissa's devil-may-care attitude was only a front to cover a heart that loved deeply, defenselessly. She never wanted her friend to find herself on the receiving end of his callous, cruel demeanor. With a sigh, she continued. "But he didn't see me. That made me ask myself, what am I?"

She turned sorrowful eyes towards him, hoping he would have an answer for her, but only saw his impassive, unreadable silver eyes looking back at her patiently.

"Are you going to blame yourself because someone else is blind? How can you hold a grudge against him when you're doing the exact same thing?" Levi's firm scolding had her biting her lip in confusion.

"You're pissed because he didn't see you, but are you seeing yourself? Or are you looking everywhere else? When will _you_ stop and take notice? You think some shitty god gets to decide your worth? You're not waiting for his verdict, you're waiting for your own."

Depositing his teacup on the table, he scowled in annoyance. "Tch, always philosophizing over the shittiest things. Maybe you weren't made for his eyes," he turned his head towards her, his steely-grey eyes shimmering with an emotion she could not place. "Maybe you were made for mine."

The breath caught in her throat as her heart skipped a beat at his words. She felt warmth pooling in her face, but she could not drag her gaze away from the pull of his cloudy-grey eyes.

He was right. If Thanatos had taken notice of and acknowledged her, she would never have escaped to the surface and she would never have met the man sitting across from her. Everything playing out the way it had, was what led to this moment - and she wouldn't give it up for the world.

She sniffled and could feel tears stinging the corners of her eyes, ready to embarrass her again. Without another word, she crawled across the loveseat and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest.

Levi lifted a hand to her back on reflex, rubbing gently with a sigh. "We need this guy. We don't have to like him, but we need him. Learn to play your cards better, Slayte. Lose to win, and all that."

She nodded against his chest, not trusting herself to speak with the lump in her throat. Minutes passed in which Levi leaned back against the armrest, staring up at the sky beyond the string of incandescent lightbulbs, glittering with stars. His hand stroked up and down her back absentmindedly, the instinct to comfort Slayte so deeply rooted in his subconscious he hardly put a thought to it.

"Are you angry with me?" she finally whispered quietly, daring to speak at last. "For not telling you sooner? For wasting your time?"

A long moment's silence passed in which Levi blinked up at the stars overhead. Was he angry at her? Far from it. He was unnerved to think she would have left him so easily - but angry? It was hard to be angry with someone who was always so angry with herself. "Remember what I told you back then?"

Words from a time long past echoed back to Slayte's ears. Words he had spoken after she had insisted for the umpteenth time that there could never be anything between them due to a past she could not tell him about. Due to the ties that bound her - that would always bind her - no matter how far she ran. Things she would never be able to tell him. To begin a relationship with him was a ridiculous notion - an impossible suggestion. She had wanted nothing more than to throw caution to the wind and indulge in it, to pass through the door he was holding open for her without looking back. But it wasn't fair to him, not in the slightest. What had he said to her back then? How had he changed her mind?

' _There is nothing you could tell me that would make a difference. Nothing you could say that would make me not want this. Whatever it is, I don't give a damn.'_

"I remember," she murmured quietly, blinking at the interwoven yarns of his beige, knit sweater, clutched between her fingers.

"I'll take whatever you give me, Slayte. Even if it's only a day."

Her heart flooded with warmth at his answer, her guilt and shame washing away in the face of his honest acceptance of her, his forgiving affection. She closed her eyes, contentment consuming her. She felt the tension and worries fade from her body as sleepiness settled in. Somewhere on the table, her phone lit up with an incoming message, but Slayte hardly noticed, safe and securely wrapped up in his embrace - his warm arms keeping the cold night air at bay.

"I love you, Levi," she mumbled, eager to get the words out before she fell asleep entirely.

Unbeknownst to her, Levi's eyes had slid shut as well, his hand stilling on her back. "Hm," he hummed, half-asleep.

"I know."

* * *

Vetty crossed one leg over the other, her feet resting on the coffee table and her long, wavy black hair falling freely down her shoulders as she leaned back on the sofa. One hand in a bag of potato chips she was nearly certain Elissa wouldn't miss - she was too distracted lately to notice much of anything, anyways - and the remote control in her other hand. Vetty frowned as she watched a woman in a corset and bustling skirts curtsy to a man in a heavily-embroidered, brightly colored suit. The man peered down at the woman with a lopsided smile as a single, dark curl fell over his forehead.

Vetty clicked her tongue, her bushy tail swaying back and forth in annoyance. Was this what mortals considered attractive? Some pompous young mortal, leering suggestively at a woman blinking up at him through long lashes, feigning innocence? She preferred the raw, heated way mortals in reality went after one another. That was amusing, at least. Honest.

And was this man supposed to be handsome? He couldn't hold a candle to Indra. What with his long, soft brown hair. His penetrating, vermilion eyes, thick-lashed and shaded in purple. His tall, proud form. His voice that could make you forget who you were. And when he smiled at you…

Vetty shook her head and changed the channel with a scowl.

Waste of time.

Flipping through the channels, Vetty's frown grew more pronounced. None of it was even mildly interesting. With a sigh, she dropped the remote on the sofa, leaving an infomercial on cat food running. She lifted the bag of chips and tilted her head back, letting the last crumbs tumble into her mouth before crumpling up the bag. With a careless toss over her shoulder, it landed neatly into the trashcan standing in the corner of the room.

She leaned back into the sofa and let her head droop to the side, her eyes falling on Elissa's bedroom door. Vetty's eyes narrowed as she recalled the events of the day, before Elissa had left the premises. What had it all meant? There had been something unnatural about her friend. Her demeanor, her expression, even her very aura had been decidedly unlike the talkative, friendly girl who had visited Elissa on a few occasions. The young woman's reaction to herself, too, drew Vetty's suspicion. At least Vetty had been able to ensure the woman left the apartment shortly. Still, there was a prickling of unease in the back of Vetty's neck that she could not make sense of. Vetty blew a stray strand of hair out of her face as she tilted her head against the backrest and closed her eyes.

Feeling along the connection of their blood bond, Vetty sensed that the mortal was in safety, and if the prominent, dark aura surrounding the girl was anything to go by, she was likely in Thanatos' company. Sweat beaded on Vetty's forehead and she could feel her muscles cramping painfully. She hoped Elissa would soon return. The blood bond was strongly influenced by intentions. So long as Elissa did not intend to separate herself from Vetty, physical distances were tolerable. It would seem, however, that this time, she had gone somewhere further away than she ever had before and Vetty was feeling the effects of it. Perhaps she ought to explain a thing or two about the blood bond to Elissa. Maybe she could answer the next time the young mortal sought to make conversation.

On the other hand, though, Vetty knew that Elissa sought comfort from her feline companion. She suspected a part of the mortal would be disappointed to find that Vetty was, in fact, a snarky, mischievous being older than everything Elissa had ever known or heard of. The young woman was quick to approach Vetty when she felt low, when she needed an embrace or any sort of affection. Vetty did not want to deprive the girl of that through her true identity. Some misconceptions did more good than harm, after all. And besides, she was utterly disinclined to answer the countless questions Elissa likely had.

There was something akin to a ripple of chakra in the air and Vetty immediately morphed back into her feline form. She had never shown her true form to a soul besides Indra, and she preferred to keep it that way.

Sure enough, a familiarly annoying face appeared in water within the vase of flowers set on the low table. Vetty frowned at the troublesome deity. Exactly what she didn't need right now. She was still holding a grudge from their last meeting, when Poseidon had so rudely turned his back on their agreement and attacked the mortal she had chosen to protect. What could he hope to gain from approaching her now?

" _Hey!"_ Suigetsu leapt straight into the offensive, frustration radiating from his voice. " _You damn brat! What's with the royal underworld pain in the ass, god of doom and gloom?"_

Vetty's frown faded at the exclamation. Thanatos had been to see Poseidon? Had he begun to suspect the ocean deity's involvement in his attack on Elissa? A smirk tugged at the corner of her lips.

" _What were you expecting, ocean brat?"_ she shot back telepathically. " _Even a day-old deity knows better than to underestimate Thanatos of the Uchiha. Did I not warn you that the mortal is under his protection?"_

" _How was I supposed to know he would have the balls to attack me in my own realm?!"_ Suigetsu's pout was clearly visible through the long stems of the white tulips.

" _You might have listened to me, instead of going off on your own like an insufferable child."_ Vetty's haughty tone of voice came across loud and clear.

" _What does he know now?"_

" _As much as I do,"_ Suigetsu huffed in aggravation. " _That there's this shitty prophecy and some out-of-luck humans littering my oceans."_

Vetty fell silent. He knew about the petrified humans? He must have been furious, and yet… he had not sought her out anew. Did he know that she had already told him all she was able? He was the wisest of the underworld deities, Vetty hoped he would be able to piece it together. She was still bound as familiar to Nyx, and could not reveal anything to the god of death without Nyx's unsavory paramour being alerted to the betrayal and possibly bringing harm to the young goddess. As much as she found Nyx's actions deplorable, she could not help but recall the young maiden goddess she had watched grow up, accompanying her through all her grievances, before she watched her be corrupted by Cronus. Whatever actions she could take to prevent harm befalling the goddess of night were preferable.

Not to mention the seal Nyx herself had set on her, to prevent her communicating the details of her service to the goddess to anyone. Thanatos was clever, he would figure it out. Slayte was reckless and shortsighted, but uncannily astute when it came to identifying the dangers that lingered around the brunette. If the two of them worked together, surely it would only be a matter of time?

" _We used to be a team, Vetty. We were out there, wreaking havoc everywhere. This whole save-the-world gig isn't really our thing."_ Suigetsu complained. " _But ever since you shoved the stick of righteousness up your ass, we've been doing nothing but arguing and it fucking blows. You're no fun anymore."_

" _And yet you came to complain to me, again."_ Vetty remarked dryly.

" _I've got a bad feeling about all this. Can we even trust that Uchiha's cryptic ass? How do we know things won't get even worse if she falls into his hands?"_ Suigetsu mused aloud.

" _Now you ask, for once, instead of flinging accusations?"_ Vetty's drawl dripped with sarcasm.

" _What the hell happened to working together, huh?"_

Vetty leapt from the sofa to the table, narrowing her eyes at the deity within the vase. " _You nearly killed the girl. Did you think I would be so quick to forgive? Prove your worth before seeking reconciliation."_

" _Prove my worth?"_ He sneered. " _Watch it. Have you forgotten who I am?"_

With a smug smirk, Vetty lifted a paw, claws extended, " _Oh, I know what you are, Poseidon of the Seas…."_ without further warning, she tipped over the vase, spilling the flowers and water onto the carpet.

" _A sorry little puddle."_

Vetty leapt from the table and sauntered out of the room, her tail swishing proudly behind her.

* * *

The front door of the tea shop opened as the bell overhead jingled. Elissa stepped inside, pocketing her key as she entered. She was dressed down today, wearing dark blue skinny jeans and a white, high-collared, knit sweater. Her long, wavy brown hair was tied back in a ponytail.

"Elissa!" Slayte turned to the door with a smile. Levi stood at her side, making adjustments on the coffee machine. He glanced over his shoulder briefly, nodding at her in greeting before turning back to try and fix whatever seemed to be malfunctioning.

"Morning," Elissa greeted with a smile of her own, hanging up her coat and stowing away her purse. Her mind was still abuzz with the events of the night previous, Itachi's words and his gentle touch still lingering in her memory. She shook her head to banish the thoughts. She had scarcely slept that night, tossing and turning as she tried to make sense of what had transpired. It was nearly dawn when she fell into a restless sleep, none the wiser.

There was no time for such recollections now. Today marked Elissa's third day of working in the tea shop, and she was quickly realizing that quite a bit had changed from the last time she had worked here on weekends a few years ago. She was giving it her best, but still getting used to the work. She passed by the counter, where Levi and Slayte were still fussing over the coffee machine. Plucking her apron from a hook in the kitchen, she tied the strings into a bow behind her back.

Making herself a cup of morning tea, Elissa made sure to wipe all the surfaces down, for fear Levi would notice any stray water droplets. One thing that hadn't changed was Levi's pedantic standard for cleanliness. It was a wonder the chaotic Slayte managed to put up with his clean-freak tendencies.

Just as Elissa returned to the shop, a sudden hiss of escaping steam met her ears, followed by Slayte's cry of delight that the machine was working again.

"What was wrong with it?" Elissa asked over their shoulders as Levi gathered up the tools he had used to coax the machine into cooperation.

"Beats me," Slayte answered, "But at least we won't have to break bad news to a stream of caffeine-deprived mortals."

Levi placed a large mug beneath the dispenser. "Turn it off when the cycle is through," he instructed the two of them with a stern look.

"You got it, boss!" Elissa grinned with a false salute.

"Don't call me that," Levi frowned, before retreating into the kitchen with his tools.

"Yes, boss!" Slayte and Elissa called in unison at his retreating back. He shot them a disapproving look and the two girls couldn't help but laugh.

"You're early today," Slayte turned back to her friend, wiping her hands on a dishcloth.

Elissa took a sip from her chamomile tea as she leaned against the counter, "I was awake anyway, so I thought I might as well come over."

"Didn't sleep well?" Slayte asked, shooting her a concerned glance as she folded up the dishcloth.

Elissa bit her lip, wondering what to say. She couldn't tell Slayte what had happened with Itachi. There was no doubt in her mind that her friend would lose it completely. It was unfortunate, since Slayte was the only one who could give her some much needed perspective on her situation.

"I guess," Elissa finally answered anticlimactically. Annoyed at herself for not just coming out with it.

Slayte fell silent, acknowledging that the brunette's mannerisms didn't seem to align with her statement. It was likely just as Levi had said, she had made Elissa uncomfortable with her overbearing manner, and her friend no longer felt comfortable sharing her concerns. Slayte frowned. When would she finally learn to be a better friend to the people who mattered to her?

She glanced through the doorway into the kitchen where Levi was making sandwiches for those first customers on their morning commute. How was he so insightful? How did he always know just what to say? She wished she had just a little of his wisdom.

"Everything okay, Slayte?" Elissa asked, noting the taller woman's distracted manner.

"Yeah, I just… I need to talk to you, Elissa."

Elissa laughed weakly, wondering what it could be. With Slayte it could range from not knowing how to work an app to another mind-shattering revelation, "Well, I'm listening."

Slayte sighed and ran a hand through her hair, mulling over her words. "I wanted to apologize. You've always been so accepting of me. Always just took me at face value. You made me feel like it's okay to just be myself, but I think… maybe I've made you accept things that aren't okay."

Elissa blinked at her friend, lost. "I'm not sure I know what you mean."

"I'm not very good at respecting boundaries. I just think that wanting the best for you gives me the right to do whatever is necessary to take care of you, but… that's not the case, right?" Slayte spoke haltingly, as if she were still trying to understand her shortcomings herself.

Elissa stared at her friend, stunned. Unable to believe what she was hearing.

"I want you to feel like I'm on your side. I want you to trust me. In order for that to happen, I have to trust you, too, I think. And I've just been… doing my own thing, I guess. Even when it wasn't my place to do so."

Slayte sighed, gesturing awkwardly as she tried to express her concerns. She lifted large, brown eyes to her friend, worry written on her countenance. "Do you know what I mean?"

Elissa set her cup on the counter and crossed over to her friend, drawing her into a firm, reassuring embrace. "You're my best friend. You're so good to me, what is this even all about?"

Slayte hugged her friend back, sighing with relief. "I want you to be comfortable with me, Elissa. I want to be there for you."

"You're just worried about me," Elissa acknowledged, drawing back. "I'm not stupid, I know that."

"That doesn't make it okay," Slayte shook her head. "Just stop me when I'm going too far okay? I will just tell you everything I know, but the choices are yours to make. That would be better, wouldn't it?"

Elissa smiled softly at her friend, wondering what miracle had occurred to allow Slayte to arrive at that conclusion. "I would like that."

"Oh, that's a relief. Let's do that, then," Slayte beamed, relieved. "There's one more thing I have to tell you, though. So that we can start off on the right foot."

"Sure," Elissa agreed, reaching back for her tea. "Go ahead."

"So, um… when we weren't talking, yeah? I got a background check on Cain." Slayte confessed, her words running over one another as she rushed them out nervously.

"Did you?" Elissa lifted her brows in surprise as she drank from her chamomile tea. She registered dimly that this admission would have likely made her furious a few months ago but now, with everything that had happened in the meantime, with all the supernatural elements added in to the equation - what with double headed dogs, vortexes, deities, and immortality to juggle in her mind, she could hardly find it in her to consider that an oversight. Was this how Slayte had been weighing events the whole time? No wonder she had found it difficult to take Elissa's concerns seriously. Privacy and personal boundaries paled in comparison when one was being hunted by literal gods.

"Did anything weird come up?" Elissa asked, lowering her cup.

Slayte stared at her friend, surprised. This was far from the reaction she had been expecting. She caught herself, and answered with a shake of her head.

"Nothing really. Just that he up and left a very promising position to come here for no reason," Slayte frowned, still not clearly making sense of that. "But Levi says that isn't a big deal."

"Hm," Elissa frowned thoughtfully, wondering still, if Cain was simply an asshole or if he had somehow come to Canterbury specifically to give her a hard time. But she had spent so much time alone with him, surely, if he intended to kill her, he had had more than enough opportunity?

"Are you okay with this?" Slayte asked hesitantly, openly confused.

Elissa waved a hand in dismissal. "Knowing what I know now, I get why you felt that was necessary. But I hope you'll talk to me, before taking a step like that again in future."

"Yeah, of course," Slayte agreed instantly.

Her friend looked at her thoughtfully. "Is Cain really just a regular human? Or is there something else going on there?"

"I've never felt an underworld aura from him. He seems mortal through and through, but he's enough of a nuisance for me to doubt it anyway." Slayte frowned.

Elissa considered this. So much of what was going on was shrouded in mystery, it was hard to say what was related to the underworld and what wasn't. She knew that humans could be assholes even without being demons, but lately, she couldn't help but be suspicious of everything.

"Remember that beach house?" Elissa found herself saying, wanting to return one confession for another. "Cain booked it."

Slayte's jaw fell open. "That - that gorgeous little place you said was a surprise?!"

Elissa winced guiltily at her friend who hastened to compose herself. "I knew you wouldn't set foot in it if I told you, so I kept it to myself. See? I haven't been totally honest with you, either."

Slayte took a moment, before shaking her head with a smile and shrugging it off. "Well, that's that. We should have emptied the bar while we were there."

Elissa laughed in response, draining her tea before asking, "Anything else I need to know?" She found herself enjoying their newfound frankness, despite herself.

Slayte wracked her brain, "Um… well, I threatened Cain and almost killed him."

"What?!" Elissa sputtered, a smile forming on her face that she was almost ashamed of, "When was this? Why don't I know anything about it?"

"It was when you got hurt at that construction site," Slayte clarified. "I almost choked him to death and told him, well… I told him what I would do to him if you didn't recover."

"Oh," Elissa responded numbly, remembering the terrible accident that had nearly cost her her life. "Served him right. Thanks for that, Slayte."

A grin crept across the raven-haired woman's face, "Anytime."

"You have any more secrets for me?" Slayte laughed, finding their candor intoxicating.

"I don't know what's normal for Itachi and what's flirting."

The girls fell silent, Elissa scarcely believing the words that had just crossed her lips. What was wrong with her? Slayte would freak out for sure. She watched Slayte's face carefully, certain she had crossed a line. She knew there was baggage there, that every mention of Itachi seemed to put her on edge.

The raven-haired girl gaped at her, but caught herself. "Well…" she got out at length. "He's uh... a pain for sure and incredibly difficult to read. Maybe…" she took a deep breath, reminding herself to be a good friend. That was what Levi had said. That was what Elissa needed. "Maybe you can tell me about it, if you like, and maybe we can try and figure it out together?"

"Slayte…" Elissa's heart constricted with affection for her friend. She knew Slayte had concerns when it came to Itachi, that she was overprotective and didn't trust him. This calm reaction, that clearly took a great deal of effort on the taller woman's part, was a clear sign of how serious Slayte was about building a more open relationship between the two of them.

"You're the best."

Slayte laughed weakly, "I'm not. But I want to be here for you, if you ever need to talk."

"Oh, right!" Elissa exclaimed suddenly, "That reminds me. Are there any other underworld creatures around me, apart from you, Vetty, and Itachi?"

"Not that I know of," Slayte supplied. "Why? Did something happen?"

"Cami was over the other day, but she was acting so strange. I mean, she did just lose someone important to her, and I know grief can manifest itself in unusual ways, but it was just… weird." Elissa frowned to herself, reliving the experience.

"Do you want to go see her together?" Slayte offered, "I can look and see if there seems to be underworld influence."

"That would be great," Elissa smiled, relief flooding through her at the suggestion. "I'll let you know when I see her next."

"Sounds like a plan," Slayte nodded reassuringly.

"Oi," the voice that sounded from the kitchen had their heads turning towards Levi in unison. "Are the two of you actually going to be working or are you just here to chat?"

"Oh, shoot," Elissa responded, catching sight of the wall clock. They were opening in five minutes. The two young women bustled around the shop, hastening to put everything in order ahead of the doors opening.

In what seemed to be no time at all, the first customers streamed in and the three of them fell into an easy working routine, making small talk with the visitors and working together in easy tandem.

Hours passed and Elissa retreated back into her thoughts - to moonlit temples and ethereal peonies - as she worked robotically. In a lull ahead of the lunch hour, she had taken to wiping down the appliances and Levi and Slayte exchanged a glance as they noticed her wipe down the same coffee machine for upwards of ten minutes.

Slayte turned towards the brunette, "Is everything okay, Elissa?"

Jumping nearly out of her skin, Elissa laughed nervously. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"Well, for one, I'm pretty sure the coffee machine is clean now," Slayte offered her a smile. "Did something happen? Is it the thing with Thanatos?"

"What? No," Elissa denied, even as she flushed in embarrassment. "Of course not, what could have happened? Nothing - nothing happened."

Levi glanced at the brunette over the edge of his newspaper. "Sure as hell something happened," he announced dryly.

"No! I just," she shot Levi a horrified look before turning back to Slayte. "I just - I'm all over the place with Itachi right now," she confessed. "I keep having these thoughts and feelings that I _know_ aren't right. I mean, obviously, I'm just a human, right?" She glanced at Slayte, conflicted, before continuing. "So, it's not like anything ever could - or even _should_ happen, right? But my brain," she lamented, squeezing her eyes shut as she pressed her hands to her temples. "My stupid, stupid brain just won't listen. It's like my stupid head just refuses to accept how completely impossible or even blasphemous it is. It's just me, needing to set my head on straight."

Slayte glanced at Levi, confused and concerned about her friend's apparent anguish. They had discussed being more supportive, but this sounded awfully like Elissa was fast approaching a breakdown. Levi returned her gaze with a look that seemed to share her verdict but also clearly intoned he wasn't going to help her out on this one.

"We're just friends, that's all," Elissa was saying now, looking like she hoped someone would make her stop talking. "So, I'll get over it, right?"

Slayte opened her mouth to reply, but at that moment a customer stepped through the door, calling out an order for a tri-color latte macchiato as he approached the counter. Slayte took the man's money and handed him the appropriate change as Elissa set about making his drink. Slayte cast Levi an imploring glance again, dreading the upcoming conversation and feeling out of her depth in all things Thanatos. He didn't need to so much as part his lips for her to understand the message in his blank expression as he returned her gaze.

_She's your friend, figure it out._

"What the hell is this? This is just a regular latte! I ordered a tri-color macchiato! Goddammit, I understand labor shortages, but if they're hiring college students then they should at least know how to do their jobs!" Elissa flinched as the man yelled at her and Slayte whirled around, ready to berate the man for his tone of voice in addressing her friend, but Levi beat her to it, already on his feet.

"Oi." He stood at the counter, placing a hand on Elissa's shoulder and drawing her behind him and away from the customer as he stared the man down through cold, grey eyes. "No insulting my part-timers. Find your goddamn manners or find your coffee elsewhere."

The ruddy-faced man glanced at Levi and quickly backtracked, "No, I only meant… I'm running late for work, and… I didn't mean any disrespect."

Taking the coffee out of the man's hand he handed it over to the raven-haired woman at his side. "Get the man his coffee, Slayte."

"Sure thing," Slayte took the cup out of Levi's hand and turned to her friend. "Don't worry about it, people are stupidly sensitive about their coffee. Tri-colors are tricky, though, let me show you."

Elissa stepped back, trying not to be hurt at having been yelled at, as she allowed Slayte to remake the coffee, listening carefully to her softly spoken instructions and admiring how easily she maneuvered the machine.

"Got it?" Slayte asked with a smile, and Elissa nodded, hoping she would be able to remember all that for next time. "Thanks, Slayte."

"Don't worry about it." Slayte reassured her, "In one ear and out the other. They'll be dead in a century anyway, and who cares, then, right? That's what I always tell myself."

Levi and Elissa stared blankly at Slayte's statement before Elissa laughed weakly and conceded, "That's one way of looking at it."

With the customer served and out of the way, Elissa turned back to working with renewed vigor, not wanting to make another mistake. Slayte watched her quietly, sympathetic to her plight.

In no time at all, the lunch hour rolled around and the three of them sat down for a lunch of grilled-cheese sandwiches and tomato soup - courtesy of Levi. The three friends ate companionably, chatting about the events of the morning shift, laughing and poking fun at one another in good humor.

In the remaining half hour until they opened back up for business, they busied themselves with odd jobs around the shop. Elissa was carrying the new shipment of tea into the storage space as Slayte wiped down the tea shop's surfaces for the second shift.

When Levi suddenly sneezed, Slayte turned towards him in horror. "Are you okay?" she asked, concerned.

"Fine, it was just a sneeze." He waved her off, turning into the kitchen, only to sneeze again before he made it through the doorway.

"Levi, you're sick!" Slayte determined, aghast.

"I'm not," he denied quickly. Slayte was an absolute pain when he had even the slightest cold. The underworld nymph was never sick herself, but the minute he sniffled or worse, had a fever, she panicked something terrible, certain every illness was a precursor to imminent death. It didn't matter how many times he explained the statistics to her and explained that most people had colds all the time without serious consequences, she would refused to listen to reason, asking what made him so confident he wouldn't belong to the 1% who succumbed to their colds, never to breathe again. Asking how he could weigh his life on probabilities. There was no real distinction between cancer and the flu, for Slayte, so the last thing he needed now was to catch a cold.

When he was safely in the kitchen, he reached for the tissue box, only to sneeze again. The third time in succession. Before he rightly knew what was happening, Slayte had entered the kitchen and ushered him into a seat at the kitchen table, bustling about to put a cup of tea together to fight his symptoms.

"Slayte," Levi frowned in annoyance. "I said I'm fine."

"You're not," she scolded. "You're sick! Elissa and I can take care of it from here. You need to focus on getting better."

Pouring water from the kettle into the mug she had prepared, she continued, "Oh, it's all my fault. I shouldn't have fallen asleep out there. It was too cold for you."

"How is that your fault? I fell asleep too, idiot," he deadpanned.

Slayte paid him no heed, turning to the wardrobe where she plucked her navy-blue shawl from the hook it hung on. She collected his tea and set it gently in front of him as she wrapped the shawl around his neck.

"I said I'm fine, Slayte, you're making a big deal out of - what's in there?" Levi blinked at the tea, full of a myriad of spices floating in the steaming, amber liquid.

"Cloves, cinnamon sticks, lemons, ginger, and honey. It will help, trust me, I got the recipe from the internet." She listed the ingredients as she tied the shawl gently around his neck. "You need rest, Levi."

"Slayte, we've been through this, a cold isn't going to kill me." Levi met her gaze with unimpressed grey irises.

"How can you be so sure?" she whispered, looking close to tears.

"People have colds all the time, are you stupid? How many times have I had a cold before? Haven't died yet, have I?" Nonetheless, he lifted the tea to his lips, surprised to find that the concoction didn't taste as terrible as he might have thought.

Slayte positioned herself behind his chair, placing her hands on his shoulders as she began massaging them with firm squeezes and circular movements of her thumbs.

"What are you doing?" Levi glanced up at her over his shoulder.

"The circulation is good for your immune system," she answered, continuing her movements. "Just relax, if we do everything we can, it will hopefully pass without too much harm done."

"Slayte, I told you I'm not sick," Levi frowned, leaning into her touch despite himself. Did one really have to be sick to enjoy a shoulder massage?

The two of them were entirely oblivious of Elissa who stood in the doorway, smiling fondly at the two of them.

"Do you guys have to be so adorable in public?" she grinned at her friends as she entered the kitchen to make herself another cup of tea. "When are you guys finally getting married? It's been years, right?" The teasing question was out of her mouth before she could think better of it.

She wasn't prepared for the way both heads swiveled towards her in shocked unison, and the pin-drop silence that ensued. Slayte froze in place, her hands stilling on Levi's shoulders as she flushed a deep red.

Levi was the first to recover, pulling away from Salt's touch as he took his tea and got to his feet. "Ask your friend," he muttered quietly, passing by her and heading back into the tea shop.

Elissa turned around, surprised at Levi's curt reaction. She blinked at a nervous Slayte. "What does _that_ mean?" she questioned with a gasp. "Are you? Did he-?" A slow, excited smile curved on her lips. "Oh my God!" she clasped her hands together in delight. "Slayte!"

"Forget about that," Slayte dismissed, eager to turn the focus away from herself. "What about you? Have you made up your mind on what you're going to do with Thanatos yet? There was something bothering you, right?"

"What? Well, I..." Elissa's smile faltered, and her voice trailed off, feeling nervous and put on the spot. She gulped.

"Now's as good a time as any to tell me about it," Slayte offered with a strained smile.

Elissa glanced at the doorway Levi had disappeared through before turning back to her friend.

With a defeated sigh, Elissa set the empty cup back on the counter, giving up on making the tea she had hoped would settle her nerves. "I'm losing my mind, Slayte."

The raven-haired woman sighed in return and wrapped an arm around her friend's shoulders, drawing her in for a brief embrace.

"I know," she answered glumly, sympathy written in her brown eyes as she drew back and met Elissa's eyes. "Thanatos has a way of doing that to people."

Elissa bit her lip, thinking back to everything that had happened.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Slayte prompted gently.

"Is that.." Elissa glanced hesitantly at her friend. "Okay with you? I always worry about bringing it up. You were in love with him for a long time, weren't you?"

Slayte fell silent for a moment, considering. "I certainly loved him, but I doubt I was ever _in_ love with him." She shook her head. "He is… admirable and infuriating at the same time, right?"

"Yeah," Elissa agreed with a small smile. The two girls leaned against the kitchen counter, side by side, as she began retelling recent events, the confusing statements, the nuanced promises, Itachi's insistence that she be the one to decide what she wanted. When Slayte only listened quietly and patiently, withholding judgment, Elissa spoke freely relaying even the gentle touches and warm embraces he had indulged her with.

"I don't know what to think. My heart pounds so hard, I think it's going to burst out of my chest." Elissa closed her eyes miserably as she pressed a hand to the treacherous organ. "But that's not okay, is it? I'm not allowed to feel this way, am I? Nothing good can come of this, right?" Her voice was fading, growing smaller and miserable. If anyone could knock some sense into her and put things into perspective, it would be Slayte, right?

Slayte was silent, still, contemplating what Elissa had told her thus far.

"It is not unheard of for deities to involve themselves with mortals," she decided finally. "It is certainly not forbidden. The nature of his role however, makes it more unlikely for him to do so."

Elissa watched Slayte carefully as the raven-haired woman stared at the tiled, kitchen floor turning the situation over in her head like a complicated algebraic equation.

"Thanatos wouldn't take such actions lightly. The poem he wrote, and the things he's done up until now all point in the same direction. He seems to be sincerely interested in you, Elissa."

Elissa felt her face flush with warmth to hear it confirmed.

"I have to warn you, though," Slayte began, glancing nervously at her friend. "I'm not telling you what to do, just so that you know," she explained before continuing, "He is the prince of the underworld. His situation is complicated. It always has been. He's not really free to do as he pleases. There is a lot that is expected from him, and what I don't understand, is… I don't see where he thinks you fit in, in all of this. I'm not sure what he wants in the long term, that's what I keep thinking about and what keeps making me angry."

Slayte took a deep breath, not wanting to rage anew. She cast a glance at her friend, who seemed to be hanging on her every word. "But I think he knows that. Maybe that's why he hasn't asked anything of you, but keeps saying that you should be the one to decide what you want. It's a lot to ask of you, he knows this, too."

"But what does that have to do with me?" Elissa countered, "What do I have to do with whatever's going on in the underworld?"

Slayte sighed, "That's what I don't know, either. What kind of relationship does he have in mind with you? Or is he undecided? Would he just take as much or as little as you want? Is he going to make up his mind after hearing what you want? I honestly don't have a clue, Elissa. Whatever you decide to do, think it through carefully, ask him what you need to know and don't let him worm his way out of answering you."

Elissa turned wide eyes to her friend. "This is all so unreal. Why me? Of all people? It doesn't make any sense. He should be interested in some goddess as perfect as he is, not some boring and ordinary human like me."

Slayte smiled at her friend, "That is one question I _can_ answer. You _are_ special, Elissa. You're sincere and honest. Nothing like much of the superficial immortal company he's probably used to. There's no one like you anywhere. You deserve everything and more."

Elissa scoffed, bumping Slayte with her shoulder, "You're just saying all that 'cause you're my friend."

"Well, then, I guess that's just one more thing you'll have to ask him. He should have an answer to that." Slayte nodded in conclusion.

A pensive silence ensued, when Elissa suddenly recalled something that had been bothering her. "Hey. Is the art of illusion common in the underworld?"

"It's complicated, but the more talented deities practice it," Slayte confirmed, angling a curious look at her friend. "Why do you ask?"

"Do you know who is the best at it? Itachi said he was average and I'm just wondering what the ranking is, I guess."

"He said what?!" Slayte questioned, louder than she had intended, only realizing she had snapped at her friend when she saw Elissa jump.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to yell, just… oh, he's insufferable." Slayte shook her head.

"Why? What do you mean? What did he do?"

Slayte glanced at her curious friend. "Thanatos is a specialist in the art of illusions. His prowess is feared throughout the three realms. There isn't a deity alive who doesn't know better than to meet his eyes in combat. His illusions are more deadly than any blade, and he knows it."

Elissa felt foolish, recalling the small smile with which Itachi had claimed to be of average skill. Was he being modest? Humble? Sarcastic? Downplaying his abilities, so as not to alarm her, or because he disliked tooting his own horn?

Perhaps he had said it in simple jest, knowing it would sail over her head entirely. Who would have ever thought he had a cutting sense of humour like that? Elissa was intrigued and astonished in equal proportions.

_What a tease._

"That's… pretty embarrassing," Elissa exhaled in disbelief. "I took his word for it."

"I guess he thought he was being polite," Slayte shrugged. "Or maybe he didn't want to scare you? I don't know."

"Thanks, Slayte," Elissa picked up the mug she had abandoned as she set to making the tea she had come into the kitchen for. "I'm so lucky that I have you to talk to. What would I do without you?"

"You'd probably have less headaches to deal with," Slayte smiled wryly at her friend.

"Don't be ridiculous. I would be lost without you. Want some tea?" Elissa asked, already reaching for another mug.

"That would be nice, thanks." Slayte hesitated, before adding, "See? I can pull myself together. You can talk to me, right?"

Elissa grinned at her friend, "Yeah. You did great. It looked like you were about to explode a few times, but you managed."

"Well…" Slayte shrugged unapologetically, "It's Thanatos. It is what it is."

When the water boiled, Elissa poured the tea and the girls caught one another up on whatever questions came to mind until the doors of the tea shop opened for the afternoon shift. They threw themselves into their work lightheartedly, their concerns no longer weighing them down as heavily and the rest of the day passed by like a breeze.

At length, the work day drew to a close, and the friends bid one another good night. Levi and Slayte watched Elissa wave goodbye one last time through the store windows as she made her way down the street and Levi frowned, watching her go.

"So, when am I meeting this Grim Reaper who's got her so distracted?"

Slayte turned towards him, hand still half-raised in goodbye.

"Hopefully never," she muttered, turning towards him and readjusting the shawl she had wrapped around his neck. "If I have anything to say about it."

"Why?" he narrowed his eyes at her, watching her fuss over the shawl.

She glanced briefly up at him, before pulling back. "You're too angry. You could get yourself hurt." She crossed her arms, shaking her head. "It's bad enough I have to pull myself together and let Elissa deal with him, but you…"

She sighed and collected his empty teacup, "I'm going to keep you to myself."

Slayte disappeared through the kitchen doorway, and Levi watched her go, oddly touched, but not at all in agreement.

* * *

**AN: That's a wrap! Reviews are worth their weight in gold, folks! <3**


	37. Part XXXVI: The Gift of Death

**PART XXXVI: The Gift of Death**

* * *

Elissa shifted in her sleep, blue-tinged dreams of warm hands and gentle whispers luring her perpetually into a deep slumber where she could peer into crimson-hued eyes to her heart's content. She turned on her side and reached for her pillow in her unconscious state, hugging it tightly to her chest as if to replace the absence of another.

She did not notice the faint hissing sounding behind her, and shivered when she felt a cool length creep along the length of her arm, slithering and slimy, but too soft a touch to rouse her. Even as the intruding touch snaked over her shoulder, curling up her neck, even as she felt a moist tip flick the shell of her ear, the hissing closer than ever before, she slept. The slick, moist coldness pressed against her eardrum and all at once, a piercing pain like the stab of a dagger tore through her senses, bolting her awake and she shot upright in bed, out of place and startled.

The pain dissipated as suddenly as it began and she was left with nothing but a dull, throbbing sensation in her temples. Feeling somewhat disoriented, and unable to recall why she had jolted awake in the first place, Elissa abandoned her bed in pursuit of a cold glass of water. Refreshed, she returned to the comfort of her bed and by the time she awakened the next morning, she could not recall the incident occurring at all.

* * *

Elissa spent the following day occupied with tidying up her apartment and trawling through even more tedious job applications. By the time the evening rolled around and she'd finished with dinner, she settled onto the sofa in front of the television, her phone pressed to her left ear as she anxiously waited for her mother to answer her call. After nervously deliberating to herself over the subject for the entire duration of the day, she'd decided that asking for an objective opinion on her circumstances might possibly help her to sort out all the conflicted, jumbled thoughts that were circulating continuously in her mind. Thoughts that were centred around one enigmatic God of Death.

She frowned when the ringing tone continued, before the call was automatically forwarded to voicemail. It was evening time. Surely her mother was back from work? Sighing in disappointment, she disconnected the call, and tossed her cell onto the cushion beside her.

Leaning her head back on the sofa's padded head-rest, Elissa stared up at the ceiling in frustration. She didn't know what to do. Which direction to take. How many hours of sleep had she lost, mulling over the dilemma of Itachi, considering her options? The fact that her delusional, idiotic brain seemed utterly convinced that she even _had_ other potential avenues available to pursue besides that of innocent, platonic friendship was a clear sign that she was not of a sound mind. Elissa knew she was being nothing short of foolish. Everything about the very nature of their dynamic underlined how very wrong it was.

She knew a human shouldn't pine for an immortal. And yet, hadn't Slayte told her that it wasn't so uncommon for deities to involve themselves with humans? How come she had never heard of it happening before? Did the gods conceal their true natures from the objects of their affections? Or was the whole affair only allowed to be kept a strict secret between those who partook in the romantic affair? Elissa wrinkled her nose in distaste. That wasn't a way to live, surely?

Slayte's invaluable advice didn't change the fact that Itachi - Thanatos himself - was so completely out of her league in every conceivable way, in knowledge, in status, in existence. Elissa found herself agonising over what it was that he possibly even saw in her that warranted him favouring her with his time and attention. She wondered how in the world so handsome, so noble, so regal and wise a deity could possibly be unattached. It baffled the mind. Surely there had to be queues and queues of gorgeous goddesses, ethereally superior to herself in beauty and in intelligence, who admired Itachi and clamoured for his attention and affection? He could have anyone he wanted. He could probably have _several_ at once if he wanted. Why would he concern himself with and choose to indulge a silly, clueless little mortal who wasn't on his level in any way?

Her mood took a glum turn as she sulked to herself over the notion of other, far lovelier immortal women who had to be available to him. She wasn't one usually insecure of herself, and yet when it came to Itachi, she found herself second-guessing everything. Did they throw themselves at his feet? Flirt with him? Did they follow him and surround him in the royal palace in which he dwelled? Did they shower him with compliments and spoil him with gifts?

The very thought caused a bitter taste to fill her mouth. Imagining his eyes lingering elsewhere - on someone else - was upsetting, and Elissa caught herself, incredulous at her own emotional reaction. They weren't anything. He could look wherever and at whomever else he pleased.

" _Thanatos wouldn't take such actions lightly. He seems to be sincerely interested in you, Elissa."_

Slayte's words reverberated in her head, causing her heart to flutter in her chest. No matter how hard she battled, Elissa couldn't shake the memory of that haunting, powerful gaze, the smothering weight of it, the way it captured and held hers with such unwavering, blistering intensity. His words, that always seemed to hold more than one possible interpretation, falling from full, alluring lips in delicious tones of sensuous black velvet, settling around her ears like a dark, seductive caress. His lingering touches, that birthed such confusion within her. The way he allowed her, now freely, to look upon his face, his beautiful, heavy-lashed eyes open and unveiled to her in their emotions.

She recalled his words to her the previous night. That she had time enough to decide what it was she desired. And that his wishes ought to be clear. An imperceptible shudder ran through her at the recollection of his warm fingers, tracing over the nape of her neck with slow deliberation.

What was he doing to her? Was he even aware? Did he know that the way he looked at her made her head spin so? That it caused the air to flee from her lungs and caused warmth to bloom into her cheeks? That every touch was sweet torment, eliciting butterflies within her belly? It was unsettling, to feel so breathless in his company all the time. To be so painfully aware of her own thundering heart-beat, and the way her entire body seemed to tingle, as if charged with static-like electricity in his proximity.

She was overcome with bewilderment. He had told her his desire was for her to receive everything she desired. What did that truly even mean? Did he suspect her feelings eclipsed friendship? Horror filled her at the notion. And yet he was Death incarnate, capable of regulating heart-rhythms. He had to at least sense how chaotically hers galloped in his company. Evidently he was far too polite to mention it, or perhaps it was that he simply pitied her. Was that why he had steadied its frenzied rhythm for her several times?

She released a low groan of despair.

The more things dragged on this way, the more unbearable it all became. Things had been so much easier, simpler between them, before she had known the truth.

" _My wishes... should be clear."_

His wishes. What _did_ he wish for? What did he think they could be? How could they possibly be anything? Even if she dared to entertain a sliver of hope that they could be something more than they were - what did that mean for them in the long-term? How could it possibly work, logically, realistically? She was human. He was undying. She was mortal. He was Death, Crown Prince of a dark kingdom to which she did not belong. It was madness to proceed, surely. It had to be. How could one romance with Death? It was nothing like navigating the human dating scene. There were so many hurdles and complications to consider.

What was the alternative? To remain simply as friends? To die inside each time in his presence by ignoring her feelings, pretending they didn't exist at all? Hoping they'd vanish, eventually, somehow? It had been months since they'd met. Fast approaching a year. She was just as drawn to him now - even more so - than she had been in the past. It wasn't getting better. It was getting so much worse. The more she saw him, the more she wanted to be near him.

Elissa was furious at herself. What in the world was the matter with her? Why couldn't she fight this senseless attraction? What was it about him, that reeled her in and captivated her so? She had never been one to lose her head to fanciful notions or immature crushes. And yet, when it came to Itachi, she felt as a helpless moth, drawn to a glorious, dangerous, deadly flame.

She couldn't keep tormenting herself in such a way. She couldn't keep ignoring the matter, pretending her feelings didn't exist when every subsequent meeting was making it more difficult for her to pull back, to retain distance between them. She thought of the bold touches she'd already initiated. Touching his face. Holding his hand. Picking petals off his cloak.

It was nothing short of torture. The temptation to be close to him, to want to reach out and touch him, was terrifying. No matter how many times she made up her mind, as soon as those dark, enticing eyes locked onto her again, pinning her inescapably in place, she found herself abandoning all logic and reason. She wanted that attentive, magnetic gaze on her, as much as she wished to hide from it. And he didn't help matters. He had it within his power to shut her out, to draw clear boundaries, and yet, perplexingly, ever since revealing his true identity to her, he had done the precise opposite. Blurred them. Even crossed them. Laced a dark flower in her hair, intertwined his fingers through hers, cupped her face in his hands and pulled her into gentle embraces. Things that lent her hope. Actions that roped her in, beckoning and enticing her to step closer to him, instead of pushing her away.

Why? Why would he seek to confuse her so? What _was_ she to him? What did he see, when he looked at her?

Flirting with Death? She snorted to herself. She wasn't the one doing it. Perhaps she thoughtlessly had, at the start, before she'd known she'd been dancing with darkness itself, but now, it was most certainly Death, Himself, who was surely flirting with her, and she didn't know how to handle it. How could she be so attracted to the very embodiment of everything she had grown up fearing and hating?

 _I'm in trouble,_ she thought to herself miserably. _I'm in so much trouble, and I don't know what to do. I'm too scared to talk to him about it. It's too embarrassing. What if we don't even want the same thing after all? Do I even know what I want?_

But neither could she continue to suffer in her thoughts and emotions in silence. It wasn't her fault. She had been drawn to him long before she ever knew what he was, and finding out what he was ought to have crushed those feelings. And yet, inexplicably, it had not. Now that she had seen his face, now that she knew all that he was, she found herself even more intrigued. Helplessly enthralled by the protection and affections of a being so noble, so lofty and omniscient reserved for her.

She needed to decide, once and for all, what she wanted. She needed advice, and she needed it from someone removed from the situation. Who better than her mother? If only she would pick up.

Vetty was curled snugly on her lap, a warm, comforting, familiar weight. Elissa stroked over her dark fur, absent-mindedly watching the images that played out on the screen in front of her eyes without paying attention to what was actually going on.

A pinging sound indicated an incoming message and Elissa lifted her phone to find a message from Cami. " _When was this? I don't think I have a bracelet like that. Can you send me a picture?"_

She had texted Cami that morning to ask after her friend's welfare and to make more sense of her odd behavior the day before. Cami's response, that she was still lost in memories of the family friend who had died so suddenly, surprised Elissa. It was very like her friend. She had offered Cami words of comfort and gently indicated that her recent behavior had given Elissa cause for concern and reminded her of the bracelet she had forgotten.

A bracelet Cami could not seem to remember. Elissa frowned at her phone screen. It was almost as if Cami could not recall having visited her the day before? She seemed to be back to her old self again.

Elissa rose to her feet to retrieve the bracelet, eager to send her friend a photo and get to the bottom of this. When she entered her room however, she was dismayed to find that the bracelet was nowhere to be found. She pulled the nightstand away from the wall thinking it might have fallen into the gap - but it was nowhere to be found. Confused, Elissa shook out her blankets and pillows. She had just turned her mattress over when the familiar piano tunes of her ringtone sounded from the living room.

Elissa leapt over her bed and made a mad dash to the living room to receive what she hoped was her mother's call. She snatched her phone up from the sofa, almost dropping it again in her haste to answer.

"Hey, Mum." She greeted, somewhat out of breath from her race to the living room.

"Hi, baby," Juliette Caelum greeted from the other end of the line. "Sorry, I'm just in my workshop, I didn't hear the phone go off. How have you been?"

"I've been alright. How're you guys doing?"

"We're all well. I've got Cas and your father doing all the wrapping, while I try to finish some last minute orders. I don't know why people won't order well in advance to save everyone the stress."

Elissa's mother ran a side business of designing and creating custom-made pieces of jewelry. Earrings, bracelets, necklaces, brooches - she was skilled in her craft and found it a therapeutic process. Many of Elissa's own jewelry was lovingly hand-made by her mother. She had an eye for selecting just the right stone combinations and accessories, melding them into beautifully wrought metal-work for a stunning end product. Elissa had watched her often, back when she'd lived at home, and had even tried making her own bracelets before. However, her mother possessed much more elegant and less clumsy hands and would always have to end up polishing her daughter's attempts.

"I'm sure they'll come out beautifully," Elissa remarked. "They always do."

Simply hearing her mother's voice was like a salve upon her ears. She desperately wished she could confide to her mother about every crazy, supernatural thing that had happened to her over the duration of the previous six months - that she had a demonic cat as a pet, and that her best friend was a shadow nymph from the same Underworld that featured in Ancient Greek myth. That the God of Death himself was her guardian. And yet, somehow, she didn't think that would go down too well. It was probably for the best that she kept quiet. She didn't want to drag any member of her family into the tangled mess she was in or risk their well-being in any way.

"I've kept something special aside for you," her mother said.

"What is it?" Elissa asked curiously.

"A surprise you won't ruin," Mrs. Caelum teased.

"Fine, keep your secrets," Elissa rolled her eyes.

"You'll love it." Her mother assured her. "If you wanted any last minute gifts for any of your friends, let me know. I could squeeze in about three or four more requests, just for you."

Elissa smiled warmly. "Thanks, Mum. I'll keep that in mind." Even as she said the words, an idea began to stir in her mind. Saving the thought for later, she listened as her mother informed her of their plans over the holiday period. Aunts and uncles and some cousins would be visiting and sleeping over on different days, along with Elissa's paternal grandfather. Her other grandparents had already passed. Grandpa Ernest - or Ernie as they all affectionately called him - had always been Elissa's favourite and she was greatly looking forward to seeing him.

"Gabe is collecting you this weekend, isn't he?" Her mother asked.

"Yeah," Elissa nodded. "I've started packing. He's going to hate how much luggage he has to haul downstairs for me."

"Let him put all that weight lifting at the gym to good use," came the amused response.

Elissa grinned. Her brother would have a few words to say about that.

"And how's it going with your new job?"

"It's nice," Elissa thought warmly of Levi and Slayte, a fond smile curving on her lips. "Levi and Slayte are so good to me. But it's only temporary, just until I find something else."

"At least it'll help get you by until you do. That's very kind of your friends to offer that to you."

"They're the best," Elissa agreed.

They talked for a bit longer about general subjects, when Elissa finally plucked up the courage to breach the topic that plagued her thoughts with her mother. Heart pounding in her chest, she began awkwardly, "Um. Mum? Can I get your opinion on something?"

"Of course, baby. Go ahead."

Elissa felt her throat immediately turn dry. Clearing it and licking her lips, she bit the bullet, and ventured, "Say you met someone…"

"Oh," Juliette's voice perked up, and Elissa heard her set her tools down in the background. She could almost see the smile manifesting on her mother's face. "This is interesting. You've met someone? What happened to that doctor…?"

"Ugh, Mum, no! Don't mention him," Elissa cringed. Cain was a part of her past she wanted to forget about. "We were never a thing, and we're not talking anymore."

"Aha. I'm sorry to hear that, sweetie."

"No, you're not." Elissa raised an eyebrow.

"You're right, I'm relieved, and your brother will be, too." Her mother's voice responded in amusement. Then she went on, "So it's someone else, hmm? I'm listening, go ahead."

Elissa struggled to find the words. "Say it's someone who's gentle and polite and well-raised and amazing and just being around them makes time fly. But they're like… totally out of your league."

"Lissy," Juliette's tone was admonishing. "I didn't raise my girl to think herself second best to any man. _Nobody_ is out of your league, baby."

"No," Elissa protested. "I mean, literally out of your league like-like they're…" she fumbled for the right words to explain without revealing the truth of the matter, before blurting, "royalty."

"Royalty?" Her mother repeated in surprise.

"Yeah. Like… a prince."

There was a stunned pause, followed by a short, surprised laugh. "Lissy. Are you really telling me you've met an actual prince? Where? When? From which country?"

"It doesn't matter," Elissa shook her head. "I'm asking you theoretical questions, because I need objective answers. Just imagine it's a prince, okay?"

"Well, alright…" Juliette answered hesitantly.

"He belongs to a completely different world, with entirely different rules and customs. One you'd never fit into, and you know that. You're so different, and there're so many, many reasons to stay away from him - but you just can't." Elissa sighed heavily as she turned her eyes miserably up to the ceiling. "Because you enjoy his company so much, and he treats you so kindly, even though you know, logically, there's no chance of a future between you."

"What kinds of reasons do you mean?"

"Just reasons. Getting involved would be too complicated." Elissa frowned. "It wouldn't be anything like dating anyone ordinary."

"I see. And… this 'prince'," her mother said carefully. "Does he seem interested in you, too?"

Elissa was silent. She thought of Itachi's fingers, lingering on the back of her neck. The way he had pulled her close to him.

" _My wishes… should be clear."_

She gulped, cheeks warming. "Maybe? He makes the time and effort to see me, at least. But... it's just so confusing."

"Why is it confusing?" Juliette asked gently.

"Because-" Elissa faltered. "Because we're just _so_ different, Mum… too different."

"Do you enjoy his company?"

"I do."

"And does he enjoy yours? Do you get along?"

"Yes."

"Then I don't see what the problem is, honey?" Her mother concluded.

"The problem is we're from completely different worlds." Elissa sighed deeply. "And I just don't know how it could ever work."

"You're a queen, Lissy. He's a prince. If anything, _he's_ the one out of your league."

"No," Elissa pressed a frustrated hand to her forehead. "Mum, you don't understand. There're lots of things that wouldn't let it work. For one thing, he's older-"

"Older?" Her mother interjected. "How much older?"

How much older? Elissa swallowed thickly. Centuries? Millennia? She still didn't know exactly how old Itachi was. In terms of physical appearances, he looked around twenty-seven or twenty-eight by human standards at most, though she supposed deities likely possessed the ability to change their physical appearances as they desired.

"Older than what I'd normally go for." She muttered, the irony of the situation not lost on her.

"Are we talking more than a couple of years?" Her mother pressed.

"Say ten." Elissa was desperate to give her a number, just for the sake of moving the conversation along. It didn't really matter whether she said ten or fifty. Itachi was older than even her grandparents, she was sure, and all her family members' ages combined. The number was not an issue, given he was an immortal, not even human.

The thought gave her pause. Hadn't she just refuted her own argument?

"Ten? Well, he's likely to be a bit more mature if he's in his thirties. Is he definitely single?"

"What?" Elissa blinked in confusion. "Yeah, he's single."

"You're sure? He's not just someone privileged looking for some holiday romance?"

"Mum!" Elissa was mortified by the very idea of Itachi acting in any way even remotely dishonorable. That was so against every shred of his chivalrous character that she had seen and come to know. "He's definitely single. He's not like that at all. He's respectful. A gentleman."

"So the only real issue is that you're from different backgrounds?"

"Not just backgrounds." Elissa lamented. "The customs we belong to and what we are and everything."

Her mother released a snort at that. "Honey, true equality is about recognising and treating each other as equals. Nevermind all the social hierarchies. People are only better than others in their actions and how much they hold onto good morals and values. You know that. Wealth and titles don't determine a person's value."

"I guess," Elissa agreed reluctantly. She didn't know how else she could possibly explain any further without outright revealing that the truth of the issue lay in them belonging to different species of beings entirely. It wasn't social rank, but differences in existence. He would not age. She would. Her life would come to an end and he would be the one to terminate it. It frustrated Elissa that she couldn't express those thoughts openly.

"So if you like him enough, and he's sincere about you, then what's to stop you taking this further?" Her mother was going on. "People from different backgrounds get together all the time."

Elissa shook her head. "It's not just that we're different. He has all these… difficult duties and responsibilities. They're part of his job. We probably wouldn't even be able to be together all the time, because he has to see to so many other things. I just don't know how it could work out, long-term."

"Let me put it to you this way." Mrs. Caelum said. "Can you imagine your life without this man in it?"

Elissa was silent. She already knew the answer to that, and yet she wondered what would happen once the threat to her safety was identified and dealt with. When Itachi would no longer have to watch over and protect her. Would he leave? Visit her less? Thinking about him exiting her life - for good - filled her with profound sadness.

"No…" she said quietly. "It wouldn't be the same without him."

"Then you already know you'd miss him. Do you think maybe he'd feel the same?"

"I don't know…" Elissa confided miserably. She doubted he would miss her as much as she would feel his absence.

"Why don't you talk to him about it?"

Elissa released another sigh. "Like I said… we're from different worlds, and I guess- I'm scared. I just worry about getting hurt. Not by him; I don't think he'd ever intentionally hurt me, but because I have these expectations for how a relationship _should_ be, what a normal relationship should be like, and I had all these ideas about the kind of person I wanted to meet and get to know, and he's…" Itachi's dark eyes drifted into her mind's eye. "He's nothing like anything I would've expected…" she finished.

"That's not necessarily a bad thing, love," Juliette comforted her. "Often, what comes to us is exactly what we need the most at that point in our lives. Don't worry so much about the long-term. You're young. You have plenty of time to figure out what you want. You might find that you're not so different. How will you know, if you don't give it a chance? Would you rather pass up this connection and wonder 'what if'? Can you carry that, for the rest of your life? Move onto the next and not think about what might have been? That's really what it boils down to, at the end of the day."

Elissa was quiet. She knew that nobody could hold a candle to Itachi. No matter where else she travelled in the world, or who else she met, nobody had made her feel the way he did. There would be no other like him.

Before she could answer, her mother continued, "You can let your reservations stop you from exploring this further. Or you could be brave, take the plunge, tell this young man about your feelings. It seems like he's at least fond of you. What do you have to lose? If he feels the same, maybe you'll find something wonderful. Something you can take slow and appreciate, one day at a time. Live in the now, Lissy. You have your whole life ahead of you. Even if things don't work out with this one… at least it would have felt right at the time of going for it. What do you think?"

Her mother made it sound so simple. And it would have been, could have been, if not for what Itachi was.

"I'm scared…" Elissa confided in a whisper. "I'm scared of making a mistake. Of falling too hard and of things going out of my control. I'm scared of being unable to stop and losing myself. I'm scared of feeling too much..."

There was a pause, before Juliette answered slowly, "I don't know how long you've known this man, baby, or where you even met. But if you're asking me about him, then it seems you've got some strong feelings for him already. I won't push you, honey. You can tell me more about him when you're ready.

"But don't worry about making mistakes. We all do in love and relationships. It's what makes us grow, teaches us what we want. It's always scary starting out, because you don't know everything there is to know about the other person. You're taking a leap of faith. But isn't that what makes it so exciting and wonderful, finding out?

"Take the time to get to know him, slowly. There's no rush. You're a good, sensible girl. But sometimes, Lissy, you do worry too much. You try to control things too much. And love… really falling in love with someone… is about losing control, trusting that other person will be there and catch you. Do you trust him? Is he reliable? Can you see him being there, to catch you?"

Hadn't Itachi done so, so many times, already? But Elissa couldn't form words. Her heart was racing and her voice had clogged in her throat.

"It's alright, to take a chance." Juliette was going on. "To not worry so much about the future. Let it fall into place in its own time and pace, love."

Elissa felt tears well in her eyes, as her mother added wisely, "Whatever's meant for us will be, no matter how much we try to avoid it. So you do your part, follow your heart, and let the rest fall into place on its own."

The words resonated in Elissa's head, striking a chord within her. After she had ended the phone-call with her mother, Elissa crawled into bed that night, her thoughts once more in turmoil as she weighed out her options, until finally, out of sheer exhaustion, she fell asleep.

* * *

The following afternoon, Elissa nervously inched her white Ford Focus up the ramps that Levi had positioned on the pavement.

When she had complained to her friends about her vehicle's concerning performance earlier that morning, the raven-haired man had posed a few questions as to her upkeep of the car and quickly discovered that she had not had the oil changed in as long as it had been in her possession.

Her explanations that she had not had the time or the money to spare to get the oil changed - even less so, now that she had lost her job - were met with a disgruntled expression and a shake of his head. "It's a car, not a horse, stupid. What were you expecting without maintenance?"

She exited the vehicle, and hopped the short distance to the pavement, Wiping her sweaty palms on her jeans nervously, she crossed to the back of the car where she found Levi kicking two blocks of wood into place behind the rear tires.

"Should we be doing this in the winter?" she questioned, on the off chance there was still a way to get out of it.

"Doesn't make a difference. The oil should be warm enough from the drive here," Levi dismissed, returning to the front of the car. "No excuse for not knowing how to change your own oil in this day and age. Who still pays for an oil change?" He cast her yet another disappointed look before placing a hand on the side of the car and slipping beneath it.

Elissa hesitated, shifting from one foot to the other, before that familiar, no-nonsense voice called out, "Oi, what are you waiting for?"

She sat back on her haunches and wrapped her arms around her knees, "Do I have to? Car stuff really isn't my thing." She hadn't intended for her protest to come out as petulant as it did, but she felt undoubtedly out of her depth when it came to the mechanical, inner workings of her car.

Levi stared back blankly, "I thought you were a feminist."

"I am!" The defense flew from her lips immediately.

"Then get your ass down here."

Unable to argue with that particular logic, she grumbled to herself and joined her friend beneath the vehicle, resigning herself to the fact that her outfit was likely ruined - although she was somewhat relieved that she had chosen to dress down for the occasion with a black turtleneck and plain, blue jeans. At least the weather was mild.

"This is your oil pan," Levi instructed, pointing the metal container out to her. His long, elegant fingers shifted to draw her attention to a light blue cylinder attached near it. "And this is your oil filter."

Shifting the drain pan into place to catch the oil, he handed her a socket wrench.

"You want to get that drain plug out," Levi instructed, indicating the bolt he meant.

"Uh, okay…" Elissa relented nervously, fastening the head of the wrench to the appropriate location.

"Counterclockwise."

When she found that the fastener simply refused to budge, she turned despairing hazel eyes to Levi, who simply closed his hand over hers and with one firm jerk of his hand, loosened the stubborn bolt, allowing Elissa to take over from there.

"Watch your hand when you -"

The warning came too late, as Elissa withdrew the plug and immediately a dark stream of oil spilled out of the receptacle into the drain pan below, splashing her hand in the process.

"Ugh," the brunette complained.

"Good enough," Levi asserted, pulling himself out from under the car. Elissa followed suit, holding her hand away from herself as if it were a foreign object.

The raven-haired man handed her a wet towel, which she accepted gratefully. Elissa wiped the oil from her hands, and set the drain plug on a side table.

"Does Slayte know how to do an oil change?" Elissa questioned somewhat petulantly, irked by the dark grease on her fingers. "Or am I getting special treatment?"

Levi scoffed, "It's a wonder that scaredy-cat even got her license." Something of a faint smile ghosted his lips but disappeared again almost immediately, to be replaced with a matter-of-fact expression. "You won't always have me around to do it for you. These are basic skills."

The implication, that Slayte _would_ always have Levi's help, was clear - and sweet. Elissa smiled despite herself, but before she could tease him on the subject, Levi jerked his chin towards the car as he continued with his instructions. "It needs to drain a few minutes before we move on to the next step."

"Right," Elissa nodded, focusing resolutely on wiping away every trace of oil on her fingers.

Levi leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest as he stared intently at the car as if counting every drop that spilled into the pan. An awkward silence settled over the two friends without Slayte to act as the talkative third party between them.

Just as Elissa was about to suggest they head inside until the oil had drained away, Levi spoke up. "How are things with the shitty Reaper?"

"Reaper?" Elissa blinked at her friend in surprise, "Do you mean … Itachi?"

"Whatever," Levi dismissed bluntly, before fixing the brunette with a contemplative stare. "Seen him lately?"

Elissa recalled her last meeting with the enigmatic deity and averted her gaze. "It's been a few days."

"You holding up?"

Elissa glanced at Levi, seeing concern in those cool, grey eyes. "I'm alright. Least I don't feel so clueless anymore."

A brief silence followed in which Levi's intent gaze seemed to burn holes in her car. "How valid are her concerns? Does it seem like he's going to drag her back down the hole he crawled out of?"

She did not need to be told who he meant. Elissa hesitated and bit her lip, sharing Levi's worry. Slayte had escaped from the Underworld and built a life for herself on the surface. Neither Slayte nor Itachi seemed to have any inclination to discuss what would happen to her in the future. Slayte likely didn't know what would follow once Elissa was out of danger, and Itachi… She didn't know what Itachi was thinking, or if Slayte's wellbeing, her wishes, or even her existence truly registered in his thoughts.

It was concerning, it made her anxious. He did not seem to want to discuss Slayte at any length, and Elissa was torn between fighting her friend's case and not wanting to make her situation worse by drawing his attention to her anew. Slayte had expressed to her multiple times that there was no need to mention the ravenette in any capacity, but Elissa feared that she was simply too ignorant to accurately assess whether that was simply Slayte's overly cautious nature or if the rules of their world truly made silence the wisest course of action.

"I don't know what his intentions are," she admitted finally. "He doesn't really talk about her. They don't seem to like each other much. I don't want to make her situation worse by bringing it up, but… I don't know if that's right, either."

Elissa considered warning Levi about Slayte's blatant disregard for any type of etiquette with the Uchiha but thought better of it. It wasn't as if Levi had a filter, either. How much support could she expect from someone who called a literal deity "shitty Reaper"?

"But you, he likes." Levi held her gaze calmly, his expression void of judgment.

"I - I don't really know." A blush grazed her cheeks as she lowered her head and rubbed at an invisible spot of oil.

Levi paused a beat. "Yes, you do."

Elissa glanced at him, torn, before dropping the rag on the nearby table with a sigh. "Maybe."

The simple admission caused the heat in her face to intensify. "It feels so wrong to say that but, so much has happened, that I don't know what else to think." She hesitated, "I don't know what to do. It's so surreal."

"What do you _want_ to do?" Levi lowered his chin to meet her gaze, his grey eyes like an honest mirror, provoking self-reflection.

Elissa pressed her palms to her face, not knowing what to say. What did she want to do? She was fairly certain that ranked pretty low on the list of priorities. With all the danger in the air, with a literal deity calling the shots, how much did her wishes really weigh on the grand scale of things?

"Be honest," he added. "I'm not Slayte."

Elissa shrugged, wringing her hands. "I don't think what I want matters all that much at the moment. I mean, we have bigger fish to fry, right?"

Levi was silent, frowning in contemplation. "So, you're going to let others decide for you. Is that what you want?"

Elissa worried her lower lip, anxious and awkward. This was not a conversation she wanted to have with Levi, or with anyone, for that matter. But who else could she turn to? Slayte was barely keeping it together, and try as she might, she simply could not impress her mother with the gravity of the situation. It wasn't as if she could tell any of her friends that she entertained, possibly, the affections of a literal god of death. But Levi… he knew what was going on, in fact, he even knew what it meant to be involved with someone from the underworld. Not to mention he had a brilliant track-record for providing solid, if not sometimes unorthodox, advice.

She chanced a glance at her friend, who had gone back to scowling at her Ford. "It's not that. I mean… this isn't a normal situation to be in. _He's_ not normal. It's not like he's just some boy next door and I have to decide if I'm going to take him up on his offer for a coffee date. He's the heir to the throne of the Underworld. He's the god of death. He's going to come for your soul… and mine. The souls of everyone I love. It's not that simple."

"And if he _were_ the boy next door who wanted to take you out for coffee, what would you say?"

Elissa jumped at the suggestion. She averted her gaze as her blush intensified. If it were that simple? If Itachi was just her neighbor asking if she wanted a cup of coffee? She would be tripping over her own feet to take him up on the offer. The idea filled her heart with melancholy to think of how easy the entire situation would be under different circumstances.

"I guess you already know the answer. Just keep in mind, it doesn't matter if he's a god or a devil, no one should pressure you into something that makes you uncomfortable." Levi pushed away from the wall and approached the car again.

"He doesn't do that," Elissa rushed to Itachi's defense. "He's very kind and considerate."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Levi muttered, casting her a disbelieving look. "You're all quick to defend him."

Sliding back beneath the car, he added, "Just let me know if I need to break a few legs."

With a sigh, Elissa moved to follow him. They worked in silence, their discussion all but forgotten while Levi pointed out the oil filter to her and showed her how to use an oil filter wrench to remove it and then replace it. As they replaced the drain plug, Levi offered gentle instructions as to how much of what kind of oil she needed to use. They refilled the oil and backed the car off the ramps.

Levi insisted on showing her how to read her car's manual and instructed her to retrieve it from her glove compartment. As she sat on the passenger's seat, her legs hanging out the side of the vehicle, Levi leaned against the vehicle and pointed out how to find the information she needed to provide her car with the basic maintenance.

Elissa was elsewhere with her thoughts, following along numbly as questions ricocheted in her mind.

"Would you have been okay with Slayte? If you'd known who she was from the beginning? There are other things to think about, knowing that she's from the underworld, right?" The question was abrupt, unrelated to the upkeep of her car that Levi was lecturing on. He fell silent and withdrew his hand from the lines of text as he regarded her thoughtfully.

"This isn't about me," he answered finally. He was never fully comfortable talking about Slayte, not even with Elissa, and blamed it on his protective, possessive nature. Even if he had doubts of any kind, he had no inclination to discuss them with anyone but the ravenette in question.

Elissa sighed, fingering the pages of the manual. "But they're kind of similar, our circumstances. Is it worth the trouble? Would you have made the same choice if you had known everything beforehand?"

Levi looked up at the clouds closing in overhead as he crossed his arms over his chest. There was some truth to that statement. Slayte had her own baggage. Baggage she had always done the utmost to keep from him. The secrecy had irritated him more than the secret itself had.

"I always knew she wasn't normal. You'd have to be pretty empty in the head to not realize that. Especially given the way she was in the beginning." He frowned as he narrowed his eyes at a vague point in the distance. "Like it was her first day on earth."

"You want my advice?" He angled his head towards her, as he fixed her with a steely gaze.

"Yeah, I would appreciate it." Elissa turned hazel eyes towards the only friend she had who could somehow make sense of her situation.

"Slayte isn't a god or some bigshot in that world. She ran away, but your reaper doesn't have that option. So, it's not really the same thing."

Elissa swallowed thickly and nodded.

"If you can ignore whatever it is you feel for him," Levi's voice was even, weighty with his characteristic candor. "Do it."

"Every relationship has its ups and downs. Drawbacks and whatnot. But there's no way that getting closer to that gloomy guy will be in your favor. It'll be asking a lot of you. You'll have to turn your back on a lot of things that matter to you and give up things that you hoped to achieve. Dreams and goals, you'd have to make more sacrifices than either of us realize, I'm guessing."

Pushing away from the car, he began collecting the tools they had used for the oil change.

"And…" Elissa began nervously, ashamed to admit it herself. "If I can't ignore it?" She lifted conflicted hazel eyes towards the older man hopefully.

"If you can't ignore it," Levi answered solemnly, turning back towards her. "Then take charge. Don't let him lay down the rules. Call the shots. Make demands. Give him your terms and conditions."

He bent to retrieve the wrenches strewn on the pavement. "Just make the choice you'll regret the least."

"What would you choose?" She tried again. "If you were me?"

"I'm not you," was the immediate retort. "So, that's a ridiculous question."

"If Slayte couldn't run away. If she was a … a reaper of sorts. Would you have chosen her anyway?" Elissa absentmindedly folded the corners of the pages, only to smooth them out again.

"You just won't let it go, will you?" Levi admonished, his eyebrows furrowing in irritation.

"I want to know. I want a love like yours. You guys are... " She shrugged, embarrassed. "You're perfect."

"No, we're not." Levi scoffed, "We're a pair of idiots who never talk about the things that matter. Don't be like us."

Elissa glanced at her friend. His words seemed to imply that he was also an "idiot who didn't talk about things that mattered". She recalled the curious way he had spoken with a quiet confidence on death and murder - offering her solid, reliable advice. She remembered that not only Slayte but also Levi had a secretive past that he had not shared with the two of them. She recalled his surprising presence at the police station and Slayte's open concern for him after Levi had punched Cain.

"What?" Levi questioned, seeing her inquisitive gaze.

"You're human, but… you're not… normal, are you?" Elissa asked awkwardly.

"What the hell is normal, to you?"

"I sometimes get the feeling you know things that normal people wouldn't know. How to fight, how to navigate a criminal investigation… stuff like that." Elissa gestured vaguely as she listed the things she had noticed. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I was just curious."

Levi regarded the younger brunette trying and failing to rein in her curiosity. He'd always had a soft spot for her, based largely perhaps on Slayte's own overprotective nature rubbing off on him. She was quiet but firm in adversity, bold in protecting others, and struggled to earn and maintain her independence even when all the odds were stacked against her. Being faced with the supernatural mysteries that surrounded her, deprived of answers, was probably the single-worst thing that could have happened to a young woman of her character - one so desperate to control and contain all the eventualities. Although he had warned Slayte not to mother Elissa, he often found himself leaning in that direction as well.

"I was part of a gang," he answered dully, meeting her eyes indifferently. "For most of my life. I think that should answer your questions."

"Oh," Elissa voiced quietly. It should not have come as a surprise, she supposed. And yet, with his gentle nature and calm wisdom, she never would have guessed. The man didn't even have a single tattoo on his body, as far as she knew. The shock that would normally have followed refused to come. Perhaps she had been bombarded by too many revelations of late, she couldn't summon the indignation she might otherwise have felt prior to all of this.

"Did you … hurt people?" she asked in a small voice.

Levi only stared back blankly, "Are you sure you want to know?"

Did she? And did it really matter? It was in the past - the distant past, now. Was Levi required to confess who and what he was just because they were friends? Obviously not, but he had chosen to do so anyway. The trust that such a decision indicated was not lost on her. Although she had never moved in those circles herself, she felt keenly aware that turning over a new leaf - the way Levi had done - required considerable courage.

"No," Elissa shook her head. "I guess it comes with the territory. But you turned your life around, that can't have been easy. Good for you," she smiled up at him. "I'm proud of you."

Levi looked disgruntled, "How is that something to be proud of? Doesn't change what's been done."

"No," Elissa agreed, shutting the manual and replacing it in the glove compartment. "But it takes strength to make a change. To turn your back on all you've ever known." She got to her feet and closed the door behind her.

"You opened up this tea shop and became a source of support and comfort to so many. You're a good person, Levi. Even if people miss that at first glance."

"You're a particular brand of crazy," Levi shook his head as he continued gathering the rest of the tools. Elissa moved to help him and between the two of them, everything was being put in place.

"You guys!" a familiar voice called, causing the two of them to lift their heads to Slayte, who was leaning out of the kitchen window and waving at them. "I made us some lavender-flavored hot cocoa! It's good stuff, Elissa, don't make that face," she added, seeing Elissa's expression of distaste at the combination. "Want me to bring it out or are you almost done?"

"Use your eyes, Slayte." Levi drawled, indicating the ongoing cleanup. "We'll be right in."

"Got it!" Slayte chirped, raising a hand with her thumb and forefinger curled in a circle in the universal "okay" gesture.

She disappeared back through the window and Elissa replaced the last of the tools, still somewhat put-off at the thought of lavender-flavored hot cocoa when she saw that Levi had not moved from where he stood, his gaze lingering on the closed window.

She paused in the middle of shutting the toolbox, trying to decipher his expression. She did not miss the tension in his jaw or the almost wistful yearning she thought she spied in his eyes. It was a rare, unguarded moment and she nearly felt uncomfortable for witnessing it.

As if drawn by her gaze, Levi's eyes slid towards her, and immediately a veil of indifference walled off his expression.

"You really love her, huh?" Elissa attempted to clear the air, turning back to snap the toolbox shut.

She hadn't really been expecting an answer, so her head shot up, stunned, when he said, "Wouldn't have made a difference if she were the devil himself."

"Don't try and be like us, though." He warned, giving her a stern look. "We're not normal and we're not exactly healthy."

"Why not?" Elissa countered, "I think you guys are fine as you are."

Levi only shook his head, "A healthy relationship consists of two healthy individuals. Just what part of us is healthy? If we separate…" He frowned, worry written in his grey eyes as he cast a furtive glance back at the window. "She won't be okay."

"And you?" Elissa prompted, noting that Levi was deflecting and not considering his own feelings. A pattern of behaviour she had come to recognize well from her years of friendship with Slayte. "Would you be okay?"

Levi lifted his gaze from the pavement to fix her with a guarded look, but for Elissa, who had been friends with the two of them for nearly four years now, the blank look in his grey eyes was answer enough.

"I won't let it happen, Levi." She answered solemnly. "I have bargaining power now. No matter what, I won't let Slayte be taken away."

When he did not answer, she added, "I promise." Levi saw the determination burning in those hazel irises and relented. He reached out to ruffle her hair fondly.

"You have enough going on yourself. Let's sort your shit out first, brat." Lifting the crate of tools, he turned to reenter the house.

"My offer stands," he called over his shoulder without looking back. "Let me know whose legs I need to break." Elissa smiled wryly at his retreating back, only to gasp as he added, "I have enough experience with that sort of thing."

It should have caused her concern, it should have made her uneasy, but despite herself, Elissa could only find it reassuring.

* * *

The weekend soon arrived, and Elissa instructed Gabriel to collect her for the holidays from the Tea Shop. She had one final important task to complete, before she departed Canterbury for the following three weeks.

During the course of that week, she'd progressively transported her packed luggage to the shop, so that when she arrived early on the Saturday morning with Vetty prowling lazily at her heels, she carried only her satchel bag slung over her navy, double-breasted winter coat and a stack of beautifully gift wrapped boxes which she smilingly placed down upon the counter.

It was time for their annual ritual - the exchanging of gifts before the holiday season.

It was a crisp winter morning. Outside the tea-shop, the low sun glistened distantly in the cloudless, pale blue sky. Early risers were walking about outside on the streets, wrapped up warmly or out for a morning run. Elissa glanced at the clock on the wall. The Tea Shop would be opening in another hour. Gabe was scheduled to arrive in twenty minutes.

"Elissa!" Slayte greeted, throwing her arms around her best friend. Elissa hugged her back tightly, as Levi wheeled her flower-print travel suitcase case out from where he'd stashed it under the stairs, depositing her matching duffel bags beside it.

"You pack your whole apartment in here?" he scowled disapprovingly.

"I'm going away for three weeks," Elissa defended. "And a girl can never pack too many clothes, Levi."

Levi rolled his eyes at her response. She was going back to her parents' house, the home she'd grown up in. Surely she had some more clothes there she hadn't been able to take with her when she'd moved out, still stored away in her old room? Her decision to over-pack, in his estimation, was ridiculous. But he said nothing else, dropping the last compact travel-tidy cosmetics bag on top of the pile before going to the counter to pour a bowl of milk for a meowing Vetty, who was looking expectantly up at him.

"Oi, Furball," he nodded at the feline as he set the bowl down. "Not a drop on my floor."

Vetty swished her tail, purring in approval, and occupied herself with lapping up the milk.

"Leave the bags now, come on over," Elissa gestured excitedly. "You gave me your gifts first last year, it's my turn this time." She held out the first packaged gift to Slayte, who beamed.

"You've wrapped it so prettily," she exclaimed. It was almost a shame to ruin the glossy, gold and crimson paper.

"And this is for you," Elissa grinned at Levi, who raised an eyebrow at her, but quietly accepted the gift.

She watched, shifting restlessly on her feet, as they both unwrapped their presents, smothering a laugh as Levi unfolded the crisp, perfectly ironed white apron that bore the slogan: " _Are you Stupid?_ " on it. He blinked at it, an unreadable expression passing briefly over his stormy grey eyes - before he released a snort.

"Oh, come on," Elissa giggled. "It's funny, and it's perfect for you! Now you won't have to say it anymore. The apron will say it for you." She slapped a hand over her mouth, snickering in amusement when he once again turned his eyes skyward.

Slayte grinned, highly entertained by the creativity and originality of the custom-made gift.

"It's perfect for him, Elissa. I love it!"

"Do you like it?" Elissa gave her stoic friend a cheeky smile.

"Tch." Levi replied. He had to admit, it was a clever choice by her. "Very funny, brat."

Elissa laughed harder, then turned her eyes to Slayte. "Go on," she urged.

Slayte peeled the paper apart, and gasped when she unravelled a beautiful, A5 sized, brown leather-bound journal. It had rustic-gold clasp locks and an antique look to it. She unfastened the clasps and opened it to the first page, to find a hand-written message scrawled on the high-quality paper that sentimentally read:

_To my best friend in every world, I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for you. Thank you for everything._

_~Elissa~_

Slayte felt her eyes immediately well with tears. Levi gave her a wary look, recognising the signs; she was choking up, overwhelmed with emotion. As she turned the pages, she was delighted to find printed copies of her own poems, published within the volumes.

"Elissa…" She began, rendered speechless for a moment. "How did you do this…?"

"I collected all the poems you've ever shared with me, and thought you'd like them in book format, rather than lying around on pieces of paper or online."

"This is…" Slayte struggled to find words. "Wonderful…"

"Look," Elissa smiled, motioning for her to turn the pages. "I added my own poem on the last page, too."

Shaking her head in awe at the thoughtful gift, Slayte turned to the back page. Sure enough, verses were penned at the back, once again hand-written.

_Of all the friends I have, you are most true,_

_I'm glad that The Fates led me to you,_

_That our paths crossed and we got to share,_

_Adventures and laughter; you've shown me such care,_

_More than I deserve and more than I've returned,_

_But that will change now, my lessons are learned,_

_You've not left my side since the day we met,_

_And my actions of late I do deeply regret,_

_But I want you to know that I'm grateful for you,_

_Without you in my life, I wouldn't know what to do,_

_I wouldn't have survived this far,_

_Thank you for everything that you are._

_~E. C~_

Slayte lifted a hand to her mouth and released an emotional sob, before throwing her arms around Elissa once again. Her best friend returned her embrace, tears shining in her eyes, too.

"I know I don't say it enough," she admitted in a whisper. "But I appreciate you." Pulling back, she looked at Levi. "Both of you." She added firmly. "Thank you for everything."

Levi nodded. Slayte wiped at her eyes. "It's… beautiful," she choked out, staring down at the words once more in amazed disbelief. She would treasure the gift - and Elissa's poem - forever. "Thank you…"

"Wait. That's not all!" Elissa turned back to the pile of gifts and handed them another smaller package each.

Levi and Slayte unwrapped them, to find matching, metallic carved bookmarks bearing their initials, placed within a beautiful wooden presentation box.

"I know you're both bookworms," Elissa smiled. "I saw these matching sets and thought of you."

"They're beautiful!" Slayte gasped.

"Thanks," Levi looked down at the gift, appreciating its design.

"And one more thing!" Elissa added, handing them a small envelope. "This one you can open together."

She waited, fidgeting with excitement as Levi allowed Slayte to open the envelope, watching as the raven-haired nymph pulled out a pair of rectangular-shaped tickets.

"Tickets to…" Slayte's brown eyes grew as round and wide as saucers. She released another delighted gasp. "Levi, look!"

He peered curiously down over her shoulder.

"The World Tea Exhibition," he read, eyebrows lifting in interest.

"In the capital? How amazing!"

Elissa clapped her hands. "Isn't it great? These tickets were super hard to get hold of. I've been watching them all year and finally got the notification that two were available, and I just had to snap them up for you! Every type of tea you can think of, from every corner of the world, all under one roof!"

Levi looked appreciatively down at the gift. Elissa had certainly outdone herself.

"And best of all, it's an open ticket, so even if you can't make the initial dates, they're valid for the next two years."

"That's so thoughtful!" Slayte grinned. "I love it!"

"Not bad," Levi remarked.

"Levi!" Slayte directed a look at him. "These were perfect!"

"She could've gotten us an empty box and you would've said the same thing," he scoffed.

"That's-!" Slayte began helplessly. He was right, of course. Whatever Elissa gifted to her, felt like gold-dust, but this year's gifts were possibly her favourite yet.

"Ever hard to please," Elissa stuck out her tongue at him..

"We have something for you, too," Slayte placed her presents on the counter, and bent down to retrieve a large, gift-wrapped box behind it. Setting it down on one of the customer tables, she beckoned for her best friend to join her.

"What's this?" Elissa asked, intrigued.

"Something we hope will help with your writing," Slayte clasped her hands together anxiously as she watched her best friend begin to unwrap the gift.

Elissa's hazel irises widened in shock when she realised what it was.

"Oh my God!" she gaped at the package. "No way!" She turned stunned eyes to her friends, before looking down at the box again in disbelief. "You got me a... a laptop?!" she shrieked.

"Slayte said your one was on its last legs," Levi drawled.

"Well, yeah, but…" Elissa shook her head incredulously. "This is too much, you guys! I can't accept this!"

"Nothing is too much for you, Elissa," Slayte waved a hand. "You need a working laptop to keep writing, right?"

"Yes, but-!" Elissa once again began to protest.

"Oi. Not another word," Levi interrupted, swatting her on the head with a rolled up newspaper.

"It's rude to make a fuss," Slayte grinned affectionately.

Elissa bit her lower lip, feeling tears stinging at her eyes. "You guys… thank you so much. But I… I _really_ don't deserve this. You've done so much for me already..." she said, her voice clogging with emotion.

"You deserve this and so much more." Slayte dismissed "Nothing makes me happier than knowing you can carry on with your story. Besides, it's only a small one. We wanted to make sure you'd have something working to use while you're away. I know how important your writing is to you."

"That's so thoughtful," Elissa shook her head again, lifting her hands to her cheeks, touched by their considerate gift. "Thank you so much, both of you."

"Tch. It's nothing," Levi quipped.

"I'm so pleased you love it." Slayte gushed.

Elissa's attention was drawn to her phone, which rang at that moment, filling the air with a familiar piano melody. She lifted it to her ear and answered the call.

"Gabe, hi," she greeted.

"Lissy, hey. I just parked up outside," her brother's voice responded. "Is it free on this road?"

"Don't worry, Levi has a permit. I'll be right out with it."

Levi wordlessly handed her the parking permit and as Elissa exited the shop briefly to greet her older brother outside, Slayte beamed down at their gifts.

"Aren't these amazing?" she enthused. "I can't wait to go to this Tea Exhibition. Just imagine all the new types of teas we've yet to try, Levi! Maybe we can even purchase some and add them to our menu. We've always talked about a day out of town together, right? This is the perfect excuse." She looked down at the tickets again. "The first one is just after the New Year."

Levi's eyes trailed over her features, noting her excitement. Slayte felt her heart flutter at the intensity of his winter-grey gaze.

"Maybe we can make the one after," he said. "There're other things we-" he was interrupted, when the door opened again.

Elissa walked in, followed by a tall, wavy-brown haired young man dressed casually in a thick dark grey sweater and light blue jeans. He wore grey and black trainers and a lighter grey woolen scarf was wrapped around his neck. His hands were concealed by dark grey gloves. Elissa locked the door behind them again, before approaching her friends.

"Gabe," she smiled, gesturing proudly toward Slayte and Levi. "Meet my best friend Slayte, and her boyfriend, Levi. Levi, Slayte, this is Gabriel, my big brother."

"Call me Gabe," he greeted.

"Hi!" Slayte chirped brightly in awe, excited to meet another member of the Caelum family. She had heard a great deal about Gabriel, who was two and a half years older than Elissa, but it was the first time she'd been introduced to him in person. She saw the resemblance between Elissa and her brother in the shape and colour of their eyes, and the waviness of their hair, though Elissa's locks were lighter in hue.

"Levi's like a big brother to me." Elissa added warmly, prompting a brief, surprised glance her way from her best friend's boyfriend. "He does your job in this town."

"Someone giving me a run for my money?" Gabe raised his eyebrows, but politely extended a hand to Levi, giving him a nod and a small smile. "Hey, Levi. Good to meet you. Thanks for looking out for my sister."

Levi nodded, and despite being averse to them in general, accepted the handshake - only because it was Elissa's sibling and he knew how much it meant to her.

"She's such a pain, I know." Gabriel rolled his eyes. "It's a wonder she hasn't driven you both mad yet. You must have the patience of a saint to take her under your wing."

"She's got her moments," said Levi dryly.

"Hey!" Elissa swatted her brother on the arm, as he shook Slayte's hand in turn.

"It's so lovely to finally meet you," Slayte gushed. "I've heard so much about you from Elissa!"

"She better have said good things," Gabriel flicked an amused glance at his sister.

"No. I told them you're annoying and bully me endlessly," Elissa wrinkled her nose at him petulantly.

"Comes with the job spec." He chuckled and reached out to ruffle her hair. She squealed and evaded at the last moment, lifting her hands to her tresses protectively.

"Don't mess up my hair!"

"I'm totally going to mess it up. You're gonna roll out the car looking like a hobo."

"Can you just get my bags and stop embarrassing me, now?"

"I'm not your porter. Let me get a damn coffee first - you already woke me up at illegal hours on a Saturday morning, Hobbit."

"You did _not_ just call me that in front of them." Elissa groaned.

"I did." He retorted, without lowering his voice. "Because you're small. Hobbit."

"Ugh, you're the worst!"

Gabriel caught Levi's cool gaze and snickered in amusement. The darker-haired man looked on in approval, all too familiar with Elissa's theatrics. It was good to see her in the company of family who cared for her.

Slayte looked between the two, bemused. So this was what having a big brother was like? An endless barrage of teasing?

"What'll it be?" Levi asked, stepping behind the counter.

"Your strongest brew would be great," Gabriel replied. "Going to need it with a two and a half hour drive ahead of me with this chatterbox." He added, inclining his head toward his sister.

"Never shut their mouths up between the two of them," Levi muttered to him in agreement.

"Levi!" Slayte protested.

"We heard that," Elissa quipped back. "And like _you_ ever shut up either, Gabe."

"Must run in the family," Gabriel mused, and both he and his sister laughed at that.

Slayte beamed. "Can we get you anything to eat? It's on the house. Please choose anything you like from our menu!" She handed him a menu card.

"Oh no, let me pay," Gabriel insisted. "You're helping my sister out, it's only right I help you guys out."

"Oi. We said on the house, no take backs," Levi called as he set about preparing the coffee.

"You sure?" Gabriel cast an uncertain look at Elissa.

"Try arguing with them," she shrugged. "They won't hear it."

"We're positive." Slayte assured him.

"Thanks. That's really kind of you guys." Gabriel said, as he took a seat at one of the tables and looked over the menu. "Maybe just a melted cheese panini, I'm starving."

"Coming right up!" Slayte gave him a thumbs up. "Elissa, the usual?"

"Yes, please." Elissa answered.

"I like your friends," Gabe declared. "They're really attentive. Then there's you, being bossy as usual, trying to drag me out of here as fast as you can."

"Only because I knew you'd embarrass me," Elissa mumbled, sliding onto the seat beside him as Slayte placed a plate between them containing two slices of coffee and walnut cake and two freshly prepared muffins. One was blueberry, the second was lemon and poppyseed flavoured.

Elissa eyed the blueberry one eagerly. Gabriel caught her looking, and deliberately picked it up, lifting it to his mouth - only to pause, seeing his sister's wide, mournful eyes. He chuckled, knowing it was her favourite - and pushed it against her mouth.

"Go ahead, stuff your little piggy face."

Elissa grabbed the muffin from him, grinning happily, and wasted no time in munching on it.

"So, Wings of Freedom, huh?" He looked around appreciatively, admiring the decor and faultless organisation of the shop. "Great name and place. It's so tidy."

"Levi is the King of Tidy," Elissa informed him. "He and Slayte keep this place spotless. Vetty!" she called her cat. "Come say hi to Gabe."

Vetty lifted her head and sauntered slowly over to them. Elissa reached down and scooped her up from the floor, setting her snugly onto her lap.

"Really?" Slayte beamed as she took another plate out for their breakfast paninis. "Do you like it?"

Gabriel scratched the top of Vetty's head, eliciting a satisfied purr. "Hey kitty." He greeted, then turned his attention back to Levi and Slayte. "It's awesome. Your menu has some really interesting drinks, too. I've not even heard of half of these."

"Slayte and Levi know everything there is to know about teas," Elissa said.

"That's cool. Maybe you can give me a list. My girlfriend likes tea, but I never know what to buy her."

"How about a dazzling engagement ring?" Elissa elbowed his side.

"Butt out, Hobbit." Gabriel ordered, prompting her to snicker.

"Everything on our menu is the good stuff," Slayte assured him.

Levi pulled out a slip of paper and scrawled something on it. Then he walked over to their table and handed Gabriel the note.

"Earl Grey Citrus Black, White Emperor Tea, Black Dragon Pearl. Get those."

"Awesome, thanks," Gabriel grinned. "That's another present for Serena sorted."

Elissa was reminded of their own gift exchange. "Oh! Levi and Slayte got me a laptop. Can you believe it?"

"Seriously?" Gabriel's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "That's too much money to spend on her."

"Not at all," Slayte said firmly, as she placed the hot drinks and toasted sandwiches onto a tray and set it onto the table before their guests. "Elissa is special to us."

Gabriel smirked at his sister. "I hope you got them a car or something in return to outdo them."

"Uh…" Elissa ducked her head, embarrassed as she stroked Vetty's fur. "I would if I could…"

"Your gifts were the best." Slayte reassured her.

"So she works here with you, right?" Gabriel questioned.

"Part time," Elissa replied. "Three days a week. They're so good to me."

"That's nice of you guys to help her out. I know she hates sitting around bored at home." Her brother commented.

"She's family," Levi stated.

"So we're happy to help," Slayte added.

"You guys…" Elissa was once again touched.

"See? These are the kinds of friends you need," Gabriel declared. "Not that prick of a doctor. What was his name? Dr. Lame Deadwood?"

Slayte released a delighted laugh, and decided she definitely liked Gabe.

Levi snorted. Elissa's brother wasn't half bad, he acknowledged. He certainly had his head screwed on the right way.

"You mean Dr. Shit-For-Brains?" he scoffed.

Gabriel chuckled. "That's a good one."

"The Quack!" Slayte chimed.

"Dr. Barbie." Gabriel flashed a savage smile. Levi briefly smirked at him in approval, before he turned away to prepare some tea for himself and Slayte.

"Seriously, you don't even like blond guys," Gabriel shook his head at his sister. "What were you even thinking, Lissy?"

"Oh, don't!" Elissa cried, covering her face with her hands. "Don't even go there, okay? That was just a huge mistake I want to forget about."

He took a bite out of his sandwich. "Yeah, Mum told me you kicked him curbside. Good call."

"We weren't formally dating, but yeah, he's gone." She glanced at Levi. "Levi knocked him out, after he chased me here."

"He did what?" Gabe's eyebrows shot up. "Not Levi - that's epic. I mean the sleaze. Why the hell was he chasing you?"

"He wouldn't listen when I told him to leave me alone." Elissa answered uncomfortably, recalling how forceful and obsessive Cain had been. It made her skin crawl just thinking about it. What had she ever seen in him, to warrant spending so much time in his unbearable company? She suppressed a shudder.

"That piece of trash. Has he bothered you since?" Her brother frowned, concerned.

"I took care of it," Levi reassured him.

Gabriel glanced at him. "Thanks. I really appreciate it. That's way out of line."

"Not surprising," Levi commented, "for a Shit-For-Brains."

"She can do so much better. She deserves only the best." Slayte gave Elissa a pointed look. The brunette felt heat creep into her cheeks. She desperately hoped that her mother hadn't told Gabriel about the _other_ details of their most recent telephone conversation. But she thought that if her mother had, then Gabriel would have already asked her about it, being as overprotective as he was.

Thankfully the subject was dropped. It was opening time, and as Levi cleared the gifts and wrapping neatly away, Slayte moved to unlock the front door again. Two customers who had been waiting outside immediately entered.

Elissa turned her eyes to her brother as Levi and Slayte promptly set about taking the first orders of the day.

"How's everyone doing back home?" she questioned.

"They're alright. Dad gets off work for the holidays on Tuesday, mum's running around like a headless chicken, the usual." Gabriel replied, sipping on his hot drink. "This coffee's really good."

"Brewed by a pro," Elissa sipped on her own hazelnut latte.

"And you get to eat and drink here for free? Lucky you."

"I am," Elissa agreed, her gaze falling to her two dearest friends. "So lucky." Then she turned her attention back to her brother. "What about Cas? How's he?"

"His last day of college was yesterday. He has exams at the end of January. He says he's studying, but you know how he is."

"Ugh, is he stuck on video games all day again?" Elissa sighed deeply.

"Dad hid away his controller," Gabriel snickered. "He's so pissed off about it. They're soft on Cas though, they'll give it back for Christmas."

"Serves him right for now. He needs to study," Elissa frowned.

"Not everyone is a book-worm like you, Lissy." Her brother teased.

"You liked studying, too."

"Yeah, but Cas is more artistic. He's into his graphic designing."

"I get it, but he still needs to get the grades to make it to uni."

"You can join in on the lectures when we get back. Maybe he'll actually listen to you." Gabriel rolled his eyes.

Elissa doubted it. Castiel was a good kid with the sweetest heart, but he was definitely at that rebellious age.

"What about Grandpa? How's he doing?" she questioned next.

"He's alright. Asks after you a lot. He woke up early this morning excited that you're coming home."

Elissa smiled. She couldn't wait to see him. "He's the cutest."

Gabriel chuckled. "I gave him a scare. Think he didn't know I was awake because he jumped when he saw me, like he'd seen the grim reaper or something."

Elissa almost choked on the latte in her mouth at the entirely coincidental mention of the name. Coughing and spluttering, she was distinctly aware of Levi and Slayte's gazes, as they flicked briefly onto her.

"Whoa, easy," Gabriel gently patted his sister on the back. "You alright?"

"I'm- fine!" Elissa sputtered. "Went down the wrong way." She coughed again, clearing her throat.

"Don't kill yourself before we get there, klutz," Gabriel raised a wry eyebrow at her.

"Right." Elissa gave him a strained, forced smile.

"Can I get you anything else?" Slayte asked eagerly, noting Gabriel's empty plate. "You're welcome to stay as long as you like."

"No, thanks," Gabriel politely declined. "This was great and more than enough. We need to get going, or else my mother will freak out. She wants us back early afternoon to help out with some last minute errands." He rose from his seat. "C'mon Lissy. I'll get your bags."

Elissa finished the last mouthful of muffin and rose from her seat, scooping Vetty up in her arms before lowering her gently to the ground.

Levi stepped out around the serving counter. "I'll give you a hand." He nodded, lifting the laptop box and duffle bag.

"Thanks, appreciate it," Gabriel smiled as pulled his sister's wheeled suitcase along and picked up her other baggage. "Good to meet you both. Thanks again for the delicious breakfast and for helping Lissy out."

"It's our pleasure," Slayte enthused. "It was wonderful meeting you, Gabriel!"

"Gabe, I insist," he angled a lazy grin at her. "You have a good break."

"You too!" Slayte beamed.

Elissa gave her best friend a tight hug. "Thanks again for everything," she said sincerely.

"I'm going to miss you," Slayte said, her voice thickening with emotion. "Stay safe?"

The prospect of letting Elissa out of her sight for three whole weeks filled Slayte with trepidation. Would she be safe with her family? Surely nothing would happen and Thanatos would arrange for her to be guarded while in another city?

"I'll be back before you know it," Elissa assured her. "And don't worry about me. His crows will be there, and Vetty's with me too."

"If you need anything at all…" Slayte began.

Elissa pulled back. "Don't worry about how I'm getting on. Just enjoy this time together with Levi, okay? It's his birthday in a few days. Make it special!"

Slayte blushed fiercely. "I'll try."

"You always do," Elissa winked. "Take care. Just remember to pick up my post and water the plants whenever you can." She handed her best friend her apartment keys.

"Sure thing," Slayte smiled.

"Thanks. You're the best. I'll text you when I get there." She glanced down at her cat. "C'mon, you little terror."

Giving Slayte one last hug, she turned toward the door, Vetty slinking unhurriedly behind her.

 _Vetty…_ Slayte called to the feline, prompting her to pause as she heard her telepathic call. _Watch out for her, please._

Vetty looked behind her, meeting Slayte's gaze only briefly, before lifting her nose into the air and swishing her fluffy dark tail as she followed Elissa out without response, prompting a heavy sigh to leave the nymph's lips.

Elissa reached the door just as Levi stepped back inside. Giving him a hug, she thanked him in turn, pulling a face when he reached out and ruffled her hair.

"Don't do anything stupid," he cautioned. "And if you need us…"

Elissa rearranged her hair, and laughed despite herself.

"Enjoy the peace and quiet without me!" she teased. "I'll see you when I get back," she smiled warmly, before wishing him an early happy birthday and exiting the shop with Vetty.

* * *

Just under three hours later, Gabriel finally pulled up in the front driveway. As Elissa stepped out of his silver Audi saloon car, she found her family were already waiting excitedly for her, huddled together at the front door.

"There she is!" Castiel pointed.

"Lissy!" Her mother waved, smiling widely. "Welcome home, baby!"

"I'll get your bags," Gabriel ushered her toward the door. "Go on in."

Elissa beamed, looking up at the familiar, double-front, detached house she'd grown up in, nestled in the leafy suburbs of her home-town. Composed of three floors and a total of six bedrooms as a result of various extension work steadily carried out over the course of many years, it was clean, homely, spacious and filled her with an immediate sense of comfort. She eagerly rushed forward, up the seven steps of the large, open porch that was tastefully decked with pretty holiday decorations and into the circle of her family's arms, embracing each of them joyfully, thrilled to be amongst them once again.

"Lissy, love!" Her grandfather kissed her cheek affectionately as he hugged her close. "It's so good to see you!"

"I missed you so much, Grandpa," Elissa smiled against his shoulder.

Castiel bent down and lifted Vetty into his arms. "Hey, sweet," he grinned as she nuzzled his shoulder, purring in approval. "You brought your cat."

"She's all yours," Elissa raised an eyebrow at Vetty. "If you can get her to behave."

"No sweat," Castiel bundled Vetty indoors. "Hey, you hungry kitty cat?"

"I didn't know Lissy had a pet," Grandpa Ernie commented, surprise evident in his tone.

"This is Vetty, Grandpa," Castiel introduced. "Lissy's had her for a few months. She was a stray she took in."

"Oh, yes. She's always liked taking care of others." Grandpa Ernie mused fondly.

"Come on in, love." Mr. Caelum said. "We're just about to have lunch."

"I made you your favourite," her mother winked.

"Thanks Mum," Elissa smiled, as Gabriel passed them carrying her luggage.

"Here son, let me help you with that," Mr. Caelum took one of the bags from him.

The sound of a cawing bird gave Elissa pause just before she followed inside after them. Her eyes lifted, to find a lone crow had landed on the pediment roof of the porch. It tilted its head, looking right at her.

Elissa smiled up at it knowingly, before stepping inside the house.

The days passed serenely, at a much slower and more pleasantly relaxed pace amongst her loved ones. In their company, Elissa found that she could almost forget about every troubling thing that had plagued her over the course of the previous six months as she settled back into a familiar and comforting routine of normality. It was a fragile illusion, she knew; anytime she glimpsed a crow outside the window, or let her eyes fall onto Vetty, she was reminded of just how abnormal her life circumstances truly were.

Still, she revelled in the warmth of their presence and enjoyed the welcome distraction. She helped her mother prepare pies and other treats in preparation for Christmas Day, when aunts, uncles and cousins would be joining them for dinner. She helped clean the house with her brothers, and placed final decorations up in the rooms. Decorations that Vetty seemed to delight in ruining, frustrating Elissa to no end. She would only relent when Cas happened to scoop her up and take her away, as if just to spite her human familiar by choosing to listen to her younger brother, rather than Elissa herself.

Elissa caught up with her Grandfather, wrote her Christmas cards, and placed the gifts she had wrapped for her family beneath the tree. She called old local friends she'd gone to college and university with, catching up with them after a long time.

Being in her old room again filled her with nostalgia. It was decently sized and just as she recalled leaving it when she'd moved out. She smiled at the box of cute stuffed bears she'd left behind that she'd never had the heart to throw out from childhood, and looked through other boxes of old packed belongings that her mother had placed tidily away for her on top of her oak wooden closet. The soft plum and gold bed-spread, cushions and matching curtains filled her with a sense of comfort.

As she stepped out onto the balcony that overlooked the spacious garden at the back of the house, her eyes fell over the neatly trimmed hedges and the bare winter trees. Her father and grandfather both enjoyed gardening, and their hard work certainly paid off, was lovingly evident in the well tended greenery below. Elissa admired the beautiful wooden pergola structure that was strung with twinkling fairy-lights, sheltering the large deck outside the glass conservatory.

Two pretty arbours were erected on two sides of the garden along with a small greenhouse she knew her father cultivated to grow home produce. The garden curved around the back of the house, its pebble pathway leading past a small stone pond, ending at a cluster of fruit trees and shrubs that concealed a high brick wall.

She'd called Slayte and Levi only twice, determined to give them their much-needed space and privacy, but had kept in regular contact through messaging and sent them photos of the decorations she'd put up and the food she'd helped to prepare. She knew Slayte would feel so much more at ease just hearing that she was fine on a daily basis.

Being as occupied as she was, Elissa found that she hadn't had much opportunity to think of Itachi throughout the day. He had not visited her since their trip to the temple in Greece, and it was only at night, as she lay in bed with her new laptop and tried to work on her story, that she allowed herself to contemplate him, to wonder where he was, whether he was well, when she would see him again. A week had passed since she'd left Canterbury, and there had still been no sign of him. Perhaps Slayte had informed him that she was out of town? It was probably for the best that he didn't show up at her parents' home. Merely thinking about it filled her with anxiety.

Levi and her mother's advice, along with Slayte's, still rebounded in her mind. Although she'd given it a lot of thought, she still wasn't sure what she would do or say when she did encounter him again.

Her gaze fell on the crow she could glimpse perched in the closest tree in the garden below. Seeing his familiars always made her feel like he was nearby - even when he wasn't in body. But she knew she had no way of knowing whether it was his summon - or just an ordinary local bird from her distance from it.

She stepped away from the balcony and exited her room, passing the one that had once belonged to her sister. Elissa felt a tightness in her chest as she paused before it. In just over two weeks, it would be the anniversary of Evangeline's death. Time hadn't made the loss any easier - merely dulled the grief into the background. Swallowing thickly, she pushed the door open, and immediately felt tears well in her eyes as her gaze fell upon the room. Her parents had eventually packed all Evangeline's things away in the attic, but the tidy room remained hauntingly vacant.

 _I miss you,_ thought Elissa sadly. _Every single day._

She was at peace. Hadn't Itachi told her so? Regardless, Elissa was unable to stay inside too long and closed the door quietly, making her way downstairs. She entered the garage, a section of which had been converted into a home gym, another into a painting area and a third section into her mother's jewelry-making work-station. Elissa found her bent over a piece she was completing.

"Hi, sweetie," her mother looked up from her desk, smiling. An array of stones were scattered on the worktop, as well as other decorative items, specialised tools and cutting machinery.

"Who's that for?" Elissa questioned curiously, joining her on the bench.

"Your cousin Lillian. She's wanted an emerald bracelet for a while, so I thought I'd indulge her."

"It's beautiful," Elissa admired the delicately wrought gold-plated item.

"I hope she likes it," her mother said.

Elissa rummaged through her resource boxes, neatly stacked into different metals, stones, sequins, beads, feathers and other adornments. Her gaze caught on a pair of black feathers, and the idea that had begun forming in her mind during the course of their last telephone call returned to her.

"Mum?" she questioned. "Could you help me make something?"

"Sure, honey," her mother answered, picking up a pair of tweezers as she carefully placed another precious stone in place. "I only have one more piece to polish after this. I can fit in something else in the next two days before Christmas. What do you have in mind?"

Elissa stared thoughtfully at the resource box. "Something… special," she said. "For someone special."

Her mother lifted her head again, intrigued. "I'm all ears," she smiled.

Christmas Day arrived and the house was abuzz with endless, cheerful chatter, playful banter and merry laughter. Elissa was surrounded by beloved aunts, uncles and cousins. They shared good food, hilarious stories, watched movies, exchanged gifts and played various board games.

Elissa spent most of the evening assisting her mother in playing hostess and ensuring everyone was catered for, while desperately trying to stop Vetty from knocking items over, snatching tinsel and baubles off the tree and scratching up pillows. Her cat seemed to delight in making mischief all over again, the kind of untamed mess she'd frequently caused when Elissa had first adopted her. Perhaps it was simply too much excitement for her to be surrounded by so many people, but at one point, Elissa had to drag the unruly feline into the kitchen to hiss at her furiously.

As the lively sound of her family singing a carol together drifted in from the living room, Elissa admonished in a harsh whisper, "Vetty! Will you please just behave for one evening?! Everyone's asking me why I took you in. Only Cas likes you! Stop it, what's gotten into you?!"

When the cat stared up at her in stubborn, unrepentant silence, Elissa mumbled, "I ask myself why every day, too. You're being a nightmare. Stop stressing me out. The cushions are hand-decorated by my mother and you're upsetting her by ruining her hard work. She'll throw you out at this rate!"

She stressfully pushed a lock of softly curled hair away from her face. The silky, styled, bouncy tresses had come loose from their golden pins during the course of the evening and bothered her to no end. She'd run back upstairs looking for something to fix the half-updo with. Her eyes had fallen on the flower Itachi had given to her - a flower she'd decided to take with her once she'd discovered, to her delight, that it did not wilt or change as natural flowers did - and in a moment of spontaneity, had laced it into her hair, pinning its stem carefully in place before rejoining her family.

"If you don't stop shredding the cushions, I won't let Cas pet you anymore," Elissa threatened.

She had the distinct satisfaction of hearing Vetty emit a low growl as demonic cat and human familiar stared each other defiantly down.

"Who're you talking to, Lissy?" A familiar voice asked curiously.

Elissa tensed and turned to find her fair-haired, green-eyed cousin Lillian, who was a year younger than her, grinning widely at her. She was a pretty girl with shoulder-length, straight, dark blond hair and was dressed in a formal, spaghetti-strapped, sequined gold cocktail dress with a beige cardigan thrown on top. Its sparkling glitz was a stark contrast in colour to the full-sleeved, deep burgundy velvet dress Elissa had opted for that fit snugly against her figure and grazed above her knees in length, paired with opaque black tights.

"Vetty." Elissa sighed deeply. "She won't behave. I've had to chase her all evening."

Lillian laughed. "Don't stress it," she shook her head. "Loki's exactly the same. Scratches all the furniture up and tries to wreck our tree. I feel like naming him that possibly made him worse, though. Your cat's just being a cat." She glanced down at Vetty. "She does look unique though. What breed is she, again?"

 _An Underworld breed_ , Elissa thought to herself wryly.

"I don't know, Lil. She's probably a cross between a cat and something satanic," she remarked gratingly, shooting Vetty another warning glare.

Vetty meowed indignantly, and Elissa hoped she had taken offense. She deserved it for her terrible behaviour.

Lillian giggled in amusement as she moved toward the fridge. "Feeling the love. Come on. Your mum asked for more drinks. We're playing Charades next!"

* * *

  
It was nearly midnight when Elissa pushed open the glass, french doors leading out into the garden. The buzzing in her head was a vague reminder that she had perhaps overindulged on the punch that evening, and she was glad to leave the steady hum of conversation behind her - punctuated by the tinkling of glasses and spontaneous bursts of laughter - as she stepped out into the cool, night air.

She wrapped the soft, black wool shawl she had thankfully thought to take with her more closely around her shoulders as she stepped into a pair of slippers and descended the few steps down the porch until she reached the pebbled pathway leading through the flowers planted throughout the garden in artful arrangement. Although the rosebushes were bare, stark red winterberries contrasted the winter landscape and flowering, pink hellebores and pieris dotted the surrounding area. The multitude of little, white bells hanging from thin vines reminded Elissa of the fat, purple bellflowers she had seen in the grecian fields. A small smile played on the corners of her lips as she skipped down the path towards a bench placed near the garden pond.

The small body of water was frozen over, and piles of snow dotted the grass surrounding the little pond, lined by stones of varying sizes. Elissa knew that goldfish were sleeping somewhere beneath the surface. Koi of varying colors that would glitter beautifully in the sunshine when the weather turned in the springtime.

She sighed to herself, the cold air stung her cheeks but was not intolerable. If anything, it was helping to clear her head after the long evening spent eating, drinking, socializing and making merry. It felt so good to be among her family again, but she had forgotten how overwhelming it could feel to be surrounded by so many people. Living alone seemed to have gotten to her.

With a small, secretive smile she withdrew her hand from her shawl to take another look at the small object she had smuggled outdoors. A matching pair of golden earrings fashioned into a diamond shape, embedded with matching cut, dark, onyx stones tinged with veins of gold, beneath which hung single, golden metallic feathers resting loosely against a larger, soft black feather. She admired the pieces of jewelry her mother had helped her make - they were utterly beautiful, to her eyes. But were they worthy of Itachi? Her smile faded. No, she doubted anything was.

Her mother had informed her that according to some ancient traditions, black onyx was a gemstone that offered protection from evil and symbolised wisdom while healing one's griefs and sorrows. Elissa thought those qualities perfect, given her own protector was the sage God of Death - and had chosen to ignore her mother's teasing that the stone also held romantic connotations. There was no way Itachi would perceive the innocence of the gift as such. At least, that was not how she intended it; Elissa simply wished to give him something to express her gratitude. After all, he had saved her life multiple times and gifted her the stunning flower she wore in her hair.

Regardless of how he would interpret it, she wanted to give the custom-made gift to him anyway. Was that the punch making her bolder than usual? Or was it that she hadn't seen him in so long she was forgetting how intimidating he could be?

A crow fluttered down to rest by her feet, and three others followed. Elissa straightened and observed the beautiful, black creatures. Crows often idled in these gardens and she had taken to watching them with fascination as a child. Which of these was Itachi's crow, and which ones were simply wild crows of the area?

One of the crows angled its head to the side, meeting her gaze with its own beady, black eyes and she smiled, thinking she had found his messenger.

"Hey there," she whispered softly, leaning forward. "I have something for your master. Do you think you could deliver it for me?"

The crow hopped closer to her, and Elissa delighted in the positive response. She reached out to stroke its head gently, and the bird closed its eyes and leaned into her touch.

"Would it not be preferable to deliver your message yourself?"

The familiar, smooth voice had her whirling around in shock, causing the crows to caw in alarm and abandon the garden in a flurry of flapping wings - all but one. The crow she had just been speaking to took to the air and alighted smoothly on Itachi's shoulder as he stepped out of the shadows.

"Itachi," the name escaped her parted lips on a breathless exhale, an involuntary prayer. Awed and humbled worship. Then again, her reeling mind unhelpfully reminded her, hadn't she been worshipping him long before she knew he was a god?

How Slayte managed to defy and argue with him was a mystery, when she felt her tongue rest thick and useless in her mouth every time her eyes drank in his tall, elegant stature. The raven locks of hair, swaying in the light of the garden lamps like strands of a moonless night. The angular, regal planes of his face. The glittering jewels at his ear and on his fingers. The absolute refinement that lined every inch of him, a curious paradox to the humble way he carried himself, and above all else, the torturous way his intense, dark gaze seemed to burn right through her, setting her heart on fire. Was it because she was a mortal that he had this effect on her? Or was it because she was that far gone?

Deep down, a part of her knew - had perhaps always known - that her feelings towards Itachi were anything but platonic. The way her thoughts would wander to him, even before she had known anything about his true identity along with the way her logical reasoning seemed to abandon her in his presence was proof enough, even without the feverish way her body betrayed her when he drew close. She had liked him, wanted him, craved nearness to him since long before she had ever been willing to even entertain the idea of what those feelings meant. She was not master of her senses when he was near, and she didn't want to think about who _was._ Whose very arrival had wiped every thought clear from her mind - a familiar if not unsettling sensation.

She forced herself to her feet, stunned. She must be dreaming. Was Itachi truly standing there, in her parents' garden, while her family celebrated Christmas one pair of glass doors away? She hastened up the garden path, her feet flying over the stone walkway until she had closed the distance between them.

When she drew up towards him, close enough to reach out and touch him, she breathed a laugh of surprise. "You really are here."

He nodded in agreement, his eyes searching hers. She felt warmer than she ought to. She had left the shawl behind on the bench, but felt no need for it. The alcohol was buzzing mildly, pleasantly in her veins, giving her courage and her cheeks were tinged red with warmth.

"Are you well, Angelissa?" Itachi asked carefully.

"Mmm," she hummed contentedly, still not sure she wasn't dreaming.

Itachi reached out for her hand and Elissa, grinning bashfully, brought her palm to his, intertwining their fingers as had somehow become their custom.

"You are intoxicated," was the quiet verdict.

"I'm not drunk," Elissa rolled her eyes with a short laugh. "You would know, you've seen me drunk."

A flicker of emotion passed through his eyes, something resembling regret and his voice was restrained and steady as he spoke, "Indeed."

He turned her hand over, and his thumb brushed over the inside of her wrist, sending a shiver up her arm from the point of contact. He repeated the casual, subconscious motion in a steady rhythm and Elissa felt she could have melted into a puddle at his touch. A forlorn smile graced her lips as all the advice Levi and her mother had given her came back to her distantly, through the pleasant, muted haze of a little intoxication.

If only Itachi wasn't a god. If only he was just the boy next door, as Levi had suggested. How easy things would have been. She would have taken his hand and dragged him inside, introduced him to everyone. If only.

A small, bitter laugh danced on her lips as she lifted her chin to meet his eyes, wondering what he saw when he looked into her own. There was no way she could have known how spellbound he was by the way the moonlight reflected in what had to be thousands of shards of emerald, jade, and amber hidden in her irises. A kaleidoscope of dazzling light and life that stole the breath from his lungs. She couldn't possibly have known that that little, breathy laugh did things to him, much the same way his low murmurs did to her. She couldn't have guessed that if she were to turn his hand around, she would find his pulse racing in his wrist, as well.

"Would you take me for a coffee date, Itachi?" she asked with a laugh, knowing full well the idea was ridiculous. She meant the question only as a joke, she told herself. There was no secret longing hidden within it. Surely not.

The deity, who could not truly assign an apt definition to the word "coffee" nor the word "date", knew nonetheless what his answer would be. "If that is what you desire, Angelissa." He lifted a hand to tuck a stray ringlet of curled, chestnut hair behind her ear. She was certain he could feel the warmth radiating from her blushing face. She stared at him, awed beyond speech.

The pleasant haze faded, to be replaced with uncomfortable clarity. "You would?" she echoed, disbelief in her strained voice.

"You have but to wish it."

She knew what she wanted to say, but suddenly lacked the courage to bring the words to her lips. The buzz had faded; she was startlingly sober. Suddenly, she grew conscious of the hand curled loosely around her wrist. She realized then, with a sinking feeling, what he had done. Elissa looked down at his elegant, ringed fingers and frowned. What had she been thinking? The boy next door? Itachi commanded over her body and soul with the merest of touches - not just because she was so enamored with him, but because he was a god who could override her most basic instincts with little more than a look. With a brief brush of his skin over hers and the faintest of conscious intentions, he could force her body into a state of calmness, or a state of agony - or a state of sobriety.

"This is what I don't like about you," she murmured half to herself sadly, lifting her left hand to close around his. He looked on, taken aback by the blunt dismissal. She drew his hand away from her wrist, and refused to look at him. "You never ask."

It always seemed to be the way with him, that he made decisions for her, interfered in her life without so much as speaking a word to her. Perhaps it didn't even truly register in his mind, that such an interference robbed her of her autonomy. Perhaps he believed he was entitled to make such assessments for her by virtue of his great wisdom - but it terrified her. It reminded her of how coldly he had turned his back on her, believing that to be for the best, and how helpless she had been to change his mind. How he could do so again, at any moment, without any warning. It brought into sharp relief how little sway she held over him, how he was the one with all the power, where she had none.

Itachi played no games. He was straightforward and honest when there was no need to be otherwise. "I wished only to ensure that whatever words leave your lips this eve, are not regretted on the morrow." The indirect confirmation that she had judged his actions correctly, that he had used his powers to force the intoxication from her bloodstream, made her clench her teeth.

At this, Elissa did lift her defiant, hazel-eyed gaze. "I'm perfectly capable of making sure of that myself. I know how much I drank. I know what I'm doing and saying. Maybe I needed that!" She squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head to the side, appalled at the fact that she had raised her voice and embarrassed by what she had just confessed. That she had been relying on the liquid courage of the alcohol to face him, to speak with him.

When she felt the cold sting of gold rings, accompanied by the warmth of his fingers, the smoothness of his palm sliding along her cheek, his fingers finding purchase in her hair, but not closing, not pulling, not even bringing her face up to meet his gaze until she did so of her own volition, her brows furrowed as a maelstrom of confusing and conflicting emotions warred within her chest.

"Forgive me," Itachi whispered. "My actions were selfish. I feared to hear words from your lips," he paused, and his thumb brushed over the swell of her full lower lip. "That you would take back in the morn. Words I would be loath to part from."

"I wouldn't do that," she breathed, her heartbeat a riotous cacophony in her chest, as close as he was. "I was only going to answer your question."

She turned away, pulling her face from his touch, as she wrung her hands together, seeking to compose herself. It was easier if she didn't look at him - and yet that did nothing to calm the way her heart was hammering so fitfully within her chest.

She had but to wish it, he had said. He desired for her to receive her heart's desire. His intentions had been clear. Every one of his words and actions pointed in the same direction, one she had been stubbornly refusing to look at in light of the staggering revelation of who and what he truly was. A revelation which cast into sharp relief everything that she was not. If she had felt unworthy before, by virtue of his wisdom, beauty, and wonderful character - then learning the true nature of his existence had only intensified that feeling exponentially. She hardly had felt she had a right to be speaking to him, looking at him, existing in his presence.

But he had been gentle towards her, and kind. He had sought to bridge the gap at every opportunity, through his soft-spoken words and lingering touches. He had allowed her to dare dream of what she had been certain was impossible. Or everything her mind insisted was surely forbidden, but who made the rules, if not the gods themselves? And here he was, the god of death, with a look in his eyes that offered her a place by his side…. No, it was a look that implied she already had a place beside him and needed only to take it.

Could she abandon all reason, all rational thought, to see where her feelings would lead her? Where had being reasonable and guarded led her besides to more misery and more subdued resignation to life's injustices? If her feelings would lead her, instead, into Itachi's arms - to be held by him, possibly, and if not loved, then, to receive _some_ form of affection from him… who could fault her?

The Elissa from two years ago would have been appalled, would have taken her by the ear and talked sense into her. But the Elissa from two years ago did not know Itachi, did not know the serenity his simple words could bring to her tortured soul, nor the desire he could set alight in her veins with the merest of glances. The Elissa of two years ago did not know what it meant to want someone so badly, she feared physically breaking apart without him. The Elissa of two years ago did not know what it meant to stand on the edge of a precipice, looking down into the darkness, sweet whispers of "jump" echoing in her ears. But the Elissa of today knew all of those things. The Elissa of today wanted to know what would follow if she left solid ground behind and flung herself into the waiting shadows.

"You said... that you wish for me to receive everything I desire." She began. Taking a deep, unsteady breath, she forced herself to continue, "But what if the thing I ask for... is impossible?"

There was a long pause, in which she could feel his gaze burning into her back. Its intensity was such that she didn't need to face him, to know that he was looking at her attentively. The full, near-overbearing weight of his attention fixed onto her assured her of that fact.

"The word is but a mere constraint upon the mind." Itachi answered quietly, his gaze lingering on the familiar flower pinned to the soft waves of her long hair.

"No," she shook her head. "It's not that. It _is_ impossible. I know it."

Another smothering, lengthy pause ensued.

"You need but speak it, Angelissa," he murmured. "And it shall be."

Her heart raced, and she could barely suppress the shudder that shot down her spine. His voice was closer now. Right behind her. She could feel the warmth radiating from his tall form. The electrifying proximity of his presence. Her entire body was trembling, the word she sought deployed on the tip of her tongue.

A word that would change everything. A word that she could never take back.

It dropped like a pin in the tense, suspended silence that hovered between them.

"You." She whispered.

A heavy silence met her ears. She then felt his chest brush against her back, felt his form tower over her, his warm fingers brushed over her hand, bringing it up as he leaned forward over her shoulder. She would not be surprised if she fainted, so close was he, so dizzying was his effect on her.

"I cannot grant," he began, his voice low and his warm breath brushing over the exposed skin of her neck like an angel's kiss. A sinking sensation of dread settled over her at his refusal, and she fiercely regretted every word she had spoken as he lifted her fingers to his mouth and pressed a chaste kiss to her fingertips. "What is already yours."

Her mind stuttered to a stunned stop and now she was certain she would faint. Itachi was doing nothing to calm the wild pounding of her heart and she realized too late why. She had asked him not to. She blinked, to clear her mind, and stepped backward, disoriented, surprised to then find herself leaning against him, staggered by the words he had uttered.

She lifted her gaze and saw him looking down on her through hooded, onyx eyes and for a brief moment it was as if time stood still. As if they had always been this way, him holding her hand to his lips, her leaning against his chest and lost in his dark gaze, black as night, deep as the mysteries of the universe. She could spend a lifetime drinking in those eyes and still come up thirsty.

"On my terms," she added, feeling adrift and through the panic of losing herself, suddenly braver than she felt. Levi's warning rang clear in her ears.

"Angelissa," Itachi answered, and there was something of a reproach in his voice. "That has always been the case."

"Lissy?" The gentle baritone calling her name had Elissa pulling herself forward, her heart galloping in her chest and panic constricting her throat as she frantically wondered how she would explain away Itachi's presence, straightening in the hope that Gabe would not have seen the rather scandalous way she had been leaning into him.

When Gabe stepped through the double doors, he squinted in the darkness to find his sister standing by a bush of winterberries. "What're you doing out here?"

It took Elissa a few moments to settle her nerves and realize that Itachi was invisible to Gabe's mortal eyes. She cleared her throat. "I was just out for a walk, clearing my head."

Gabe glanced at his watch before turning back to her. "Aunt May was asking for you. She's leaving in an hour."

"I'll be right in," Elissa nodded, feeling acutely aware of Itachi's warmth just behind her, of the way he dwarfed her where she stood, of his touch on her wrist - invisible to her brother's eyes.

Gabe turned back to the door and hesitated, "No rush. Take your time. Let me know if you need anything."

"Thanks, Gabe." She released a quiet breath of relief as she watched him disappear back around the hedges, joining the rest of her family inside the house again.

A moment's silence followed, interrupted only by the cool night breeze and the crows cawing in the distance before Itachi spoke. "Your brother is fond of you."

Elissa sighed and dropped her gaze to the blades of grass at her slippered feet.

"All he does is tease me," she mumbled.

" _And pray for your wellbeing,"_ Itachi thought to himself, but he did not speak the words aloud. Some siblings preferred to conceal their affection for one another through teasing and halfhearted quarrelling. That, he could understand.

"I have something for you," Elissa announced awkwardly, hoping to clear the thick tension in the air as she reached into her dress pocket. She lifted the pair of earrings in the palm of her hand, revealing them to his gaze. She was suddenly struck by how silly it must seem to him, for her to be offering him these earrings when he surely had talented craftsmen in his world, honing masterpieces out of the finest metals, set with precious stones one could likely not find anywhere else on earth.

"It's Christmas," she explained nervously. "Exchanging gifts is an old tradition on this holiday. I thought of you and asked my mother for help in making these." She swallowed. "For you," she added with a blush, in case that hadn't been clear.

What if he didn't like them? What if he accepted them out of politeness only to discard them the minute he was out of her sight? He wouldn't do that, would he?

She lifted her face with difficulty meeting his onyx eyes, surprised to see what she thought was affection and perhaps even gratitude dancing in their depths.

"I thank you," he answered quietly, a soft smile on his lips. Itachi leaned forward, hovering over her, his cheek merely a breath away. Elissa bit her lip, thinking for one cruel, fantastic moment that he was going to kiss her, when she suddenly realized what he was asking of her. She fumbled with the clasp of the earring before reaching with trembling fingers for his earlobe.

For all the fear and awe she knew she should feel, all the danger that danced somewhere in her subconscious, she felt so at ease with him. There had never been anyone in her life she had felt similarly comfortable with. She felt so right at his side. His voice in her ear, his gentle fingers brushing over her body, his eyes on hers. She had never felt such a sense of belonging. And to feel it with _him,_ of all people, defied all reason. It was insanity. The sweetest insanity she had ever known. Would it be so bad to abandon logic and soundness of mind, if she received him in return?

' _Be realistic, idiot'_ she admonished herself. ' _He will never be yours.'_

' _But,'_ an unhelpful, hopeful voice reminded her, ' _Didn't he say he already is?'_

The intrusive thought sent a rush of blood to her face, disrupting her careful concentration, and she was dismayed to find her fingers had missed the piercing entirely and nearly stabbed through his earlobe.

She gasped in dismay. "I'm so sorry!"

Itachi's gentle fingers closed around hers before she could draw back in a panic. "It is of no consequence," he reassured her. "Continue."

Swallowing thickly, she nodded, and determined not to hurt him again. When she had finally, nervously inserted the earring into his ear, she should not have been surprised when he turned his face to have her do the other as well.

Biting her lip in concentration, she focused on the task at hand, smoothly drawing out the existing earring, glimmering topaz stones in a bed of engraved, runic, gold-inlaid silver, and replacing it with the one she had crafted over the past three days with her mother. Singlemindedly concentrated on his ear as she was, she didn't notice her own soft breaths brushing against his neck, or the way the little puffs of air made him go deathly still.

Her fingers still lingering at his ear, she took a brief second to admire the result, the beautiful onyx stone and the jet-black feather contrasting against his skin. Suddenly overcome by impulse, she leaned forward and pressed a fleeting kiss to his exposed cheek. His skin was smooth, soft, and warm. She was a fool. She wanted more.

He turned his head to look at her in undisguised surprise and for once, seemed to be entirely speechless. The affectionate gesture, the soft touch of her lips - were a novelty to him. Unbelievable. Unreal. Yet, the nervous way she rubbed her arm and laughed awkwardly, dismissively, was proof enough. She had consciously chosen to kiss him. He could not dismiss the action to the influence of the alcohol he had purged from her bloodstream. She had chosen to act on the affection she ordinarily kept under lock and key. He understood, then, why she had been displeased to be forced into sobriety. The alcohol had not been muddling her decision-making, but helping her carry out what she had set her mind to. He had once again not given her enough credit. Had underestimated her.

A low, dangerous hum swept through him and he carefully kept his hands from her, for fear of what they might do unchecked.

"Sorry," she blurted bashfully. "I don't know what came over me."

Blushing, she handed his old earrings back to him. Itachi looked at the precious stones, mined from the caves between the Underworld and Olympus. A parting gift from an old acquaintance by the name of Kakashi. "They are yours," he closed her fingers around the earrings. "An exchange gift. It is I, who must apologize for failing to mirror your thoughtfulness."

"A gift?" Elissa considered the earrings. They were the prettiest, and surely most expensive, earrings she had ever held in her hands. She had toyed and played with all manner of jewelry in her mother's workshop growing up, but these earrings left all of that behind by far.

"If you would give me a gift," she bargained, her nimble mind turning the idea over. "Then can I ask you for one I would like better?" It was a gamble, she knew. Testing how much influence she had. Straining the limitations of his claim that she only needed to ask and would receive.

The corner of Itachi's lips turned in a small smile, and she wondered if it pleased him to be receiving a request from her as he nodded.

Elissa's hazel eyes glimmered in determination. "Be kind to Slayte. Please." She took a deep breath and continued before he could answer, "She's my best friend. I love her with all my heart. If I mean anything to you, then please. Be good to her. That would be the greatest gift to me." The imploring tone of her voice and the nature of her request dispelled the smile that had made its brief appearance.

Silently, he uncurled her fingers and removed one topaz earring, still warm from his own ears. Sliding her stainless steel earrings out of her ears, he languidly set about wordlessly replacing them. Elissa felt tears sting in her eyes. So, this was how it would be. This is what it would mean to answer to his flirtations. Gifts, pleasantries, scandalous touches… but nothing of meaning, nothing of substance. The wishes closest to her heart would be wordlessly swept aside. Just as he was doing now.

"I don't want the earrings," she argued quietly, not lifting her face for fear he would see the tears pooling in her eyes.

Itachi seemed to ignore her statement, moving towards the other ear to continue returning the favor. When at length, he spoke, Elissa held her breath. "My kindness does not resemble yours. You would not recognize it, Angelissa."

She lifted her gaze to his, then, a sheen of tears shimmering in her hazel eyes. The earrings replaced, Itachi watched them glitter in the moonlight, feeling an unexpected, possessive sense of satisfaction at seeing his own earrings in her ears. He cupped her face, and stroked her cheekbone with the soft pad of his thumb. "I assure you, I mean her no harm. This, you must believe, even if it appears otherwise. I could never mean harm to one who is dear to you."

Elissa swallowed and nodded, relieved. He had heard her request. He had granted it - in his own way. She wasn't arrogant enough to assume she knew everything about their world. If Itachi had Slayte's best interests at heart and was asking her to trust that his actions came from a place of kindness, that was enough - it would have to be.

Leaning in closer, he murmured, "I did not intend to imply that you could wish only one thing of me. And yet, it appears I imparted such a misunderstanding." Her breath caught in her throat as her face burned with a fierce blush against the hand cupping her cheek. "Honor me with your wishes, Angelissa. Every one. Allow me to collect them from your lips." The way his burning, dark gaze lingered on her mouth as he spoke, set her stomach fluttering in an awful way.

Breathless and dizzy, Elissa suddenly wasn't sure she was as sober as she had thought. She found words falling from her lips unbidden, the syllables brushing against his own solemn lips, so close to her own. "One more," she exhaled in a whisper, her hesitant hazel eyes capturing his own onyx as surely as the compelling light of a lamp beckoned to a moth. "Give me one more gift."

Itachi felt her heart racing in her chest, the warmth rushing through her body. As attuned to her soul as he was, he felt every way that her body betrayed the effect he had on her and so, it took him a few seconds to realize that it was his own heart pounding so violently in his chest. This was no illusion. The haunting ghost of the memory of a phantom Angelissa gazing imploringly up at him in the Valley of Desire briefly crossed his mind. What he had always firmly believed to be impossible - to be categorically far beyond his reach, something that could never be his - now stood right before him, ready for the taking. He needed only to close the small, remaining distance between them to claim it. His own pulse scrambling with anticipation, he leaned in closer towards her, his dark, intense gaze fixed on her wide, adoring eyes until their lips were less than a breath apart.

"Stop me."

There was something commanding in his voice that surprised her. Something that seemed to imply he was overstepping or otherwise taking advantage of her. Something that indicated he was incapable of stopping himself even though he had done just that, his lips hovering over hers, waiting for her response.

She reached with trembling fingers for his mask - the ever-present, infuriating barrier between them that she was finding less tolerable each time she saw it. Eager to reveal his face to her seeking eyes, his true emotions to her despairing heart. She let it fall from her fingers, only for it to disintegrate before it hit the ground. The open affection and the simmering desire in the depths of those jet-black eyes set her heart galloping in her chest, pounding furiously against her ribcage as if eager to be freed from the chaos that that intense gaze set alight in her body.

"I don't want to," she confessed in a hushed whisper, and before she could begin to justify her refusal, his lips were on hers, soft, gentle, claiming. His mouth on hers felt possessive, right, as if it belonged there, but also restrained, as if an ocean of desire was being held at bay. Her knees felt weak, and the moment she was sure they would give out on her, his left hand wrapped around the small of her back, holding her upright.

The kiss began sweetly, chastely, tentatively, and was absolute torture. The touch of his lips was like an ignition, an initiation, bringing Elissa's body to life, waking her from the slumbering inertia that she had been simply existing in. It was a liberation. The sweetest intoxication. It sent her spiralling. Soaring. She stood on tiptoe, draping her arms around his neck for fear he would pull away, for fear he would continue treating her like the fragile flower he always seemed to regard her as, one he could break with a thoughtless touch of his fingers. How she wished, sometimes, he would abandon that restraint. It couldn't be so bad, could it? Breaking under his touch?

She pulled him in closer and parted her lips on instinct, seeking entrance and giving it in turn. Inexperienced, awkward, and ravenous - she deepened the kiss as best as she knew how and she thought she would lose her mind when the faintest sound - something she dared not consider akin to a muffled moan left Itachi's throat and echoed into hers. A dangerous sound that openly betrayed that he had wanted this, craved it, just as much as she did.

She trembled against him, closing her eyes. She banished every wayward, logical thought that had been screaming warnings at her and went on kissing him as if the world would end the minute their lips parted. She wasn't so sure it wouldn't. She kissed him as if she feared she would never be able to convince him to kiss her again.

Itachi's fingers splayed on her back, journeying upwards, pressing her possessively against him, the fingers of his other hand digging into her hair and tipping her head backwards. He took control of the kiss, teasing and prompting, and taking and giving in equal measure. It was so unlike anything she had ever experienced, that the idea that this was not the first time her lips had met another's never even crossed her mind. This, Elissa knew, was the spark her heart had yearned to find. Perilous and thrilling and all-consuming. An electrifying connection that she could willingly lose herself in.

It was only when her legs, reduced to jelly, well and truly gave out on her that Itachi drew back, the steely arm wound around her supporting her against him. His eyes were cloudy with a desire that made Elissa's stomach flip painfully, causing her heart to jump wildly into her throat. Most worrying, perhaps, was how that desire so perfectly reflected her own.

"Itachi," she whispered thickly, emotion constricting her throat. "I- is this real?" she shook her head in bewilderment and wonder, afraid that she was somehow dreaming, even as she clung onto him. That she would awaken and be bereft of him once more. "Are we really doing this?"

She wanted to ask him how it could ever work. Whether he thought it was madness to act on their feelings, too, when the fever between them was so blistering. But the words were lodged in her throat, refusing to fall from her tongue. He seemed to understand them regardless, reading the unspoken, tormented question and worries in her eyes.

He stroked her cheek with gentle, ringed fingers and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. "Be at ease, Angelissa." It sounded like a wish. It sounded like a prayer. It boggled her mind, to hear his words of reassurance. That everything would be well, if she only trusted in him, clung to him, cast aside her doubts. If she only took his hand and followed him into the safety and seductive darkness of the shadows.

"I…" she began, but did not know what to say. Her heart still pounding riotously against her ribcage and her thoughts flitted out of reach like evasive butterflies. Burying her face in his chest, she squeezed her eyes briefly shut and confessed, "You're important to me. Very important." Her tongue grasped for words but her mind was painfully absent, knocked out entirely by Itachi's kiss. She remained in place for a moment, listening in fascination to the rhythm of his heartbeat, racing no less than her own.

Drawing back to look at him again, she went on earnestly, pressing her fingers lightly to his left cheek, "I don't ever want to go back to a life where I didn't know you. Where I couldn't see you. Where I couldn't touch you. I want to be with you, however I can."

"How fortunate for me," Itachi murmured, his onyx eyes piercing through her as he gripped the nape of her neck with those long fingers she so admired, sending delicious tingles through her skin. "That your desire mirrors my own."

He bent his head once more, and when his lips met hers again it was soft, gentle, and slow - the way the coming dawn crept in on the night unawares and like the night, she allowed herself to be swept away in awe of the sunrise.

With each passing second spent in his arms, Elissa grew more certain of what she wanted, more reaffirmed that she had made the right choice, more awed by the fact that he felt anything at all for her that even remotely mirrored her own feelings. His lips against hers were warm, his kiss as featherlight and tantalising as the caress of falling snowflakes. A dangerous sensation that made her head spin and had her shuddering in his embrace, an unbearable, searing heat consuming her from inside.

When Gabe came looking for her again, minutes later, Itachi drew back slowly. Elissa clung to his hand, not wanting to let go, or turn back into the house, ignoring the way her brother called her name.

"Until we meet again," Itachi whispered into her ear and, giving her hand an affectionate squeeze, disappeared before her eyes in a multitude of shadows that quickly melted out of her sight.

Her heart constricted painfully at his sudden disappearance and reality closed in with rude clarity. She realized with alarm she had completely ignored the brother calling out to her in favor of the deity who so consumed her heart and mind.

She offered her brother hasty apologies and reassurances as she reentered the house behind him, all the while asking herself how much more she would find herself willing to ignore and even relinquish for the sake of Itachi's affections if she continued down this path with him. He was good to her, she knew. He would not ask anything of her she was not willing to give. She trusted him.

It was her own heart she feared would prove a traitor.

* * *

**AN: BETTER LATE THAN NEVER, MY FRIENDS. I thank you for your patience, you guys are the best! <3**


	38. Part XXXVIS: The Gift... (cont.)

**Part: XXXVIS: The Gift… (cont.)**

* * *

The gentle, seeking fingertips feathering over his hipbones were foreign enough to rouse him from his slumber and yet, familiar enough that he didn't bother opening his eyes.

"Slayte."

Her name, voiced in a husky murmur, immediately found its way to his tongue, manifesting itself with subconscious urgency through the layers of sleep weighing his groggy mind down. Perhaps it ought to have alarmed him, that her name was the first thing to spill from his lips in a state where he scarcely knew his _own_ name, but the thought never even crossed his mind.

He reached out for her, and when his hands only brushed past empty sheets, he cracked a bleary eye open, wondering where she had disappeared to. The mystery unraveled, along with his senses, when he felt her soft lips and hot mouth between his legs - warm, wet, and positively sinful. A low groan escaped his throat as he pressed his eyes shut again.

Vulnerable in his sleep-addled state, he gave himself up to her without conscious thought. His hands moved by reflex, long fingers burying themselves in her silky, black hair - whether to guide her or pull her away or to regain some form of control over a situation where he could feel himself falling further apart by the second, he did not know.

Before he had sufficiently cleared the sleep from his mind, before he was even well and truly awake, she had tipped him over the edge of ecstasy, prompting her name from his lips in a low moan that was both complaint and praise.

She wasted not a drop of his release, leaving him feeling as clean as the day he was born, and both guilt and admiration flooded his still racing heart.

At length, she drew back, grinning up at him cheekily as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Her long, raven locks were bound in a loose ponytail; it was clear she had put some planning to this.

"I've always wanted to do that," she beamed, looking quite proud of herself. "Do you know how hard it is to wake up before you?"

He stared back at her, more awestruck than he could ever remember being, and without wasting time on words, grabbed hold of her shoulders and pulled her in towards himself, capturing her lips with his own.

He could feel her grin - almost smirking, even - against his mouth, but he allowed her her sense of victory as he pulled her back down to the cushions, wrapping a leg around both of hers and curling his arm around her waist until she was pressed flush against him.

"It's still early," he muttered, holding her head against his chest as he rested his chin on the crown of her head. "You should get some sleep."

Blocks of muted winter sunlight spilled in through the space between the curtains and Slayte blinked at the wall clock that was approaching seven in the morning. Her almost religiously early-riser wanted to sleep in for once? She congratulated herself on a job well done as she lifted her head to press a kiss to the underside of his jaw.

"Happy birthday," she murmured sincerely, nuzzling into his chest.

Levi's smoky grey eyes slid open as he blinked at the opposite wall.

Of course. His birthday. Hadn't he just had a birthday recently? It couldn't be that time of year again already? Ah, that was right. Elissa had gone home for the holidays, and Christmas meant it was, indeed, his birthday. Again.

He didn't care for the occasion, and he didn't like all the fuss but, as he glanced at the top of his girlfriend's head before closing his eyes once more, he reminded himself that he _did_ like being the center of her attention for this one day in the year. And if his birthday made her that happy, it couldn't be all that bad, right?

* * *

Slayte hesitated in front of her wardrobe, her fingertips lingering on the dress she had chosen. Although she didn't think highly of dresses in general, today was a special occasion and special occasions warranted special attire.

 _What could be more special than this?_ She thought to herself, withdrawing the little black dress from the closet. It had been a gift from Levi, one she had been flattered to receive. That had to mean he liked it, right? She still recalled the first time she had tried it on, upon receiving it, the way she had turned for him once and asked for his approval with a hesitant glance in his direction. The way he had gone very still, his silence unnerving her even as his eyes drank her in, before acknowledging that it looked "fine". The hungry look in his eyes utterly belied the casual dismissal and she had harbored a suspicion, a hope, that it was far more than "fine".

And yet, the day they had followed Elissa to the Paradis nightclub, hadn't he advised against her wearing that dress? Did he no longer like it? She bit her lip in contemplation before deciding that all the same, it had been a gift from him, and it seemed appropriate to wear something of his choosing on his birthday. She pulled the dress over her head and tugged the hem down over her hips, blinking in surprise when she found that the dress barely grazed the middle of her thighs. Had it always been that short?

Deciding it didn't matter, she wasn't going out anyways, she fashioned her hair into an elegant twist, keeping it off her shoulders and out of the way. She finished off the ensemble with a pair of crystal drop earrings – last year's Christmas gift from Elissa. Hoping she wasn't overdressed, she finished fastening the second earring as she made her way out of the room and down the stairs.

She was dismayed to find Levi in the kitchen, fixing breakfast. He stood at the counter in the apron Elissa had given him, a large bowl gripped in his hand and a package of eggs on the counter as he pulled spices from the cabinet overhead.

"No!" she protested, in place of a more appropriate greeting, as she hastened to take the whisk from his hands. "It's your birthday, you shouldn't be working!" She pushed him gently away from the counter as she pried the whisk from his fingers.

Levi relinquished the whisk absentmindedly, momentarily dazed by her appearance. It was that dress. _That_ dress. The one she rarely wore, if at all. Too short, too revealing, too feminine. She had listed its flaws with her eyes the minute she had looked it over. Even as she had turned to him with a smile and thanked him for it, he had read the truth behind her words. The confusion in her eyes, wondering why he would get her such a thing. She'd hated it. And that was alright. It wasn't like he needed or even wanted her to wear it. She could wear whatever she wanted. She looked good in everything. She looked good in nothing.

It was just that habit of his. When he was out on errands and saw something that reminded him of her, he felt a need to bring it home and show it to her. Usually, that meant he had to buy it first. And so, he had done precisely that, more often than not. A new coat, new winter boots, a bone-china teacup, notebooks, pens, hair clips, tea, bracelets, knick-knacks, books… over the course of six years, it was almost appalling how many things he had bought her without a second thought.

The dress had been one such item. He had seen it on display in a corner store on a mannequin set with a blond wig. Everything about that display had seemed off, as if the dress didn't belong there. Even the photo of the model wearing the dress set beside the mannequin seemed like a caricature. It was like finding someone else riding your stolen bike, a week after you reported it missing. He knew who belonged in that dress. He knew who it would look just right on. Who could wrap anyone she desired around her finger in that dress. It was a waste for that dress to be on anyone at all besides her. He was a neat-freak, as they said. He just wanted to put things where they belonged. That was all there was to it. And that dress belonged on Slayte.

As he watched her move around the kitchen in the slip of a thing, the black lace a sharp contrast to her pale, creamy thighs, the roll of her shoulders, visible through the off-shoulder sleeves as she whisked the batter she was throwing together. The modest sweetheart neckline that offered the faintest glimpse of cleavage. Likely too much for Slayte's comfort, not quite enough for Levi's.

And yet, she moved around the kitchen with an easy grace, comfortable in this outfit that she would have never chosen for herself, so long as he was the only one watching.

Levi was suddenly taken by an impulse to skip breakfast entirely, to haul her up the stairs and finish what she had started that morning - but that wasn't fair. Not after she had just spent the better half of the morning getting dressed up for him.

He swallowed. For him. The sheer reality of that fact still left him winded every time it hit him. All the little things she did, specifically for him. Hoping for – what, precisely? A reaction? A thank you? A smile? He rarely ever gave her any of those things, so it was a wonder she never stopped trying to please him. Just the way she did right now, casting him a shy glance, trying to read what he thought of her appearance, trying to ascertain his approval.

"How long was I supposed to wait for you to crawl out of bed?" he drawled, crossing his arms as he leaned against the counter.

That did the trick. It usually did. The shy blush was replaced with indignance, and she focused her attention back on the task at hand. "I didn't know you would be up so early!" she argued, ladling the batter into a crépe pan.

He watched with subdued disappointment. Sweets? For breakfast?

"You should have," he countered easily, unfolding his arms as he crossed over to her. He reached over her shoulder for the kettle. Filling it with water, he returned to the stove and allowed his free hand to graze over her hip, before settling briefly, lightly, on the small of her back as he set the kettle on the flame. His eyes met hers in passing, "You were the one who woke me." And then, the touch disappeared.

Slayte found herself breathing again.

"We having cavities for breakfast?" he questioned with a raised brow.

She turned to look at him, to judge how sincere the sarcasm was. "I thought we could have savory crépes." When he didn't immediately answer, she continued, "Mushrooms, spinach, cheese…?"

"You don't like mushrooms."

"They're alright, once in a while." She answered, turning away as she lifted the crépe out of the pan.

"You can make mine," Levi relented. "I'll make yours."

Slayte frowned as she ladled more batter into the pan. "But, Levi, it's your birthday -"

"So, stop arguing with me," he threw back, pulling ingredients out of the refrigerator. She bit her lip but fell silent.

Fifteen minutes later, they sat across from each other at the kitchen table. Slayte stared in awe at the meal before her. Beautiful crepes filled with hazelnut-chocolate spread, strawberries, and whipped cream - it looked like a meal fresh out of a magazine. In contrast, Levi's plate appeared a little deflated. She had put forth her best effort, had spent days picking out a good recipe, and practiced making it on the rare occasions he wasn't home, forcing down the mushrooms to make sure it was nothing short of delicious and yet… she just wasn't the talented cook that he was.

"Is it alright?" she asked hesitantly, watching the quiet way he chewed. Were the mushrooms as inedible as she found them to be? Or, did he like them, by some miracle?

"It's good," he monotoned unconvincingly. "Eat."

"It looks _too good_ to eat," she whispered honestly, turning back to her own plate and admiring the artistic peaks of whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles.

He cast her a look - an _are-you-out-of-your-mind_ look - that prompted a laugh from her and had Slayte lifting fork and knife to partake of the delicious meal.

"Thank you," she murmured with a smile, before taking her first bite. Slayte couldn't help but hum in happiness as the sweetness of the hazelnut-chocolate spread, the tanginess of the strawberries, and the creaminess of the whipped cream melted on her tongue. "It's so delicious," she gushed. "How are you so good at this?"

Levi watched her devour her breakfast happily. She was easy to read, always like an open book to him. He doubted the same held true in reverse. She second-guessed herself more often than not and relied on him to steer her in the right direction. Slayte depended on the truth of his words, often spoken without emphasis, without the expression or body language that would convince her of their sincerity. But she trusted him. Trusted that he meant what he said, even if the nonverbal signals did not always match. And that was enough, between the two of them.

They ate in companionable, peaceful silence enjoying the quiet day off and the snow falling in a gentle flurry outside the window.

"Have you ever built a snowman?" Slayte queried, watching the snow pile up.

"Waste of time," Levi dismissed casually, bringing another forkful to his mouth.

"So, that's a no?"

"Did you want to go build one? In that dress?" He deadpanned, gesturing with his fork.

"Maybe." She hesitated, dragging bright cinnamon-brown eyes back to the little miracle of crystalline snowflakes falling from the sky.

"It seems a waste to be inside when it looks so magical out there. This is the first time it's snowed on your birthday, isn't it?"

Levi watched the wonder in her eyes as she settled her chin on the palm of her hand, admiring the winter scene beyond the windowpane.

"We could go for a walk, if that's what you want," Levi suggested, stacking their plates.

"Would you?" Slayte's eyes lit up at the idea, and Levi turned away to wash their dishes.

"Sure."

* * *

That was how the two of them found themselves wrapped up in coat and shawl a quarter of an hour later, making their way through the snowfall. Her fingers intertwined through his. He tucked his hands in the pockets of his grey wool coat, keeping her warm. Invisible to the eyes of onlookers, his thumb stroked absentmindedly over the back of her hand and she was glad that the redness of her cheeks could be attributed to the sting of the frigid winter air. She concentrated on the steady movement, the tender touch, wondering if it was a subconscious action or if he was aware of the effect the gentle brush of his thumb was having on her.

The two of them walked along the Canterbury roads, Slayte admiring the Christmas decorations, and Levi humming noncommittally in response, or making sarcastic quips about the likely inordinate electric bills of the residents. On the way back, Slayte counted snowmen, commenting on differing shapes and sizes as she passed. By the time the two of them arrived back at the tea shop, snowflakes trapped in their raven locks and a healthy red glow in their cheeks, she frowned in disappointment at the pristine, untouched snow in front of the tea shop.

"We need a snowman," she complained.

"Look at you," Levi eyed her once over. "That coat and those boots are barely keeping you warm. You want to catch your death of pneumonia? Be my guest."

Slayte glanced down at her outfit. She hadn't bothered to change, but her navy-blue gold-buttoned coat was longer than her dress, nearly grazing her knees and the black, leather knee-high boots she wore did a decent enough job keeping out the cold. A white shawl was wrapped around her throat and she thought she would be fine. Besides, when had she ever gotten sick? She gave him a look, and he recalled the error of his words.

"Just because you're not going to die, doesn't mean you should be reckless, brat," he opened the door to the tea shop and held it open, waiting for her to follow him inside. Slayte hesitated, her gaze lingering wistfully on the snow. Snow was so rare. Even more so, the more the years passed by and mortals went on ruining their own environment. She wanted passersby to see a snowman in front of their house, too. To show that this was a house full of life and love.

"I…" she rubbed her hands together to keep them warm. "I'll be right in?"

Levi gave her a bland look before giving up. "Suit yourself," he muttered, allowing the door to fall shut behind him.

Slayte felt a twinge of guilt. It was Levi's birthday. Shouldn't she be doing things to accommodate him? And yet, it wasn't every year that they got this much snow. It shouldn't take her too long, right? Just to build one snowman? She'd follow him shortly. Surely, a cheerful snowman would be good for business, too? Make the tea shop more inviting?

Slayte rolled up her sleeves and set to work, but when Levi went to check on her ten minutes later, he found her shaking out her red and frostbitten hands, despairing over a rather large lump of snow that in no way represented a ball.

"What are you doing?" he asked, leaning against the doorframe, unimpressed. Slayte turned frustrated dark eyes towards him, now unburdened by his coat and wearing a high-collared dark-green sweater and black jeans, and frowned, ignorant of the way Levi's grey eyes caught on the pout of her lower lip.

"Why isn't this working? We don't have snow in the underworld. This looks so easy on TV," she lamented, and got back to her feet to gather more snow.

"It would look so inviting! A cheerful snowman in front of the tea shop, bigger than all the ones we saw. But we don't have any kids to make us one and I'm too dumb to figure it out." She went on complaining as she brushed the snow together with her bare hands. Levi froze, watching her traipse through the snow, prattling and half-heartedly attempting to make something useful out of the snow.

Her words echoed through his mind. _We don't have kids._ It was a complaint, wasn't it? If they had children, she wouldn't have to be the one making a stupid snowman. Was that what she meant? Did she want children, regardless of the consequences? With him? Did she want _his_ children? Or was she simply speaking without thinking as she often did? That was the most likely scenario, he decided, and narrowed his eyes as he saw that the palms of her hands had turned a blistering red from exposure to the cold.

"Are you stupid?" Levi asked, stepping forward and taking hold of her bare wrists. "Stop that."

He lifted her hands to his face and blew on them, his warm breath bringing the circulation back through her fingers and easing away the stinging cold. "Where are your gloves?" he asked at length.

"Um, it wasn't working too well with them."

With a roll of his eyes, Levi squatted by Slayte's unfortunate pile of snow and, lifting a handful of snow in his hands, formed a small snowball resting in the palm of his hand - a perfect sphere. Slayte's eyes lit up in appreciation as he demonstrated how to roll the ball of snow, forming a larger ball, the base for her snowman.

"That should be big enough," he announced, dusting off his hands. "Make two more of those and you're done."

Gleefully, she set to work and it quickly became apparent to Levi that she had taken to be the head what he had intended to be the base of the snowman. His explanations landed on deaf ears as she demanded to know what the point of making a snowman was, if it wasn't going to be the biggest snowman in the neighborhood. He'd be damned if he knew what the point was of making a snowman at all – regardless of its size. One way or another, with Levi's begrudging assistance, a snowman reaching up to Slayte's shoulder stood on the porch of their tea shop. Two hazelnuts served as eyes and a series of pebbles indicated a crooked-toothed smile. Slayte insisted that nothing less than a carrot nose would do, and although Levi considered that a waste of resources, he relented.

Slayte dashed into the shop to retrieve the most colorful shawl she could find in their bedroom and returned to wrap it around the snowman. She grinned to find that Levi had located branches to serve as arms and was carefully placing a series of chestnuts down the midsection, standing in for buttons. They were evenly spaced and perfectly aligned, and Slayte could not help but smile at the sight. When they stood back to admire the finished product, she stood up on tiptoe to press a kiss to his cheek in gratitude.

"Thanks for the help," she smiled at him, reaching for his hand. He watched her quietly, her myriad emotions, thoughts, and actions – often only loosely related to one another, were always endearing to him. She gasped as she realized how cold his hands were and – being unable to warm them with her own freezing hands – pressed the palms of his hands to her face, hoping the warmth there would settle into his skin.

"What are you doing?" He chided, attempting to pull his hands away. "My hands are cold, stupid."

"I know," she said, drawing them back. "This should warm you up."

She pressed her palms to the back of his hands, holding them to her face to keep them warm. Levi watched her quietly. He could think of few things more unpleasant than having someone's freezing hands pressed to your face. Slayte likely didn't care though. Likely, the only thought she had in her head was to somehow ease his discomfort.

He leaned in close, taking advantage of the way his proximity stole the breath from her lungs – still, even after all these years - and touched his forehead to hers.

"Oi. If you want us to get warm, how about going inside, hm?"

With a nervous laugh, she released his hands. "Oh, yeah. That makes sense."

They headed inside and Levi pulled her coat from her shoulders, hanging it up for her. She thanked him gratefully and retreated to the bathroom to freshen up. When she returned, she found two steaming cups of tea set on the low table and Levi leaning back on the sofa, one leg crossed over the other and a book in his hand. Smiling to herself, Slayte crawled up beside him, curling her legs up beneath her and leaning into him as she cupped her tea in both hands, savoring the warmth that seeped into her skin.

She read over Levi's shoulder – a tale about a fearless adventurer who discovered halfway through his journey that the oracle had made a mistake, and he was not the chosen one after all – and sipped slowly at her tea. Levi shifted and Slayte lifted her head briefly from his shoulder as he moved his book to his left hand and slung his right arm around her, his hand resting lazily on her bare shoulder, allowing her to lean against his chest, his chin inches from the crown of her head. They read quietly together, and the afternoon passed by in peaceful silence.

* * *

"It stopped snowing," Slayte frowned at the window as she peeled potatoes for Levi.

She had been adamant that she be the one to prepare dinner today, but Levi had argued he would rather be done with it himself in little over an hour than sit around four hours waiting for her to be finished so they could spend some time together. Both flattered and recognizing the wisdom (and accuracy) in the suggestion, she had acquiesced begrudgingly, provided he allow her to help him and promised to steer clear of the kitchen when she was working on her "surprise".

Why she bothered to call it a surprise was a mystery to him, it was obviously going to be a cake. She might as well just say it.

"Most snow we've had in Canterbury in ten years," he commented absently.

"Other places have more, then?" she questioned, reaching for another potato.

Levi glanced at her, recalling the world she had come from, and the fact that she had seen nothing but Canterbury since coming to the surface. "You've seen it on television. There are all sorts of places."

Dicing an onion with practiced ease, he added, "We could go and see some. You've just been here this whole time, right?"

"Could we?" Slayte questioned in surprise. "I would love that. Go see the tea plantations in china. Sit on Persian carpets and have some of theirs. Drink out of those cute little glasses in Turkey. Have some chai in India. Go somewhere every year, like other people do." She peeled the potato more quickly, growing increasingly excited as she spoke. She laughed and added, "And at the end of it all, sitting side by side in a nursing home, complaining that they don't know how to make a decent cup."

He shifted his gaze towards her, observing her quietly through those sleet grey eyes, waiting for her own words to dawn on her. When he saw her movements slow suddenly, the potato peelings dropping in lazy, slow strips to the bowl in front of her, he murmured quietly. "Sounds like you put a lot of thought to this."

She smiled sadly to herself, "Well, I mean… I know that can't happen."

"Of course not," he agreed, pulling spices from the kitchen cabinet. "Like hell am I going to a nursing home. I'm staying here. Not going to some shitty place where they can't even make a damn cup of tea."

Measuring out the spices, he added, "You can stay here and take care of me, if that's what you want."

Slayte lifted her gaze towards his turned back, her tea-brown eyes brimming with emotion. For self-reliant, strong, dependable Levi to tell her he would be willing to put aside his pride and let her tend to him, care for him, in his old age? It made her heart swell with love. Made her very being itch with the desire to do just that. Hold his hand, feed him, be there for him in every way possible.

"Oi. What the hell kind of weird thoughts are you thinking right now?" He cast her a disdainful glance.

"Nothing," she denied, schooling her features into a more neutral expression. "Would you be okay with that?" she asked carefully. "People would think I'm your granddaughter."

"Who gives a shit what people think?" He countered, approaching her table to collect the peeled potatoes. "Sucks for you, though." He angled his head towards her meaningfully. "Stuck with a grumpy old man all day."

"Oh, I don't think that will be a problem." She responded with a grin, leaning forward and crossing her arms over the table. "You could say I have some experience."

Levi paused, giving her a blank look as he held the bowl of potatoes. "Cheeky."

He returned to the kitchen stove as Slayte laughed quietly to herself. He indulged her, and by the time he had a chicken roasting in the oven with potatoes and vegetables beside it, he retreated to the living room to allow Slayte her privacy.

Slayte had insisted he not read further into his book without her, but he could only reread the newspaper so many times. After an hour had ticked by, he turned to his phone in sheer boredom. He was surprised to find a heartfelt message from Elissa, wishing him a happy birthday and a merry Christmas, and he took the time to weigh his words carefully before answering with two simple lines, wishing her the same and good health for her family.

After one and a half hours had ticked by, he found himself making his way back to the kitchen. He didn't even care about the stupid cake. If she wanted to make his birthday special, then she shouldn't be leaving his side for the duration of it. He frowned to himself. Pushing open the door, Slayte squawked in alarm and turned towards him, hiding something behind her back as she lifted both hands to rest on the counter behind her, leaning back and using her whole body to shield it from view.

Levi gave her an irritable look as he checked on the roast in the oven. "It's been one and a half hours. How much more time do you need?"

"One and a half hours is not really that long, Levi," she defended, inching towards him to hide her project more securely from view.

Deciding their dinner needed ten more minutes, he angled his head to fix her with an undecided stare. To voice his frustrations and drag her out of the kitchen, or to show patience and let her finish working on a surprise he didn't care in the slightest for?

"Six birthdays and you've never once given me what I wanted," he found himself complaining. It was surprisingly petulant behavior, for him. But, judging by the guilt that sparked in her eyes, it was effective, and he would make full use of it.

"What _do_ you want? I always try, but I - " she bit her lip, disappointed that she had given him cause for complaint. "Tell me what you want, and I'll do everything I can to make it yours."

"Will you?" he asked, steel-grey eyes flashing with something of a challenge in them as he approached her.

"Of course!" she insisted, lifting determined, dark eyes to his annoyed, silvery grey irises. "You know I always try to make this day special. What is it?"

He lifted a hand towards her waist, tugging at the apron strings until they came loose.

"You," he announced evenly.

"Twenty-four hours." He reached behind her and up her back to undo the strings tied behind her neck.

"No Elissa. No grim reaper. No snowmen. No surprises. Just you. On my lap. For twenty-four hours."

She swallowed thickly, her heart rioting in her chest at his words. She felt that familiar heat on her skin that meant there was likely a blush that consumed her face to the tips of her ears. She was at a loss for words as she stared at him wide-eyed. She wished she was as smooth with her tongue as he always was, that she could say something clever or charming in return, but her tongue knotted up and even her mind shut down, only repeating one very unhelpful mantra endlessly. _You. He wants you._

She licked her lips nervously. "I – I can do that," she assured him lamely.

"Too late for this year," he dismissed, drawing back and taking her apron with him. "Better luck next time."

Slayte glanced over her shoulder at the half-finished cake and then at Levi's expectant gaze, weighing her options.

"Dinner still needs a little bit, right? I'll finish this in that time, and I won't set foot in the kitchen until you're tired of me," she promised.

Until he was tired of her. When would that be? Levi doubted she knew what she was saying.

"You have ten minutes," he nodded, and Slayte ushered him out of the kitchen to finish decorating her cake in record time. When the timer rang, Levi pulled their dinner from the oven and Slayte rushed about the kitchen to set the table for them, setting a vase of flowers in the middle of the cherry-wood table and lighting two long, tapered candles. Levi blinked at the extravagance but shook his head in resignation. Whatever made her happy.

They enjoyed a sumptuous meal and tidied up the kitchen together before retreating to the living area. They exchanged gifts, Slayte overjoyed to receive a thick, leather-bound journal with gold-embossed detailing - a notebook for her "depressing poetry" - as well as a large, beige, cashmere shawl as soft as plush to the touch. "So that you can stop whining about how cold you always are," Levi informed her as he wrapped it around her shoulders.

Slayte, in turn, had gotten her hands on some rare Ancient Lotus Green Tea from Vietnam, a gift Levi had turned over in his hands carefully and immediately wanted a cup of.

When Levi unpacked his second gift, he frowned at the sight before him, not, at first, understanding its significance.

"The Lord of the Rings?" he asked, turning the book over in his hands. The other three books of the boxed set stood at attention on the table.

"Yes!" Slayte enthused, scooting closer to him on the sofa. "I've never read it, but Elissa said it's a must-read, she highly recommended it."

Levi cast her a glance, somewhat irked that she had allowed Elissa to influence her decision instead of letting him receive something of her own choosing.

"So, who should I thank for this? You, or Elissa?" Maybe it was petty of him. Maybe it was uncalled for, but was it really too much to ask, to have just one day where he didn't need to share her with anyone?

"Oh," Slayte blushed, not catching the insinuation, "You don't need to thank me. I just wanted to choose a long anthology, something good that neither of us have read, and I thought… Well…" She trailed off, intertwining her fingers nervously. "Actually, now that I'm about to say it, it sounds stupid."

"What?" Levi watched her nervous rambling, holding out judgment on her gift.

"Well, you know, I thought… this is a long series, and maybe… Well, maybe I could read it to you? A little every night, for a long time?" She snuck furtive glances at him, suddenly self-conscious. He was a grown man, why would he want someone else to read to him? What had she been thinking? It was dumb. It was possibly the dumbest idea she'd ever had. Why hadn't she realized that earlier?

Levi stared at the book in his hands, the first in the boxed set. So, that was it. Not the books themselves were the present, but the promise to read to him, every night, until they were through with the series. The shared experience. Listening to her low voice, a voice that seemed to enchant him whenever he heard it, listening to the intonations, the rise and fall of her voice in the midst of her storytelling. _A little every night, for a long time._ The "long time" was her gift to him. The only one he really wanted. Her time, all of it.

Slayte blinked when her vision was obstructed by the cover of the first book and looked up to see Levi holding it out towards her. "Go on, then."

His expression was as passive as ever, but the action flooded her heart with warmth as she accepted the book with both hands. She flipped open the cover, a blush blooming to life across her cheekbones, as she turned to the first chapter. She started when Levi stretched across the sofa, resting his head in her lap. Her gaze softened with affection as Levi closed his eyes, his raven locks tickling the bare skin of her thighs. With a small, loving smile, she reached out and stroked his hair away from his face as she turned her eyes back to the book and began reading. She was nervous at first, and stumbled over words that should have been simple, but soon settled into an easy rhythm and lost herself to the story she was telling.

It was as close to heaven as he could probably get on earth. Her hand in his hair, the scent of her surrounding him, and her pleasant voice washing over him in her familiar, low tones that he found so comforting. He would have to ask her to read the first chapter again some other time. He was sure he hadn't heard a word. He could feel himself drifting off to sleep. That wouldn't do at all. He could feel her long, gentle fingers massaging his scalp and was struck, once more, by the possessive desire to cement this moment in time. To keep her by his side by any means necessary.

Every moment with her was fleeting. Like they were living on borrowed time. Was there no way to ensure that he could have this, with her, every day of his life without fearing what the future held? Probably not, given the circumstances. What with her shitty master, and the danger lurking in the shadows, and the assignment she had prioritized over herself, over her wellbeing, over him and their life together. He would never think to blame her. It was the right thing to do. To protect Elissa, who could not possibly protect herself against the forces that worked against her.

And yet, once more, Levi could not help but feel a resentment towards the god of death who had given her this task. Who had appropriated her with a terrible burden, one too heavy for her to carry alone. He was a god, wasn't he? He had to be capable of dealing with this on his own. What could he mean by tormenting Slayte this way? By forcing her to live her life as nothing more than his instrument, to carry out his will? It irked him to no end.

"Have you put any more thought to it?" Levi scarcely realized he had spoken, until he recognized that she had stopped reading. He opened his eyes slowly, to find her looking down at him in confusion.

"Put thought to what?" She questioned, closing the book on her index finger in order to not lose her place.

"To my suggestion."

Slayte looked down into his handsome face, to the beautiful grey-blue eyes that seemed to be a very reflection of a winter's sky and took a moment to remember what they were talking about.

"Suggestion?"

He gave her an even, meaningful look and his intention dawned on her with sudden clarity.

"Oh." She averted her gaze and withdrew her hand from his hair. "I didn't realize that was still on the table."

"Why wouldn't it be?" He asked, reaching up to turn her face back towards him, drawing her eyes to him. He usually wasn't this way. He wasn't this demanding, this insistent, this possessive. He was usually content to watch her do as she pleased. But there was something about this day. The way she tried to make the day about him but usually missed the mark, failing to see what it was he truly wanted. For once, he wanted to make it clear.

"Well, I mean…" she began, finding it more difficult to speak now that she was staring straight into his intense grey eyes. "That was before you knew what I was."

"Did I take my words back? Does what you are change who you are? Don't decide for me." His words were laced with an almost-aggression. A possessiveness. And yet, also a calmness, like an ocean tide that tugged at her insistently, pulling her under slowly, so that she wasn't any the wiser until she was lost to its depths.

"Do you want to marry me, Levi?" She questioned in a hushed, incredulous whisper. Almost ashamed to voice the words they were so impossible.

"Yes."

She bit her lip, and set the book aside, trying to battle the tears filling her eyes. "I don't belong to myself. I can't promise you anything. One day I'm here, the next I might disappear. I might be sent away or torn to shreds by harpies or sent back to the underworld and I… I want to promise you everything, but I'm scared that I won't be able to keep those promises."

Levi noted the anguish in her eyes, understood the rationale behind her words, and yet, he was undeterred. He stroked her cheek gently, searching her eyes and reading the truth there. She wanted him every bit as much as he wanted her. Everything else was just excuses.

"I'm not asking for any of your tomorrows, Slayte." He spoke evenly, self-assuredly, his tone so brusque it was almost a reprimand. Slayte held onto his hand and closed her eyes as she pressed her face into his palm, warm, grounding, and all that she wanted in the world. Levi's voice softened as he next spoke, but the words rushed through her like a flood. "Just all of your todays."

She opened her eyes at his words, turning her gaze back towards him as he stared evenly up at her. She saw the determination in his steel-grey eyes. Eyes that told her he had made promises unspoken about her. Eyes that vowed he would never allow anyone to subjugate her so long as he lived. Eyes that promised to wage war on the gods themselves for her.

"I want nothing more than to marry you, Levi. To stay by your side for as long as possible. To live a life with you." She bit her lip, knowing a long list of reasons would follow why that was impossible. She closed her eyes, fighting back tears. Why couldn't she marry him? Why did she have to be reasonable? Why did she have to consider a thousand things that had not even occurred? He knew what the dangers were, perhaps not as well as her, but he at least had an idea of them and he wanted her anyway, didn't he?

"But…" she began, knowing she had to be the one to say it. The one to throw water on this flame he had kindled.

"No buts." Levi cut in, his eyes narrowing in disapproval. "Yes or no, just like I answered you. Do you want to marry me, Slayte?"

Tears streamed down her cheeks helplessly. There was no point in trying to hold them back. Was there anything she wanted more? She nodded as she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to banish her tears. "I want that more than anything," the confession escaped her lips on a despairing sob as she wiped at her tears with the heel of her palm.

The hand that slipped past her cheek, curving around the back of her head, the pressure applied there, pulling her towards him, had her eyes flying open just as her lips met his. He kissed her slowly, leisurely, tasting her tears, and she brought her hand to his chest, supporting herself, as the other returned to his hair, her eyes fluttering shut once more as she returned his kiss with all the passion that burned within her. She worked her mouth on his, transforming the kiss from something slow and comforting to something desperate and pleading. She felt his left hand reach up to cup her cheek as the fingers of his right hand dug more firmly into her hair.

When at last, they broke apart for breath, Levi pulled away from her lap and rose to his feet, opening a drawer on the sideboard. Slayte watched him with bated breath, confused as to what would follow, when he returned to her side and revealed a black velvet box.

Oh, no. Not a ring. Rings were expensive.

Guilt clawed at her insides as she turned to him, lips parted to protest as Levi calmly flipped open the box and there, nestled on a bed of white silk she found a ring that had any protests she had formed dying on her tongue. It was a band fashioned from some sort of gleaming, black metal, studded with a large black stone, flanked by two smaller ones, with more small black gemstones lining the circumference of it. Black diamonds, she concluded in both awe and dismay. It was nothing like the rings she had seen in advertisements and on television. It was just like her. Different.

"Levi," she breathed, furrowing her brow. "Why did you- you didn't have to - "

He ignored her protests entirely, removing the ring as casually as if he were taking batteries out of a remote control and reached for her hand. "Why not?" he questioned, taking a brief moment to admire her long, pale and elegant fingers. To appreciate the way they were trembling. He slipped the ring onto her finger and angled her hand to take in the image. He paused longer than he thought he would have. It suited her perfectly. The contrast between her pale skin and the dark ring… was pleasing to his eyes. The meaning behind that ring, and the promise it conveyed - he was suddenly struck with an understanding of why people wasted their time on such gestures at all.

"Huh," he breathed, before releasing her. Slayte gaped at her own hand. It was beautiful. It was everything she would have wanted, if she had wanted a ring. But it had to have been horribly expensive and that knowledge made her want to scream and cast the ring far, far away from herself. "Levi, it must have cost a fortune, we – we normally don't do these things. I don't need a ring."

"Oi," he muttered, annoyed by her protests. "Shut up."

He closed the velvet box before getting to his feet and dumping it in the wastepaper basket. It had outlived its use.

Slayte bit her lip, hesitating. She couldn't possibly accept, could she? Levi turned, seeing her reluctance and sighed. "Why shouldn't you have what everyone else has?"

Slayte met his gaze and nodded quietly. "Thank you, Levi. It's perfect. I love it. It's – it's just like me."

She missed the small smile that graced his features at her compliment, the smile she was always so desperate to see. "How did you even do this? I never told you my ring size?"

"Why would I need that?" He frowned, the faint smile dissipating. "I know your hands."

She dropped her gaze as her heart flooded with love at his simple words, her eyes lingering dreamily on the black ring. "Does this mean…?" she asked softly, openly nervous about the question on the tip of her tongue. "Am I…?" She swallowed, her eyes shifting nervously, settling anywhere but on his face. Summoning all her courage, she lifted hopeful brown eyes to his patient, grey irises. "Does this make me yours? Am I yours now?"

Levi did not answer immediately, his eyes narrowing subtly as his lips pressed into a thin line. He was not fond of the concept of possessing ownership of another person. It was, to his mind, an outdated, inhuman concept that only shitty, insecure bastards celebrated. Why would you want to own someone when you could instead watch them flourish, unfold, and spread their wings?

And yet, he recognized, Slayte had lived her entire life as a servant, under the ownership of shitty assholes she couldn't even choose for herself. The emotion wavering in her hesitant gaze was pleading with him, almost, to confirm that she was his. That he alone held mastery over her. And although it wasn't his style, although he didn't want her lowering her head to anyone, he understood that it was the closest thing to freedom she believed she could have. That it meant a great deal to her, to be his.

"Yeah," he answered finally, relenting when her expression fell at his prolonged silence, and he caught her lowering her gaze. "You're mine." She bit her lip as she lifted her gaze in surprise, her hands trembled where she clung to the hem of her dress, and she struggled to contain the overwhelming joy and acceptance those three words sent flooding through her heart. Who could have known that "belonging" was an intoxicating, dizzying sensation? That it would drive the breath clean from her lungs? He leaned against the sideboard, observing her quietly before he beckoned her closer with a curl of his fingers.

"Come here."

She hastened to her feet and crossed the distance between them in the span of a single breath. Her moist eyes fixed intently on him as she stood before him, drinking in his words as if they were scripture.

He cocked his head to the side, his gaze tracing her features. At length, he reached up to tuck her hair behind her ear, his eyes following the movement of his hand. Slayte shivered, overwhelmed to be the sole focus of his attention, consumed whole by his gaze.

"I'm going to break off every claim anyone else may have on you," he continued, his fingertips lingering, then tracing the shell of her ear, continuing their slow, sensuous journey across her jawline. Slayte felt all reason flee her mind at his touch and was helpless to draw her eyes from his magnetizing gaze.

"And when no one else dares to say your name anymore. When I have you for me alone," his voice seemed to drop lower with every syllable, and Slayte held her breath so as not to miss a word. "I'm going to take you…" His fingers paused at her chin, lifting her face to his as his journeying gaze came back home to her tea-brown eyes. "And give you back to yourself."

A broken sob died in her throat at the sweetness of his words, stifled by the warm lips that closed on hers, allowing no more grief, no more sobs, promising wordlessly to kiss every one of her tears away.

Slayte closed her eyes, entirely overcome with emotion as she flung her arms around his neck and kissed him with all the gratitude and love that could not be caged in words. Levi returned the kiss with a sigh, bringing his hands to her hips, tracing the protruding bones of her hips with his thumbs as he deepened the kiss.

He groaned against her mouth, despite himself, as he filled his hands with her warmth, trailing his fingers down to the hem of her dress. His fingers itched to peel the thin, clinging fabric from her skin and reveal the expanse of soft, pale flesh underneath, waiting to come alive under his touch. To have her writhing beneath him, coming entirely undone, unravelling her slowly, torturously in the way that only he could, prompting the most delicious sounds from her parted, moist lips. He hungered for her like a man starved.

Slayte, recognizing the change in his demeanor, and realizing that her cake was about to go uneaten, drew back, panting for breath. "I think it's time for cake, don't you?" The words left her in a nervous rush, and he stared at her blankly. She couldn't be serious.

But she was.

As she extricated herself from his hold, she disappeared out of his grasp into the kitchen, only to return momentarily bearing an admittedly beautiful looking cake frosted in white and decorated with shredded coconut and toasted, slivered almonds. The words "Happy Birthday, Levi," decorated the top of the cake in chocolate script where a single candle stood flickering. The sweetness of her intentions and the frustration brought on by her execution was a familiar blend of aggravation that Levi knew all too well.

"Don't sing," he warned her. He hated the singing. Hated birthdays in general.

"I wasn't going to," she relented with a laugh, accustomed to his preferences. "But you can blow out the candle, right? There's only one, so it's not a big deal."

She set the cake on the side table and reached for the knife, ready to hand it to him. With an air of reluctant resignation he came up behind her, settling his hands back on her hips as he leaned over her shoulder to blow out the candle. Slayte fought back the desire still coursing through her body, intensified by feeling his breath on her face as he blew the candle out.

"I hope you made a wish," she muttered, to distract him from her flushed state. "That was too fast."

"If I have a wish, I'll work on it." His hand left her side as he spoke, reaching for the knife. "I'm not holding out hope on a candle."

"Fair enough," Slayte relented with an amused smile. She knew he didn't think highly of birthday traditions, but she wanted to honor him with them anyways. He deserved to be celebrated. _Why shouldn't you have what everyone else has?_

Instead of taking the knife from her, he closed his fingers around hers, making that first, even incision into the cake before relinquishing his hold.

"Satisfied?" he asked with a raised brow.

"Yes, thank you." She grinned, turning the cake to cut it into even pieces. "I'm sure you'll love it. They're flavors that you like, coconut, almond, white chocolate…" she trailed off with a sharp intake of breath, as his fingers feathered up her sides in a ghost of a touch that had her stomach clenching in anticipation. She could feel his eyes on her, freezing, burning, in their intensity as he trailed a hand over her shoulder, while the other held firmly onto her hip. He stood just behind her, close enough for her to feel his warmth, not close enough to feel him.

If he had his way, all her work would have been for nothing. She rambled on about the ingredients while cutting a single piece of cake, he needed to at least have a bite of it! But in no time at all, his distracted fingers found the zipper between her shoulder blades and he pulled down slowly, revealing an expanse of creamy, pale skin all the way to the small of her back, exposed to the cold air. Her words withered in her throat as she felt his eyes on her, as she felt her dress hanging loosely from her shoulders, as she asked herself if the cake truly mattered that much. Foregoing plates, forks, and decorum in order to ensure he had a taste of his own birthday cake she broke off a piece of the slice she had cut and half-turned, lifting it towards him.

"Just try it," she offered. "Please?"

Unwilling to deny a direct, spoken request, he caught hold of her wrist, and bent his head to accept the offering. It was delicious, light and airy, not too sweet. Just right.

"Is it alright?" she questioned, knowing he wasn't particularly fond of sweets.

He hummed in agreement, leaning over her shoulder to take her index finger into his mouth, sucking gently at the tip of it until it was cleaned of any lingering frosting.

A furious blush burned on her face as he licked at her other fingers until all the frosting was gone and she was certain she would melt into a puddle in no time at all. Still holding onto her wrist, he brought the fingers of his left hand to the back of her neck and watched her expression closely through hooded grey eyes as he traced a feather-light touch down the length of her spine, causing her to tremble and release a soft moan as she slumped forward, clutching helplessly at the table - held upright solely by his solid grip on her wrist.

It had been a tantalizing discovery, the first time he had learned how sensitive her back was. Was it because she was always watching her back, not trusting anyone, that the faintest touch was enough to reduce her to her knees? He didn't know, but he enjoyed making use of that information.

Bringing his mouth to her shoulder, he traced a path up to her neck where he lingered with gentle kisses, before dragging his tongue up the length of her neck and nipping at the soft flesh there. Liquid pleasure melted through her veins at his touches, her skin positively strewn alight wherever his fingers grazed. She struggled to regulate her breathing, her breaths leaving her in audible gasps. He concealed his satisfaction as he finally moved on, his tongue idling along the length of her spine. She mewled helplessly, and he held her hips to keep her from sinking to the floor as he continued tormenting her with open-mouthed kisses, leaving love bites on her shoulder blades, on her lower back, wherever she had rewarded him with a barely contained moan.

At length, he drew back to his full height, pulling her into himself as he draped an arm around her midsection. Reaching up, he tugged her hair free from its confinement, eager to have that dark mass of silky locks tumbling around them. Leaning towards her ear, he murmured, "Still want some cake? Don't let me stop you."

Turning her head towards him, her eyes glazed over with lust, she answered in a needy daze, "Cake?"

As if the word had lost all meaning, as if she had entirely forgotten what she had been working for hours on. Her eyes lit up as she saw the smirk that graced his features – it was almost a smile, wasn't it?

When he had made short work of the pins keeping her hair in place, he ran his fingers through her tresses, before curling his fingers and tugging her hair, pulling her head back in a ruthless hold that she delighted in, before stepping closer, his front pressing firmly into her back as he claimed her mouth possessively, abandoning the restraint he had practiced all day. Slayte gripped the sideboard, pushing against him with a needy desperation. Grinding against him as if she had been craving the very same, the entire day, no less than he had.

He could lose himself in her, he really could. Forgetting time and place, present and future, the laws of the world and the cruelty of it. He could have her all to himself and none of the rest would matter.

She leaned into him, losing her mind and relinquishing it gladly, as her hand lifted to bury itself in his raven hair as the other settled on the arm wrapped around her waist. He tasted of coconut and sugar, of warmth and home, of everything good she had ever known. Would that he were a god, she would have surely been the firmest of believers.

A surprised gasp flew from her lips when Levi suddenly hooked an arm under her knees and lifted her easily into his arms, turning away from the sideboard. He hesitated in the living room, his eyes scanning their surroundings as she wrapped her arms around his neck to steady herself. Slayte nodded towards the nearby sofa in invitation but he ignored her. There were the usual, familiar places, the sofa, the table - even the floor, but there was nowhere he could love her the way he wanted to.

He shook his head, meeting her eye briefly as he turned towards the hallway leading to their bedroom. "I want to take my time with you."

Her stomach flipped nervously at his words and she buried her scarlet face in the crook of his neck and nodded, her throat constricted beyond speech. He brought her through the doorway and reached blindly for the light switch, turning on the dim night lights on the side tables, before setting her on her feet.

A look of wistful yearning lingered in her eyes as she refused to relinquish her hold around his neck and pulled him in towards herself, bringing her lips back to his, claiming his mouth with reckless, heated abandon. He closed his eyes, allowing her control for a few, fleeting moments, before taking hold of her wrists and pulling her hands away as he drew back slightly, leaving her breathless and panting.

A look of hurt confusion lingered in her eyes as she caught her breath. Out of breath himself, he shook his head, "I told you, I want to take my time with you."

Biting her lip and realizing he would leave her no choice but to follow his pace, she frowned. "That's not fair." She raised her hands to his shoulders and tried to close the distance between them again, but his grip on her hands held firm, keeping her at a careful distance as his grey eyes piercing through hers with a raised brow.

Displeased, she blew a strand of stray hair out of her face with a huff as she turned away. His long fingers caught hold of her chin, bringing her gaze firmly back to him.

"You never change." He spoke in a hushed whisper, his eyebrows furrowing thoughtfully as his lingering gaze trailed over her kiss-bitten bottom lip. "I remember the first time."

His eyes lifted to hers, prompting recollection, and Slayte recalled the first time she had fallen into his arms, and every time after, the sweetness of his embrace, the steady firmness of his hold, the unspoken promise of security - that, too, had proven to be unchanging.

"You always kiss me like this," his gaze softened, and the words were half a complaint to her stunned ears. His thumb brushed over her parted lips as he continued. "Like a fugitive. Like a thief. Like there's no time."

"That's…" she hesitated, and shrugged helplessly, "what I am. Far from where I'm meant to be, stealing what isn't mine… on borrowed time."

"No," he refuted, stepping closer again, "You belong here. This isn't your refuge, Slayte, it's your home. Everything here is yours." He brought the hand caught in his hold to his chest, where she could feel his heart pounding fiercely against his ribcage, as affected as she was. She blinked at their joined hands, feeling the tremors of his heartbeat through the thin, cotton shirt under her fingertips.

_Everything here is yours._

Hesitantly, confused, she raised her eyes to his. They didn't talk about feelings, about emotions. Their language was touch, their words were kisses, their promises were sighs, their love was tea. That had always been the way between them. So, what did this mean? She scarcely dared to believe her ears.

"You were the one I wanted," he confessed, his low voice washing over her like summer rain, "when I thought I had stopped wanting anything at all." Slayte stared at him, wide-eyed. She had always known she meant _something_ to him, but what, precisely? She had never thought that mystery would ever be uncovered. Had never thought he would answer her unspoken question in such uncharacteristic vulnerability.

"And you were the one I didn't want to lose, when I had already accepted I would lose everyone." His silvery gaze never left her eyes, nothing but clear, unadulterated truth written in his arresting, steel irises, the galloping of the heart beneath her fingertips confirming every word from his lips.

He stepped closer still, murmuring quietly, "You've been driving me to distraction from the day you set foot here." He lifted her chin, their eyes meeting as if never to part again as confusion, desire, and fear warred in her expression.

"So, why," he breathed, "are you always making that face like you still don't know?"

"How could I?" she exhaled in sheer surprise, unable to wrap her mind around the words she was hearing, words she was finding hard to believe. "You never told me."

"Six years, Slayte," he scoffed, releasing her hand and bringing his own to her shoulders. "Do I have to say everything?"

"Some things," she whispered, finally admitting how badly she had craved to hear such words from him. Words that would confirm the depth of his affection mirrored her own. "There are some things I've been dying to hear."

He bent his head and pressed a kiss to the top of her shoulder. "What do you want me to say?"

She sucked in a sharp breath at the unexpected caress, and turned her head towards him. "Everything," she confessed in a breathless whisper. "Everything you keep hidden inside of you."

He pulled back from her shoulder and turned his head ever so slightly, his icy gaze boring into her as silence shrouded the two of them.

"There's nothing inside of me," he muttered, her heart sinking at his words. His gaze dipped to her lips before settling on her wistful eyes again. "Nothing but you."

Her mouth fell open and she forgot to breathe, stunned, until his lips closed on hers again, slowly, tantalizingly claiming every inch of her mouth. His hands came up to her shoulders, never breaking the kiss as he gently pushed the black fabric from her shoulders, peeling back the tight black dress in a slow, sweeping motion, down her arms, down her waist, past her hips, before allowing the smooth, black fabric to fall to the floor, pooling around her feet.

A shiver swept through her as she gripped his collar, but no sooner did she tilt her head and attempt to deepen the kiss than his hands found purchase in her hair, pulling her back ever so slightly in warning, as he slowed her back down to a torturously slow pace of languid strokes of his tongue and gentle nips of his teeth on her lips. Every touch of his mouth on hers was painfully soft and teasing, blatantly refusing to hasten his actions in the slightest, regardless of how insistently she tugged on his shirt in wordless supplication.

He brought one of his hands to her back, unhooking her black, lacy bra with sightless ease as the other dropped to her waist. He finally broke away from her, allowing her to catch her breath as he pulled the straps from her shoulders and down her arms, his eyes drinking in the sight of her. Slayte shivered beneath his penetrant gaze.

Whatever Levi set his mind to, he gave it his utmost attention. It made it a singular challenge to try and draw his gaze to herself, instead. A challenge she relished and tried her hand at, at every other opportunity. However, when that unwavering, intense gaze was focused entirely on her instead, she felt as if she were surely burning alive.

She knew those hands, the practiced control they exercised when brewing tea, chopping ingredients, or any other number of tasks she had seen them busy themselves in. She knew how the veins ran across the back of his hands, she knew the dip and swell of his knuckles, she could trace them with her eyes closed, she knew where the lines of his palms converged and crossed one another, knew every joint of his long, dextrous fingers, knew those soft, firm fingertips. And whenever those hands moved from the task at hand to settle on her, instead, it was her kingdom come.

But nothing could compare to the dizzying sensation when she, herself, _was_ the task at hand. When he put his diligent mind to her, fixed his intense gaze on her, put his meticulous hands on her, as if she was the only thing that mattered. As if he was going to take her apart, bring her up to temperature, leave her brewing and steeping to perfection, as he leaned back patiently and watched closely.

Just as he was watching now, sliding the straps of her bra past her fingertips before letting it fall to the floor beside her discarded dress. She could only watch him, anticipation building within her as she saw his cold, grey eyes graze over her exposed form, branding a trail onto her skin as surely as his touch did. Her heart was close to bursting and she could scarcely remember to breathe, so overcome was she beneath his lingering gaze, looking at her as if he was seeing her for the very first time. Just as he did every time.

" _I like to savor the taste,"_ he had told her once at dinner, while cleaning his plate. The look he had given her, the satisfied hum in his throat, those were all things she had recognized from entirely different circumstances, little things that had caused a sinful heat to pool in her stomach.

_I want to take my time with you._

The shivers passing through her refused to stop, as much as she wanted to hide from his blistering gaze, she didn't want to stop him or draw away from him in the slightest. She only wished he would take her at her pace. A pace that prevented her from thinking, a pace that spared her from _feeling_ so intensely, what every single one of his fleeting touches did to her.

His hands cupped her face as he met her gaze, "You okay?"

Slayte sighed and nuzzled the palm of his hand. "With you, always."

A small smile graced his lips at her response, stealing the breath from her lungs as he lifted her easily and carried her over to the bed before lowering her gently onto the cushions.

As he withdrew, he trailed his fingers over her hips and pulled back the silky waistband of her underwear, drawing it along the length of her thighs, her calves, her ankles, before dispensing it on the floor, along with the rest of her discarded clothes.

Slayte felt heat rush to her face to be so fully exposed to his gaze as he stood over her, fully clothed. Despite herself, she lifted a hand to her face, resting her wrist over her eyes, doing nothing to conceal her scarlet blush from his eyes as her other hand clutched at the sheets, refraining with difficulty from the urge to cover herself. She didn't _want_ to cover herself - not from his gaze. Not from him. Not ever. It was only her mind that needed a little more convincing, she told herself, even as nervous trembles consumed her form.

"Six years," he reminded her, and she could hear the amusement in his voice. "Shouldn't you be used to this?"

"Do you get used to looking at the sun, Levi?" She shot back, her eyes still covered by her wrist as she compensated for her nerves with her petulant retort.

He took a moment to take in the image, her impossibly long black hair spread out over the sheets, the veins visible in the pale, slender wrist resting over her eyes as her cheeks flushed an endearing scarlet, the smooth flow of her delicate collarbones, the sweeping curves of her familiar body, the dip of her navel, the entire delicious, trembling length of her.

"No," he admitted, as his eyes drew back to where hers were hidden beneath her wrist. "I don't ever get used to it."

He kneeled between her legs and crawled over her, cocking his head to the side with an amused smirk as she still refused to remove her hand from her eyes.

"It's four years," she corrected, opting for snark instead of giving in to the agitated way her pulse was scrambling. "You always get it wrong."

"Six years," he shot back, pressing a chaste kiss to her cheek. "You're the one getting it wrong. Every year with you counts."

She finally withdrew her hand and met his steel-grey eyes, taking comfort from them.

"You sure you're alright?" he asked again, concerned.

She nodded immediately in reassurance, bringing her hands to the buttons of his shirt, "Yes, of course. Please don't stop." Undoing his buttons was giving her hands something to do and putting her mind at ease, so Levi allowed it as he watched her expression quietly. Flushed, eager, nervous. Cute.

"Just don't go fainting on me," he remarked, causing her to gasp, offended.

"That was one time!"

"Mm-hm," he dismissed, pulling away from her as he drew back, his fingers tracing down the length of her body as he did so, prompting a sigh from her lips as her eyes fluttered closed.

He repeated the action, his fingers feathering over her collarbones, her breasts, down her navel, along the length of her legs, reveling in the way she shivered beneath his fingers.

"Levi," his name left her mouth in a plea as her hands flew to his shoulders.

"Shh…" He brushed her lips with the thumb of his left hand as his right curved under her knee, sliding down towards her ankle and lifting it to his lips as he pressed a kiss to the inside of it, causing her to suck in a sharp breath.

He kissed his way up the inside of her calf, featherlight touches and transient kisses causing her to clutch at the sheets as little, sweet gasps tumbled from her lips. She felt him smirk against her skin as his mouth journeyed on, his butterfly kisses and feathery touches driving her out of her mind.

She wished he would bite her, wished he would bruise her, wished he would hold her down and have his way with her - wished he would do _anything_ but torment her in this lazy, lingering way that was driving her slowly but surely into utter madness. Pain, she realized - she needed pain, so that she could stop feeling everything with such a blinding, torturous intensity. His hands were everywhere, but nowhere. His mouth had touched every inch of her that was exposed to him with ghostly caresses, leaving a dream of a sensation behind, an illusion of relief, and a deluge of longing, a storm of desire.

Every time she tried to take hold of him, to flip him over, to switch their positions, he punished her by holding down her hands, by slowing down his movements even further, brushing past her most sensitive areas so lightly she wasn't sure if he had touched her at all or if she had merely imagined it. Refusing to go back to the only slightly less tortuous touches until she apologized. She was burning alive and trembling from head to toe and he seemed to be immensely enjoying every second of her agony.

It was only when she was near tears, pushing his shirt from his shoulders with something near desperation, that he had mercy on her, his gaze softening.

"Shh, I'll take you there. I promise." He stroked her cheek as he lowered his head to kiss her throat.

"I told you, I want to take my time with you," he pressed another kiss to the underside of her jaw before moving to the side of her neck. "Always in a rush," he sucked gently on the sensitive skin, then trailed his lips down her neck towards her shoulder. "Always in a rush." Another gentle nip. His mouth moved towards her breasts where he lazily swirled his tongue around a pert nipple, causing her back to arch with a muffled cry, before meeting her gaze. "You're not going anywhere."

"Please," she begged, trembling fingers finally undoing the last button and pulling his shirt from his body as if it had personally offended her. "I can't -" she tried to pull him in closer, but he was resolute - and amused.

"Can't what?" he asked, bringing her hand to his lips and lazily licking up the length of her index finger before sucking on the slight fingertip, his eyes never leaving hers.

She shuddered, his icy gaze burning on her, his gentle fingers ghosting over her, it felt like hours that he had tormented her to no end, telling her to be patient, telling her to wait, telling her he wanted to take his time.

_I like to savor the taste._

She was starting to fear he could go on this way until dawn. His hand traced slowly up the inside of her thigh, before brushing in the faintest of touches between her legs. Not parting her folds, not reaching for her weak spots, not doing _anything_ that would provide something in the way of friction or satisfaction, simply ghosting up her slit in a touch so slow she wanted to scream.

She whimpered in response, nonsensical pleas falling from her lips until he parted her folds, and finally explored her overly sensitive, throbbing womanhood with touches that were equally slow, equally faint, equally tortuous.

"Oh, Levi. Please, I can't- It's too much," she gasped, clinging to him, digging her nails into his back.

"What is?" he hummed, feigning ignorance.

She breathed a tormented sound - a miserable mewl of defeat. "You don't know what your touch does to me."

Levi paused at that, and a low chuckle left his lips, surprising her. Where did she think he'd been the past hour as she shivered and twitched and writhed, as she gasped and mewled and moaned in response to his ministrations? Who did she think had been feeding into the patient, measured way he was devouring her - piece for piece? Did she honestly think he had missed any of the many small rewards she offered him for each and every touch?

"You'd be surprised," he murmured, rewarding her by pushing two fingers into her throbbing, aching core. Sweet relief rushed through her veins, almost too much to bear, as she pushed against his fingers, her hips lifting impatiently to meet his touch. He delighted in the soft moan that met his ears.

Her hands flew to his belt, unbuckling it clumsily and prying the button of his jeans open. She tugged it off his hips hungrily, her movements jerky with haste, as her hands refused to comply smoothly with what she wanted them to do.

Levi tutted at her rushed actions, lowering his mouth to hers, kissing her slowly again, driving every thought from her head and bringing her back to the pace he had set for them. His fingers pushed in and out of her with terrible deliberateness, maddening laziness, and she was sure she was going out of her mind. She could do nothing but return his kiss, moaning against his mouth each time she felt his fingers push against her walls and sighing miserably each time they withdrew.

His hands pulled away entirely, finishing what she had started as he let his jeans fall to the floor. He positioned himself at her entrance as he watched her flushed face turn to him with an imploring expression, something akin to a prayer falling from her lips. His restraint crumbling, he pressed his mouth to hers at the same time he pushed himself inside of her in one smooth motion.

She sobbed against his mouth, shivers coursing through her as the overwhelming, mind-addling relief of fullness finally consumed her. But still, he refused to relinquish control, continuing the same agonizing pace he had begun with his hands.

Slayte wanted to cry. She wanted to hit him. She wanted to scream.

"Levi, please," she whined instead, perfectly miserable even as tingles of pleasure coursed through her entire body, alight and waiting. She felt as if she had held her mouth open for hours as Levi held a spoon of dessert just out of her reach, while she waited patiently for him to indulge her.

"What do you want?" His voice was low and husky, and if Slayte had not been so near the edge of despair herself, she would have recognized that his brutal restraint was frayed and cracked at the edges.

"You know what I want," she complained.

He propped himself up on his hands, meeting her eyes as he continued pressing slowly, cruelly, tantalizingly into her before withdrawing in equally leisurely movements. "I do," he admitted, his voice even and remorseless, shaky but controlled. "And you know what I want."

She did. Of course she knew what he wanted. It was the same thing he always wanted from her. He wanted her to say it. To speak the words. To tell him clearly what she wanted from him.

"I want you to take me the way that you do," she blurted, getting as close to the actual words as she could. "Please."

"And how's that?" he threw back, entering her anew and watching her squeeze her eyes shut as a low moan escaped her throat.

"Like I matter," she blurted. "Like you'll never let me go. Like you can't ever get enough of me."

He seemed pleased, she thought, when his infuriating rhythm paused, for once. "Well," he conceded, tracing the side of her face with the tip of his nose before nipping at her earlobe. "All of that is true."

And at long last, he held her.

His fingers bruised her flesh, his teeth nipped her skin, his hands tugged cruelly at her hair, just the way she wanted him to. His lips claimed hers in a kiss so possessive and passionate there was no room for breath or thought between them and when he finally entered her once more, she cried out in sheer relief.

It was still slow and thorough, but increasing in intensity and rhythm until she could do nothing but cling to him mindlessly as he tipped her over the edge, having been working her up for what felt like hours. He kissed her through her orgasm, peppering kisses down the side of her neck, over her breasts, down her navel.

His hands gripped hers and brought her knuckles to his lips in a reverent caress of a kiss as she trembled violently, overcome by the sheer magnitude and overwhelming relief of her release. His eyes never left her face, watching her come apart, watching her pick up the pieces, and watching her come back to him.

He drove her through a second orgasm before finally chasing his own. And when she thought he was done with her, he started over from the beginning. This time with the seeking, bruising touches she had craved to begin with. With mindless, passionate kisses that were more possessive than her own - something she had never thought possible. He guided her into the positions he wished, using her as he pleased, and nothing could have brought her more joy.

She held onto him like someone dying, her fingers as bruising as his own, she returned his kisses with equal fervor and gave herself up to the blazing fire he had stoked within her. Even before he was ready for a second round, his fingers had teased her into another orgasm and his eyes greedily drank in her expression as she fell apart once more. Once more. How many more orgasms could he tease from her, he wondered? He was in a unique mood to drive her to the absolute brink.

When she later felt his length hardening under her seeking palms, responding eagerly to her touch, she pressed a hand to his shoulder and reversed their positions. She couldn't stop herself from breathing a sigh of relief when he allowed it. He stared breathlessly up at her as his chest heaved from his exertions. Levi had always been one to express himself through touch, more than words, and it was clear to see he had a lot to say.

Slayte straddled his hips as she brushed his hair from his face and pressed a kiss to his sweat-soaked forehead as she lowered herself onto his length. A low moan escaped her, relishing the new angle, at the same time that a groan stuttered from his chest as his eyes fell closed.

It was her turn, she told herself. For a little revenge. To drive him out of his mind. What he had done to her had bordered on cruel, and although she could never be cruel to him in return, she would love to hear the word "please" from his lips.

Her fingers roamed over his chest and her narrowed eyes flashed dangerously as she rose and fell on his length with a rhythm like the rise and fall of his chest when he was fast asleep, like the tides rolling in beneath the moonlight, like everything natural and beautiful and right, all the while carefully avoiding actually bringing him to climax.

He was vocal, more so than usual, exhaustion probably lowering his defenses and when he realized what she was doing, leaving him suspended on the edge of a precipice, staring into the tempting abyss but refusing to let him fall, his eyes met hers, the plea written in the grey of his irises and in the hungry way he said her name when he whispered, "Slayte".

Her resolve crumbled and she returned pleasure for pleasure, finding nothing sweeter than the sound of his voice moaning out her name as he held tightly to her and clenched his eyes shut. Similar feelings of delirious ecstasy crashed through her being as her walls clenched around him and she allowed herself to collapse onto his chest, shaking and spent.

At length, his hand lifted lazily to her back, absentmindedly stroking up and down her spine, before his fingers were distracted by her hair and curled into the raven strands, toying with them. It took a moment for her mind to clear, and for her to realize what he was doing. When had Levi ever been so relaxed? When had he ever engaged in such thoughtless, mindless actions? Everything he did was purposeful, deliberate, intent.

Slayte feared to move and break the spell so she stayed where she was, catching her breath, curled against his chest, her eyes closed as she relished in his absentminded caresses.

When she finally drew back, expecting to see him dazed and half-asleep, she was surprised to find that he was perfectly alert, his sharp gaze immediately settling on her wide, brown eyes.

She reached for him without conscious thought and cupped his cheek in her right hand. Slayte stroked his face absentmindedly and smiled sadly. What could she do, she wondered, to put him at ease? To let him lower his defenses? To put his worries far from his mind?

"Look at me," she whispered. "I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

He frowned, and she knew how little weight he gave her promises - how many she had already broken. Still, he listened quietly, drinking in her words, giving her courage to continue. "I'll stay with you as long as you live - No," she shook her head, "I'll stay as long as I live. You won't ever lose me. My heart will always be yours."

He watched her wordlessly for a long moment, before taking hold of her hand and closing his eyes, basking in the warmth of her skin against his face before pressing a kiss to the center of her smooth palm.

"Fight for me," he countered. "That's all I ask. Don't just give in, no matter what anyone says. Promise to fight - you don't need to promise me the results."

"I promise," she whispered, her eyes brimming with determination. "Just the way I fight for Elissa. I'll fight for you. I'll fight to stay with you with everything I have."

She kissed his forehead, his eyes, his nose, each kiss a form of worship, a tribute to her savior, to the man who, in her heart, outshone the gods themselves. "I'll fight to the death. I love you, Levi. With everything I have, with everything I am. I can't live without you, I'm terrified," her voice broke and she closed her eyes to compose herself. "I don't ever want to live without you. Please, don't think that I would. That I could."

"You, too," he answered thickly, still holding her hand in one of his as he tucked her hair behind her ear with the other. "You matter."

His hand moved to the back of her head and pulled her in, bringing her lips to his, as he murmured, "More than anything. More than anyone."

Love had so many names, and only one of them was love. It had so many manifestations, many of them seldom recognized for what they were. But Slayte knew the many ways that Levi loved her, the many ways he had told her as much, the many ways he had showed it to her. He had given her words today, perhaps not the words she had been waiting for, but all the words in his possession, all the words that he had to offer, and they had been the greatest gift to her. She would cherish them forever.

When she settled beside him, she curled into his side and pressed a kiss to his shoulder. Levi glanced at her when she shivered - this time, from the cold. He pulled away from her and, rising steadily to his feet, abandoned their bed. When he turned back, he hesitated, his eyes lingering on the dark gemstones glittering on the elegant fingers of the pale hand draped loosely over her chest.

"What is it?" she asked, unnerved by his unyielding gaze.

He shook his head before giving her another fleeting look. "Didn't think the sight of you in nothing but that ring would be so profound."

A blush alighted in her cheeks as she lifted her hand to her gaze, admiring the beautiful ring she had, admittedly, completely forgotten about in the midst of their lovemaking.

He bent over her and pressed a kiss to her forehead as he covered her with the blanket. "Wait," her hand shot out to catch hold of his wrist as he pulled away. "Where are you going?"

"Thought we could have some of your cake," he met her eye and nodded towards the hallway. "We barely had any."

"Oh," she released his wrist, almost giddy with excitement that he actually wanted to eat the sweet confection she had honed to his tastes.

He paused in the doorway as Slayte made to get up as well. "Don't bother changing the sheets," he called over his shoulder as he left.

Slayte blinked at where his silhouette had been only a moment ago. Changing the sheets and showering were an immediate affair in their home. Levi said he could feel his skin crawl if they didn't. Telling her not to change the sheets could only mean… that he wasn't quite done with her. She buried her face in her hands as she felt her cheeks burn, blood rushing to her face.

After all that, he still wanted more? Heat pooled in her stomach at the mere thought - there was no denying she was similarly insatiable. But she had always considered herself to be hungrier for him than he was for her.

She allowed herself to fall back onto the pillows and curled in on herself, pulling the covers up to her chin as she grinned into her pillow.

_Well. All of that is true._

As much as she loved him, he loved her as well. She wore his ring on her finger. She belonged to him. They were going to get married and then, one way or another, they would find a way to stay together.

When Levi returned with the cake and nudged her over, she sat up with a laugh and they fell into easy conversation as they consumed the delicious confection. They ate - laughing, teasing, and planning their future - until their appetites turned to one another. Wrapped up in his arms, tasting the combined sweetness of his birthday cake and his words on his tongue, she could almost believe it was true.

* * *

**AN: So, yeah. Chapter 36.5. Had to do some research to find out how to represent that in roman numerals. Hope you enjoyed! <3**


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